Apple Mac mini M9687LL/B (1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

by Apple

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9 x 12.5 inches ; 5.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5.5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0009U7Y0U
• Item model number: M9687LL/B
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 26, 2005

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Live the digital life in stylish simplicity. Just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches tall, Mac mini provides what you need to have more fun with your music, photos and movies—right out of the box. This Mac mini now boasts 512MB memory and includes built-in wireless.

Get a Mac for Less
The modular design of Mac mini lets you upgrade your current system to the elegance, simplicity and reliability of Macintosh. BYODKM:¹ If you already own a monitor, keyboard and mouse, you can get up and running in minutes. Or choose any combination of new devices to match your setup. And yes, Mac mini will take advantage of your two-button USB mouse with scroll-wheel and your favorite USB keyboard. Just plug them in.

Best Operating System At Any Price
Discover the world's most advanced operating system on the world's most affordable Mac. Every Mac mini comes standard with critically acclaimed Mac OS X Tiger, which includes Spotlight, the lightning-fast search tool that lets you find anything on your system as fast as you type, and Dashboard, the home to amazing widgets that access timely information such as gas prices or movie listings.²

It Just Works
iPod and iTunes work great together. So why not take it to the next level with Mac mini and iLife, the simply powerful digital life software that lets you organize and share your photographs with ease. Or connect your digital camcorder to Mac mini and start editing your masterpiece. Or plug in your electric guitar or keyboard and make music. The combination of Mac OS X Tiger and iLife makes it effortless and fun to make stuff.

Inexpensive, But Never Cheap
All that, and not an inch of wasted space. Apple engineers designed this small wonder from the ground up to deliver the most Mac for the least dinero. Inside its petite 2-inch tall, 6.5-inch square anodized aluminum enclosure, this Mac mini houses a 1.42GHz G4 processor, 80 GB hard drive, a slot-loading Combo drive, 512MB DDR SDRAM, and an ATI Radeon 9200 graphics chip with 32MB dedicated DDR SDRAM—all whisper-quiet.

Connect your digital devices, such as cameras, iPod, printer, camcorder or keyboard to the Mac mini over USB 2.0 or FireWire. Built-in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and a 56K v.92 fax modem³ give you access to broadband or dial-up connections to the Internet. A headphone/audio line-out jack lets you listen to stereo sound.

Rearrange the Furniture, Anytime
Believe it or not, all this technology weighs just 2.9 pounds. Imagine, a desktop computer you can easily move from your study to the kitchen on a whim. Mac mini won't break your back when you want to shuffle things around. And you'll want to, now that wireless comes standard on this model.

Enchanting Enhancements
That means you can surf wirelessly with AirPort Extreme and use wireless keyboards and mice with internal Bluetooth. You can also choose up to 1GB RAM.⁴

Sometimes, the wheel really does need reinventing. How else would you end up with a computer so small you can balance it in one hand, yet powerful enough to propel you to digital nirvana?

Designed With Exquisite Finesse
Most low-cost PC manufacturers slap together Frankenstein machines by hacking away features from the high end (of three years ago, anyway) and putting the warmed-over parts in ill-fitting cheap plastic boxes. They don't really have a choice, since they don't design any of the parts, from operating system to motherboard. That's why most budget PC cases seem to be littered with a mish-mash of uncoordinated stickers from every component vendor on the planet. But Apple engineers can handcraft a new machine from scratch. For Mac mini, that means taking the time to decide just which elements make a Mac a Mac and then figuring out how to shrink them. And that process just happened to reinvent the whole concept of a desktop computer.

Pint-sized Perfection
The result? A machine you don't actually mind putting atop your desk. At just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches tall, Mac mini fits anywhere. Its sleek anodized aluminum styling hints at the refined edges and rounded corners of its big brother, the iMac G5. A reflective white cover picks up the tones of your home decor and makes the ideal mate to put next to your iPod dock. Best of all, Mac mini purrs along at a whisper-quiet sound level, so there's no reason to hide it under your desk like an old PC to save your ears. In fact, Mac mini puts the digital lifestyle right at your fingertips. Pop a DVD into the slot-loading combo drive or make a mix CD. Connect your iPod, digital camera, printer, or DV camcorder via FireWire or USB ports on the back. Surf the Internet over Ethernet, modem, or AirPort wireless.

Densely-packed Power
It's all there. In fact, it's hard to believe that there's any place left for the rest of the computer. But squeezed in under that optical drive and behind all those ports lie a G4 processor, room for up to 1GB PC2700 main memory, a Radeon 9200 graphics chip and 32MB DDR SDRAM for it. And a large enough hard drive to store today's digital media. There's even space for the included AirPort Extreme wireless networking and internal Bluetooth. So you get both the power and promise of cable-free computing.

Mac mini looks great no matter how—or where—you stack it up.⁵ The Mac mini. Everything you ever wanted, nothing you don't need. Take it for a spin. Bring it home for a great low price.

¹ Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard and Mouse.
² Gas price, hula girl, and movie listing widgets are not included with Mac mini, but available from third parties via free download.
³ Optional on some configurations.
⁴ Some of these options must be installed by Apple at the factory; others can be added at an Apple Store or an Apple authorized reseller.
⁵ Put Mac mini on the top of the stack for optimal ventilation and optical drive functioning.

Product Description

Includes: VGA/DVI adapter, Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, iLife '05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD & GarageBand), AppleWorks, Quicken 2005 for Mac, & more. Apple Mac Mini - Incredibly inexpensive, but definitely not cheap, this miniature Apple Macintosh Computer is perfect for handling your day to day computing, and then some! The main feature is it's petite exterior. The Mac Mini is only 6.5" square, 2" high, and weighs only 2.9 pounds. Its attractive platinum and white, rounded square design gives it a sophisticated modern look that can't be matched. It also has the convenience of having all of its buttons and ports placed in the back, so cables are kept tidy and neat, giving you a clean overall appearance. But what's even more amazing than its good looks, is the shear amount of technology Apple has packed inside! Slot-Loading CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive - up to 24x CD-R, 16x CD-RW, 24x CD-ROM, & 8x DVD-ROM Ports - 10/100 Ethernet, 1 FireWire 400, 2 USB 2.0, DVI Out, VGA Out, & Headphone/Audio Line Out Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11b/g Wi-Fi Wireless Network Adapter) Bluetooth Support

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Mac Value, August 4, 2005

By 

Steve H "books911" (U.S.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Mac mini M9687LL/B (1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

The Mac Mini was released in January 2005 at Mac World, and was then updated, for the first time, in July 2005. This Mac Mini is the result of that update.

Improvements - The $599 Mac Mini now sports 512 MB of DDR SDRAM, which is twice the memory the original Mac Mini included. This is a significant upgrade. The majority of users can now buy, out of the box, a machine that performs beautifully and allows a fair amount of multi-tasking. The Mac operating system, Mac OS X Tiger, thrives on memory, and 512 MB helps to create a speedy experience, for users.

Bluetooth - Bluetooth is a great wireless technology that Apple heavily backs, and it is included with this Mac Mini, an addition, from the original Mac Minis, when bluetooth was an optional add-on, at Apple.com, for $50 more. Purchase a bluetooth keyboard or bluetooth mouse, and they will work wirelessly, with your Mac Mini. It makes for a very clean and uncluttered desktop. There are also many mobile phones and PDAs, which utilize bluetooth technology, which you can sync to your mac using isync, included with Mac Mini.

Airport Extreme - This is the wireless networking card now included with the $599 Mac Mini, after being a $70+ upgrade at Apple.com, on the previous model. Do you have a wireless-b or wireless-g network in your home? If so, the Mac Mini will be able to connect to it, without problem. Again, making the computing experience simpler and less tangled.

The Good Things that Continue to Shine with Mac Mini - A buyer of the Mac Mini will continue to enjoy Mac OS X Tiger, which is the best consumer operating system in the world. It works with the hardware beautifully to provide a simple, fast, elegant, and reliable experience. One of the favorite descriptions of Mac fans, to describe Macs, is simply, "it just works."

The Mac Mini continues to include iLife '05, with great applications such as iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iTunes, and Garageband. These are all included, with every Mac Mini. You will be challenged to find any PC that includes applications that come anywhere close to the iLife suite. Manage thousands of your digital images in iPhoto, create home movies in iMovie, and create professional music in Garageband.

Appleworks is included for simply word processing, spreadsheets, etc., but you might want to pick up Microsoft Office for Mac. A student/teacher edition is available, for just over $100.

Speed - The 1.42 GHZ PowerPC G4 processor makes the Mac Mini a very capable machine. This will satisfy the horsepower needed to complete tasks in the iLife suite, included with your Mac Mini.

Hard Drive - 80 GB is a significant-sized hard drive, so you will be able to store thousands of photos and songs.

ComboDrive - The Apple Combo Drive allows you to burn music and data CDs, plus you can watch DVDs!

Drawbacks? The $599 version of the Mac Mini no longer includes a modem, if you want this version of the Mac Mini with a modem, you will have to custom-order it at Apple.com. However, the ethernet port is included on the back, to plug into a DSL or cable modem, plus you have the Airport Extreme, for wireless connections. However, if you don't have broadband, you'll need a modem for dial-up, so you will either need to order a custom-built Mac Mini at Apple.com, or buy the stock $499 model, which includes a modem, but lacks the wireless components.

Overall, Apple has created another fantastic product, with the Mac Mini, and the July 2005 update only made it better. You get more memory, plus wireless connectivity via bluetooth and airport extreme. This Mac Mini really includes everything the average user needs to enjoy the internet, manage his or her digital life, and have fun doing it all.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazon Rocks, March 5, 2006

By 

Boberto (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apple Mac mini M9687LL/B (1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

A lot of the reason I am so pleased with the Mac Mini has to do with Amazon.com. Great customer service, price, shipping. Buying this from the Apple store would have cost me $150 more. Now, about the computer-
First off, I was shipped a unit with upgraded Processor (1.5ghz) and Video. Also the Superdrive is dual layer, not single although I haven't been able to see if it works as a DL. So I'm pretty pleased that I have an upgrade right off the bat.

The slogan says BYODKM, so I'll tell you how I have it set up. Apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse and the display is a 50' plasma TV. This is a really cool setup for my kids, playing educational games.

About 2 days after the unit was delivered, Apple released the new Intel version of the Mini. Initially I was disappointed, but after looking at the new specs I realized I had bought the better PPC version. The Intel version shares video with the 512 main memory and has no dedicated chipset seperate.

The positives are: Small form factor, great performance, price. You just can't beat OS X in terms of reliability. I will not miss being a system administrator on my wife's dell, constantly scanning and removing malware. Price-Got mine with a superdrive for $630 shipped.

Negatives: Memory. Although units shipping now have a standard 512k, I really think I'll need to upgrade to at least 1mb. Also, after having been a Powerbook user, there is a perceptable difference in the build quality. Not bad mind you, but not quite up to par with the Powerbooks.

Overall, a great machine if you already have your keyboard/mouse/display. If not, the new imac is a much better value. Why only 4 instead of 5 stars? Well, the superdrive seems to only want to burn at 2X, not the 8X as advertised. Apple has nothing to remedy this issue yet, but will probably issue a firmware upgrade sometime.

So my advice is to take the plunge and switch over to OS X, you'll be very happy you did.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Add $100 to your Mac mini selection and you'll get..., September 10, 2005

By 

C. Prasojo (127.0.0.0) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Mac mini M9687LL/B (1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

You'll get your hard disk space doubled and your processor works faster. 40GB hard disk to 80GB and 1.25GHz to 1.42GHz. This model does not come with built-in modem. You can add it if you want to by ordering directly via apple website. But if you choose the other model, that is priced $100 less, you'll get the built-in modem.

Having your CPU replaced with Mac Mini means replacing your Windows with Mac OS X. You don't have to be worried about this. It doesn't take much for you to learn how to use Mac OS X. Based on survey to the Windows-to-Mac users, all they need is spend a few hours on Mac and they'll know it well. With Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), it is very easy to find your applications and documents (using spotlight), user automator to do tedious tasks, have useful widgets around you. To find more information about Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), read the review on Mac OS X Tiger product page.

When you replace your current CPU with this, you'll see a big difference on your desk. You'll see a cute grey box replacing your tower CPU, leaving more space for you to store other things. This Mac Mini is the second version. It has better specification and performance than the first one. You have enough hard disk space to store all your files, music, photos, and videos. Fast processor and bigger RAM to launch more applications better and faster. You'll also get DVD/CD-RW drive to enjoy all the media you have and do some back-ups.

This Mac Mini is meant to those who are planning to move to Mac and having mouse, keyboard, monitors, and other devices that were used on Windows.