No high-spec Mac Minis for NZ

Upgrade on the sly in the US but not in New Zealand

While Apple Computer is selling some Mac Minis in the United States with better specifications than listed on the box but for the same price, it looks like New Zealanders won’t see the “upgrade on the sly”.

Apple New Zealand says there has been no official announcement from Cupertino about the updated Mac Minis. Spokeswoman Natalie Brown says Apple NZ isn’t aware of the higher spec units being shipped to New Zealand. As of going to press, Apple’s US website made no mention of the updated Mac Minis and only listed the older hardware specification.



According to Apple fan site Think Secret, the new Minis are designated PowerMac 10.2 and come with a 1.5GHz processor instead of a 1.42GHz one. The updated Mac Minis also have new boot ROM, an 8X dual-layer DVD+/-R SuperDrive, and the ATI Radeon 9200 video card gets a memory upgrade to 64MB.

Bluetooth support has also been upgraded to 2.0+EDR and the new Minis have faster, 5,400 rpm hard drives too. Apple’s low-end Mac Mini has had a similar hardware spec hike, with a 1.33GHz processor instead of a 1.25GHz one.

Think Secret says it has been told the reason for not updating the Mac Mini packaging with the new specifications is so that Apple can clear out existing inventory without having to lower prices. Customers are promised that they will receive a Mac Mini with hardware at least equal to what’s on the box label, according to Think Secret. However, customers won’t be allowed to return systems with the older configuration in the hope of scoring ones with the updated hardware, without paying a restocking fee Think Secret reports.