Apple Mac Mini (A1347) Computer Teardown

Overview / Main Features

For 2010, the Apple Mac Mini underwent a significant update - in addition to the anticipated core design upgrades - replacing its iconic compact enclosure design with an unibody version. As with previous updates to the Mac Mini, Apple's MO has been to implement trickle-down technologies pioneered on other product lines. Last year, for example, it was the replacement of Northbridge/Southbridge chipsets with a discrete Nvidia GPU solution. Now, the same all-aluminum unibody construction that began with the MacBook has trickled down to the lowest cost computing solution from the

The new Mac Mini retains the overall design principle of the Mac Mini as an entry level desktop/living room computing platform segment. Interestingly, Apple bumped up the price of the new Mac Mini - perhaps as a move to keep their new iPad product line from cannibalizing the sales of the Mac Mini. Irrespective of the increase in price, we see a computing platform that is in keeping with the normal upgrade cycles. The base model Mac Min (under analysis here) comes powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU running at 2.4GHz along with a Nvido GeForce 320M GPU. The new system also gets bumps in RAM to 2GB and doubled the storage capacity to 320GB (hard drive). What's also interesting is the first implementation of a HDMI output on the Mac Mini making the device more at home in the living room than the computer den.

There are two significant benefits of the new unibody design: (1) Apple has now designed in user accessible panels to access the SO-DIMM memory modules, making upgrades easier and more DIY- friendly and (2) the new wider unibody construction gives Apple designers more internal volume which they used to integrate the power supply.

Target Market

General consumers

Released

Q2 2010

Pricing and Availability

Pricing - The new Apple Mac Mini retails for $699 at this base configuration (representing a $100 premium over last years model).

Availability - assumed global

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have applied a lifetime production volume of approximately 2M units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

Cost Notes

Main Cost Drivers (~80% of Total Materials Cost)

$69.38 - Intel - AV80577SH0563M - CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 Processor, 2.40GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, 45nm

$44.27 - Nvidia - MCP89MZ-A2 - Chipset - GeForce 320M, 40nm

$43 - Toshiba Storage Device - MK3255GSXF - Hard Drive - 320GB, 2.5", SATA 3Gb/s, 5400RPM, 8MB Buffer

$40 - Hitachi-LG Data Storage - GA32N - CD/DVD RW Drive - Slim Internal Type, Slot Load, SATA

$38 - Hynix - HMT112S6TFR8C-G7 - SODIMM DDR3-1066 - 1GB, 128Mx64, 1.5V (Qty:2)

$16.28 - Compeq - 10-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free, Halogen Free

$13.5 - Enclosure, Outer Case - Machined Aluminum, Printed, Anodized

$9.90 - Broadcom - BCM943224PCIEBT - WLAN / Bluetooth Module Value Line Item - IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, 2x2, Bluetooth V2.1+EDR

$8.17 - Delta Electronics - ADP-85AF - Power Supply Module Value Line Item - 12V, 7.1A, 85W, w/ Plastic Housing

$3.65 - Texas Instruments - XIO2211ZAY - PCI-E to IEEE1394b Controller

$3.15 - Cooler Assembly - Die-Cast Aluminum Alloy Mounting Bracket, 2 Copper Blocks, 2 Copper Tubes, Aluminum Fins, Painted, w/ Thermal Transfer Material

$2.40 - Delta Electronics - BUB0712HC-HM01 - Blower - DC Brushless, 12VDC, 0.66A, w/ Integral 4-Wire Harness and 4-Postion Pin Socket Connector

$1.75 - Broadcom - BCM57765A0KMLG - Ethernet Transceiver / Memory Card Reader Controller - 10/100/1000Base-T, 65nm

$1.57 - Renesas - R4F2117LP - MCU - 16-Bit, H8S/2600 CPU Core, 160KB ROM, 8KB RAM, 20MHz, 3.0 - 3.6V, 112 I/Os

$1.22 - International Rectifier - IR3841WMTRPbF - Regulator - DC-DC Converter, Synchronous Buck, 8A, 1.5MHz (Qty:2)

Direct Materials $342.78

Direct Materials + Manufacturing$348.56

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on markings, the unit was likely assembled in China. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in China.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of "finished" sub-assemblies (such as HDMI connector port), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto" inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The new Apple Mac Mini has an overall component count of 1768 (excluding box contents), of which 1464 reside on the main PCB. In comparison, last year's model features 1652 overall components and 1100 on the motherboard.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design. The cost of manufacturing is also, to some extent, decreased in this case because of assumed labor rate applied for China.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

Apple is one of very few PC manufacturers to use a non-standard Intel CPU + 3rd party chipset design. In a design shift that occurred over a year ago, the Mac Mini has now been upgraded to the Nvidia GeForce 320M GPU (previous generation Mini carried the GeForce 9400M). For the CPU, Apple selected an older Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 chip which has been around for a while now.

As expected, Apple continue with Broadcom solutions in the WLAN and Bluetooth functions with a BCM943224 module containing a Broadcom BCM43224 WLAN IC supporting 802.11a/b/g/n as well as a BCM2070 single chip Bluetooth v3.0 solution.

New to this year's Mac Mini is the internal 85W internal power supply design provided by another familiar Apple supplier: Delta.

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Apple Mac Mini design:

Motherboard

Chipset

• GPU - Nvidia - MCP89MZ-A2, GeForce 320M, 40nm

CPU

• Processor - Intel - AV80577SH0563M, Intel Core 2 Duo P8600, 2.40GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB, 45nm

Memory

• SODIMM Modules - Hynix - HMT112S6TFR8C-G7, DDR3-1066 - 1GB, 128Mx64, 1.5V (Qty. 2)

I/O & Interface

• PCI-E to IEEE1394b Controller - Texas Instruments - XIO2211ZAY
• MCU - Renesas - R4F2117LP, 16-Bit, H8S/2600 CPU Core, 160KB ROM, 8KB RAM, 20MHz, 3.0 - 3.6V, 112 I/Os
• Ethernet Transceiver / Memory Card Reader Controller - Broadcom - BCM57765A0KMLG, 10/100/1000Base-T, 65nm Process
• Audio Codec - Cirrus Logic - CS4206ACNZ