No new Mac Mini announced. Why were so many people wrong?

experts can make all the “predictions” they want, but they aren’t always right. If apple chose not to release another Mini right now, it’s probably because it either isn’t finished, or pricing isn’t set, or anything really. Could be a variety of reasons.

That’s what happens with speculation!

Many “experts” such as the dorky “tech talk” guy on the radio, pushed for the idea of a Mac netbook or at least a bulked up iPod Touch. But that also didn’t happen.

Sometimes the experts stumble on a gold mine, some person inside of Apple who’s willing to spill the beans on what they’re working on. This is where the 17 inch MBP speculation came from I believe. But even then, Apple may choose to axe a product in development. And in fact I have heard of either Steve Jobs or Bill Gates purposely adding different specs to different groups’ information sheets, so that when a leak does happen, it can be traced back to what group it came from.

Perhaps Apple was going to release it today but then decided to hold off because of all the predictions… haha

Lots of people speculate wildly, and other people hear it and repeat it. Pay attention to the Apple rumor mill: you’ll see this happen before every major Apple trade show.

It’s possible, too, that there is a new Mac mini in the works, but that Apple decided to focus on iWork, iLife, and the 17” MacBook Pro instead. If that’s the case, they’ll just silently release it when it’s ready.

Techcrunch has a black eye from this, as they claim that they had info from both an Apple employee, and 4 “inside sources,” that the mac mini was coming. I’m pretty bummed about it, as I planned to buy one once Snow Leopard was available.

So, it may not have been announced today, but I don’t believe that a new one isn’t coming. It’s Apple’s 3rd best selling desktop!

I think perchik and cwilbur both are partially right: Apple probably DOES have something almost presentable, but it wanted to highlight the whiz-bang new battery in the MBP, iPhoto’s crazy face recognition, and their move to the cloud in iWork. Upped specs and black plastic on a new Mac Mini just aren’t worth mentioning.

I should also mention that when the Intel mac minis' specs were bumped (their last update), Apple didn't mention it during a trade show or anything. Just a quiet little press release, and it was updated on Apple.com. The poor little Mini is definitely Apple's redheaded step-child.

i guess it will be a separate event, just like the announcements of the aluminium imacs for instance, and without apple doing trade shows anymore, they can do it whenever they want, so, let’s just hold tight and wait for things to come :)

The 17” MacBook Pro was obvious anyway, so I don’t think we can count that as a successfully sourced rumour. Techcrunch is garbage and Michael Arrington is a garbage troll. Same for Gizmodo. At least when credible people speculate about product releases, they clearly mark it as speculation.

@tonedef: Also worth remembering that the profit margin on the mini is low compared to every other Apple computer. Apple has always been a profit over market share company; it’s why they’re sat on $20+bn in the bank. I doubt the mini is a priority for them, although I do feel it fills a nice slot in their product line and hope they plan to refresh or replace it.

I work at a Premium Reseller. Apple Norway was visiting us, and they were accidentally saying that they was gonna send new posters for the iMac and Mac Mini. Expect a silent update of the iMac and the Mac Mini.

My ancient Mac Pro (early 2009) has just packed up with suspected GPU failure. I took it as a sign from the Apple gods that new Mac Minis would be announced and that I could move an old 32Mb Mac Pro to a shiny new 32Mb Mac Mini. Now I have to face months of trying to repair and squeeze more life out of the old beast, which admittedly has been vey good to since I got it as refurbished 5 years ago.