With an iPhone announcement less than a week away, I thought it would be fun to take a break from thinking about iOS devices and consider Apple’s cheap desktop computer — the Mac mini.
Here’s the insides of the current model, courtesy of iFixit: 
And here’s the always-cool exploded view:
The original Mac mini from 2005 was 6.5 inches wide and 6.5 inches deep. While the Mid–2012 model is .6 inches shorter, it’s actually deeper and wider, with a footprint of 7.7 inches by 7.7 inches.
Craig Hockenberry just broke my brain.
Michael Tsai:
I’ve re-read the Mac App Store Review Guidelines, particularly rule 2.21 and section 7, and it seems clear that none of the existing rules forbid what The Omni Group was trying to do.
Apple’s rules aren’t the problem. It’s the gray area between them where the company really gets things wrong sometimes.
My apologies: I’m afraid we will not be able to offer upgrade pricing to our Mac App Store customers after all. So long as we continue to sell our apps through the Mac App Store, we are not allowed to distribute updates through other channels to apps which were purchased from the App Store.
The program Case is referring to was called OmniKeyMaster. Here’s what it did:
OmniKeyMaster is a simple app that finds App Store copies of Omni apps installed on your Mac, then generates equivalent licenses from our store - for free. This gives Mac App Store customers access to discounted pricing when upgrading from the Standard edition to Professional, or when upgrading from one major version to the next. Another benefit: since they don’t have to wait in an approval queue, our direct releases sometimes get earlier access to new features and bug fixes. OmniKeyMaster lets App Store customers access those builds, as well.
Well, that’s a fun-looking invite.
It’s no secret things have been quiet on the Apple front this year.
Short of Haswell-powered MacBook Airs and Logic Pro X, Apple’s PR archive for 2013 is basically quarterly results, shareholder payback information and WWDC announcements.
However, if my running list is correct, this is what we should see between now and December 31:
If we assume Intel’s Haswell chips are ready to go, Mavericks may usher in new iMacs, Mac minis and/or new MacBook Pro with Retina display models. I’d say it’s safe to assume the iPod line will also be tinkered with before the holidays.
Zoe Fox:
Apple’s stock is up 22% since July 1 in anticipation of a Sept. 10 product launch.
I wonder what it will do after the event … historically, people get their hopes up running up to keynotes and the stock suffers afterwards. Still, it’s a nice run, and I think AAPL is finally getting back to where it should be.
Matthew Panzarino:
A recent posting on Apple’s Web Server notifications page issues credit to Ibrahim Bialic, 7Dscan.com and SCANV of Knownsec.com for the discovery of two web security issues. Bialic, you may recall, discovered a vulnerability that he later publicly claimed was responsible for the weeks-long outage of Apple’s Developer Center.
The issue that Apple credits Bialic with bringing to the company’s attention was related to iAd, not the Developer Center, however.
As a long-time Apple nerd, I was more than a little nervous when I heard about the Jobs movie for the first time.
It wasn’t just that I was afraid it’d be some sort of Kelso Builds Computers, either. While everyone knows who Steve Jobs was, the true nerd heroes — guys like Woz, Jef Raskin, Burrell Smith and Andy Hertzfeld — aren’t household names. Having the Apple story told in movie theaters across the globe is a rare chance that people like me have to see our interests be placed on a huge platform.
No. No. No.
Zack Whittaker:
For 30 days, I ran a pre-release version of iOS 7 (which iteratively improved when newer updates were released and installed) on my iPhone 4S. While first impressions are important — these were covered in part in the review of the user interface and experience changes — the critical check is the test of time.
The purpose of this particular review was to see how an average user’s productivity and user experience altered, if at all, over the course of a longer-term period, such as one month.
John Gruber:
Make no mistake: Apple’s current strategy has been remarkably successful. They sell a ton of iPhone 4S and 4 devices, and have expanded the iOS market by doing so. But there are several factors this year that suggest a change in strategy.
If Apple does unveil an iPhone 5C, I expect them to concurrently abandon the iPhones 4 and 4S. Their three pricing tiers for the next year would be a new iPhone 5S at the high end, today’s iPhone 5 in the mid-range, and the new 5C at the low end. This way, all new iPhones would sport 16:9 aspect ratio displays, and all would have Lightning adapter ports. Adios both to 3:2 displays and the grody old 30-pin port.