Rumor: next-gen Mac mini in January?

[devilhunter84]

well, you know how it is with rumors: take 'em with a grain of Salt and especially if they come from macosrumors

in their newest mac-fiction anecdote it looks like this:
"... that prototypes of a next-generation Mac Mini (due in about 3-5 months, a possible Macworld SF announcement in January)..."

i just bought mine (C2D 2GHz), and i must say, if i compare it with the old 1.5 GHz PPC mini, it's a speed demon. This little guy actually gets more points in Xbench than my Dual G5 2 GHz. (well in CPU performance anyway)
but as most people already noticed, the age-old GMA950 is the main bottleneck besides the notebook hard drive.

So what could we (or Apple in this case) do about the technology cramped in one of the most smallest Computer Cases?
My bet would look like this:
-a new exterior design
yes my friends, goodbye white/silver and hello black/silver; and the design could be smaller in height but longer-> look at iPhone/iMac (dont get me wrong, i love it how it is:) )
- Core 2 Duo 2GHz - 2.4 GHz Santa Rosa
- Intel VIIV certified (hey VIIV's long dead, but Intel pushes it anyway)
- GMA X3100/3001 or a ATI /NVIDIA onboard chip
GMA X3100 is good and all, but frame-rates continue to be bad even with new drivers from Intel, i think a Geforce Go does a better job here
(see this link about the GMAX http://www.hardmac.com/news/2007-08-21/#7091 )
- up to 4 GB memory
- slightly more GBytes in hard drive space
- other stuff stays the same...

then again, this is the low-end mac from Apple, and it could eat into the iMac sales if this thing had a little more power under its shell; and since this rumor comes from macosrumors, they may be 1 year off like most of their announcements (or worse, think "Gamer's Dream iMac/mac mini" )

so what do you think, is this update (Core 2 Duo) a minor refresh like the "stealth" 1.5 GHz PPC mini? could we see a new mini on the Macworld?
(edit: yes there are already topics similar to this one, but i could not find a poll)

[dungeon92]

Santa Rosa isn't 2.33GHz it only comes in 1.4GHz, 1.6GHz, 1.8GHz, 2.0GHz, 2.2GHz, 2.4GHz. If you're going to speculate do it with proper specs.
_________________
"You must control your future by taking command of your present, and fixing and learning from your past."

"When history is forgotten people don't realize when it repeats."

Going to Missouri S&T!!

[JohnnyBoy]

Ah, but maybe DevilHunter is speculating about a new version of Santa Rosa....
_________________
Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen)

[robinscruffy]

[WillThePlank]

if it was to have a new gpu id want an nvdia one because Im an nvida fanboy lol
_________________
Mac Pro
quad 2.66
2 gig ram
250+500+120 gig hd's
7300GT
Used for my recording studio/video editing

Mac Mini
was 1.83 c2d stock now a 2.0 ghz
2 gig ram
200 gig 7200 rpm hd
dvd writer
the one that made my girlfriend say ''thats adorable''

[devilhunter84]

[Bandit Bill]

I didn't choose any of the above. Rumors only keep people from enjoying what is available today. They tend to get peoples hope up and often disappoint.

Today's Mac minis are great. Heck the G4 that I have been enjoying for the past 2 years is great.

[DCGuy]

just give me my cup of starbucks coffe and $100 credit!