Apple Fun = iPod HiFi & Intel Mac Minis

Ok so this wasn't totally unexpected. The iPod HiFi is pretty boring in my opinion. The Intel Mac Mini is exciting but a totally predictable move by Apple.

Here's the skinny on the mini from MacRumors:

At the media event February 28th, Apple unveiled a revised Mac mini featuring either a 1.5Ghz Intel Core Solo or 1.66Ghz Core Duo processor, offering up to a 5x increase in overall speed from the previous model. The form factor for the machine remains unchanged.

The new mini sports the Apple Remote with Front Row, up to 2 GB memory, Intel GMA950 graphics processor, DVI connector w/ VGA out option, Slot loading optical drive, up to 120GB hard drive, built-in gigabit ethernet, analog and digital audio, USB & Firewire ports, iLife '06 and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Additionally, the new mini offers "Shared Music, Photos & Video" which allows the mini to stream music, photos and video wirelessly from other macs on the same subnetwork using Bonjour technology. iTunes TV shows can be streamed.

1.5Ghz Intel Core Solo Model: $599
1.5GHz Intel Core Solo processor
2MB L2 Cache
667MHz Frontside Bus
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote

1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo Model: $799
1.66GHz Intel Core Duo processor
2MB L2 Cache
667MHz Frontside Bus
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote

All Mac mini models also include an integrated Intel GMA950 graphics processor with 64MB of shared DDR2 SDRAM, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, four external USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 port, optical digital and analog audio in/out, and built-in mono speaker.

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Optical audio out and the ability to stream media from other Macs on a network... mmmmm Wonder how the mini would work as a PVR when used with an Elgato?

Very very tempting. Wonder if the 4200rpm drives have been upgraded to 5400rpm now they're SATA? The Core Duo is far better value for money considering you're getting an extra cpu core. Apple willll sell bucketloads of these!