New Features Include Built-in Wireless Networking & DVD Burning

Jul 26, 2005 19:11 GMT  ·  By

Unveiling faster iBooks is not enough for Apple. The company announced also enhancements to its Mac mini line, the most affordable and compact Mac ever, with 512MB of memory standard in every model and prices starting at just $499.

The Mac mini also features built-in wireless networking with AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth starting at just $599, and the ability to burn DVDs with a SuperDrive for just $699.

The Mac mini lineup includes three models: 1.25 GHz Mac mini, 1.42 GHz Mac mini and the new 1.42 GHz Mac mini with SuperDrive for burning DVDs and CDs. The Mac mini with SuperDrive is the most affordable Mac for quickly and easily creating your own professional quality DVDs using iLife '05, Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications. The top two models of the Mac mini now include built-in AirPort Extreme for 54 Mbps 802.11g fast wireless networking along with an internal Bluetooth module. With wireless networking, customers can place Mac mini almost anywhere and still have fast, convenient access to the Internet. Built-in Bluetooth enables cable-free communication with Bluetooth-equipped mobile phones and PDAs as well as popular peripherals such as the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse.

Just two inches tall and weighing only 2.9 pounds, Mac mini redefines design for the sub-$1,000 desktop, and allows users the flexibility to choose their display, mouse and keyboard. Mac mini includes one FireWire 400 and two USB 2.0 ports for easy plug-and-play connections to popular peripherals such as Apple's market-leading iPod digital music player, digital still cameras, digital video camcorders and printers. Mac mini offers a DVI interface that also supports VGA so customers can easily connect to a variety of LCD or CRT displays and built-in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet.

Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" is pre-installed on every Mac mini and delivers more than 200 new features and innovations including Spotlight(TM), a revolutionary desktop search technology that lets users instantly find anything stored on their Mac, including documents, emails, contacts and images; and Dashboard, a new way to instantly access important information like weather forecasts and stock quotes, using a dazzling new class of applications called widgets. Mac mini also comes with a collection of outstanding productivity and entertainment titles designed to meet the needs of the entire family, including Quicken 2005 for Mac, Nanosaur 2 and MarbleBlast Gold.