In the midst of a recession, the worst in a while, Apple manages to update three of their most prominent product lines: new Mac Minis, new Mac Pros, and new iMacs. If you ask me, this is a pretty risky endeavor on Apple’s part. Sure, it’s great to keep product lines fresh with the most up-to-date hardware, but during a recession such as this, not as many people are willing to throw down a couple thousand for a new computer. In my opinion, this is the time where the Mac Mini really gets to shine and show Apple what it is worth for their company. By being only $599 for the lowest end model, it is just as cheap as a desktop computer can come (given it has no keyboard, mouse, screen, etc., but many people already have those).

I woke up to quite a nice surprise this morning when I checked my Twitter account and saw the tweet, “Apple’s Store is down!” Now, the first thing I did was head on over to the Apple Store and make sure this was true, and sure enough it was. Let’s face it, everyone gets excited for new products when the Apple online store is down, but sometimes it is simply maintenance on Apple’s part. However, with recent rumors of new Mac Minis, you never know what could happen.

An image circulating the internet at the moment, shows the rear side of what could be the next Mac Mini from Apple. Featuring 5 USB ports, 1 FireWire 800 and both mini DVI and mini DisplayPort connections. This sounds similar to what we’re expecting to see when Apple finally update their most basic Macintosh desktop computer. All signs are pointing towards the update officially coming in March, possibly around the time of the CeBit exhibition in Germany.

Macworld Expo is almost upon us, so we’ll soon have official announcements to report on. But we wouldn’t be Apple fans if we didn’t want to rumor about what’s going to happen before it’s official. Based on recent rumors, here’s what we may be seeing at Macworld next week; just don’t expect Jobs.

The evidence can be found deep inside some configuration files on new MacBooks. The current model number for the iMac is 8.1 while the Mac Mini is 2.1, so these incremented numbers likely represent unreleased models.The reference to a CFG_MCP79 is assumed to be the NVIDIA MCP79 for obvious reasons. If you have a new more »

Macworld is coming, and if Wired is to be believed, a new Mac Mini is coming along for the ride. That’s pretty much as far as the rumor from an anonymous source goes, but I won’t leave you hanging.

The rumor might be a bit lacking in details, but there are a number of things that can be expected from a new Mac Mini.

AppleInsider has some good news for those of us jonesing for a new Mac Mini. An interested customer e-mailed Bob Mansfield—Mac hardware engineering chief—to inquire about the future of the product. While this customer didn’t get a direct reply from Mansfield, there was an interesting message from another Apple executive about the Mac Mini. I more »

Everyone who was holding their breath for a new Mac Mini, iMac, Mac Pro or Apple TV (myself included), can stop. Bill Evans, an Apple spokesman, killed the rumors, and possibly our hopes and dreams along with them.

“Our holiday line-up is set,” Apple spokesman Bill Evans told Macworld.

And just like that, all the rumors are smashed. No November 10th/11th event, no new desktops, no secret netbooks, no nothing. But I’m not discouraged, and I don’t plan on wasting any time as far as rumors are concerned. All this means is that no new products or refreshes can happen earlier than 2009. So, now I ask the obvious question. What does Apple have in store for January?

According to MacRumor’s Buyer’s Guide, it’s been about 450 days since Apple last updated the Mac Mini. That’s over 2.5 times the average of 188 days for a Mac Mini product cycle. I think it’s safe to say Apple needs to do something about the Mac Mini. Dennis Sellers from Macsimum News thinks that Apple will make that decision soon.

Since I’m pretty sure that we’ll see an iMac and Mac mini update on Tuesday, Nov. 10 (if they’re not announced today), I’m going out on a limb and say that we’ll see new Mac Pros introduced at January’s Macworld Conference & Expo.

Now it should be immediately noted that this is pure speculation. There is no leaked information behind this, just a gut feeling. Oh, and to add to the credibility, Nov. 10th is a Monday.

But we all knew he meant Tuesday, Nov. 11, or should I say iTuesday? In any event, we’ve been waiting for some answer from Apple about this Mac Mini business. It’s been rumored to be either dead or upgraded. The only rumor that isn’t going around right now is that it’s going to stay the same; that would just be too boring.

I’m not going to make a prediction on the exact day that Apple will announce an upgrade to the Mac Mini, but I think it will happen…soon. Here’s my reasoning…

Nvidia has unveiled a desktop version of the motherboard design that was included with Apple’s latest notebook refresh. It’s called the GeForce 9-series, and will be making it’s way to manufacturers like Foxconn and Asus this month.

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