Mac mini fits in the palm of your hand

Apple has announced the Mac mini, the low-cost Mac rumoured under the codename of Q88. Available in the US from January 22nd, the unit will be available for £339 with a specification of a 1.25GHz G4 processor, 40GB hard drive and 256MB of memory. A £398 version will have a 1.4GHz processor, and more hard disk and RAM.

The tiny unit - half the height of an iPod Mini, according to Steve Jobs -- contains a slot-load Combo optical drive that will burn CDs and play DVDs. It also has FireWire, Ethernet, USB2.0 and analogue and digital output -- DVI/VGA. No keyboard, display or mouse is supplied with the unit. Although it comes with iChat AV, the instant messaging system with audio and video, it has no audio input or microphone as standard. However, it will work with existing USB peripherals, including the iSight camera/microphone and the Griffin iMic audio input adaptor.

The Mac mini also comes with the Panther operating system and iLife 05 software. Other software announced at Macworld included iWork and updates to iMovie,Garageband and iPhoto - the latter adding RAW and MPEG 4 facilities.

Apple also announced the iPod Shuffle, a display-less flash-based music player that weighs an ounce and comes in either 512MB or 1GB sizes for $99 or $149 respectively. With a battery life of 12 hours, the device either picks random songs or uses a playlist set up by iTunes.

For more detailed product information, read our reviews team's preview of the Mac mini.

Apple's new Mac Mini, unveiled on Tuesday at Macworld in San Francisco.