Mac mini: What is its Future?

While all Mac hardware models are powered with a Core 2 Duo or a Dual or Quad Core Xeon, the Mac mini remains associated with the Core Duo, and Apple seems to have decided not to push further its development for the time being.
Despite its shared memory graphic chipset GMA950 for powering its video capabilities, the Mac mini was and is a success, and among its design features four of them make it a real bargain for Mac users:
- it is a complete Mac hardware in a very small box, smaller than an external DVVD burner.
- low power consumption
- while its price is considered too high by some analysts or users, when some units are available on the Refurb Store it is usually not for more than couple of minutes.
- This is probably the most opened hardware model from Apple, and if it did not evolve from its introduction, we have already published articles describing procedures to upgrade its CPU to Core 2 Duo and its Airport Express card to 802.11n, or even change its HD and optical drive while boosting its RAM (CPU, 802.11n, Core 2 Duo performance). One could even imagine to turn it into a server by adding an Addonic eSATA Hardware Port Multiplier via the internal SATA port.
So, we contacted our sources to get information regarding the reason behind the non-evolving Mac mini and three answers were provided:
- Apple does not like this model, as it was designed under the pressure of shareholders willing to get a cheap entry level Mac hardware.
- A Core 2 Duo-based Mac mini would compete with iMac and MacBook, models for which Apple has larger margins or sale volumes.
- Last answer is probably the most interesting one: a Core 2 Duo Mac mini would kill Apple TV. Indeed, if the minimal GUI of the Apple TV makes it user-friendly and a perfect device for just watching movies, it can not compete with the Mac mini for any further functions, and many Mac users have already chosen the Mac mini to be plugged to their TV even thought it is twice more expensive. If this is true, one will have to expect the Apple TV to become a real business success in order to see the Mac mini being upgraded.
Last but not least, R&D resources might have been so much dedicated to the iPhone and Leopard (beside iMac and MacBook revision to come), that Apple could not work on a Core 2 Duo Mac mini and decided to wait for Santa Rosa to bring a Mac mini based on the last Intel mobile platform evolution, together with the new iMac and MacBook models.