Oh no.. is the Mac mini really dead this time? That’s what the folks at Gizmodo think as they’ve been told by two major retailers in Europe that they can no longer order any more Mac minis from Apple. Of course this could still mean that Apple was lining up a refresh of the system but it’s more than likely that the company will kill the most inexpensive Mac product available.

While the Mac mini received much fanfare when it was introduced back in 2005, it has since languished in the face of new iMac systems, the Apple TV, and of course the MacBook/MacBook Pro collections. Times have changed of course.. while an inexpensive system is definitely a sight for sore eyes for those in a financial bind, the truth is, the low end MacBook really wasn’t all that much more in price. When you factor in a mouse, keyboard, and monitor, an entire Mac mini system can easily cost around $700-$800 dollars depending on the size of the monitor. For $200 dollars more, you can opt for true portability (albeit with a smaller screen size than a desktop system would have) – something that the Mac mini would never be able to provide.  Of course if you already had the necessary peripherals, then the Mac mini was in fact a great buy at $599. Unfortunately the Mac mini continued to use outdated hardware – at least when compared to the latest generation of Mac products.

Killing the Mac mini at the end of the day makes sense for Apple as it will probably drive any leftover business to higher end products with higher gross profit margins. It’s just a shame that a cool device like the mini would have to be sacrificed in the meantime. There’s still something to be said about having a low cost entry point for consumers. However, it appears Apple wants to stay clear of further segmenting their own computing market.

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