Apple Computer refreshed the Mac Mini today by adding dual-core Intel i5 and i7 processors, a Thunderbolt port, and a discrete graphics card. What’s interesting is that the standard Mac Mini no longer has a built-in optical drive. Instead, there’s an option for an external SuperDrive for $79 which reads and writes from DVDs and CDs. In addition, Apple announced its upcoming Cinema Display.

Brian Tong from CNET is predicting that a refresh to the Mac Pro and Mac Mini line-ups will be coming in either late July or early August of this year. Not many details on what the refreshes will include have been released, although we’re likely to see additions of features such Thunderbolt I/O and Sandy Bridge processors as with the other refreshes that have already taken place this year.

Instead of simply allowing today’s iPhone 4 pre-order to keep us Apple fanboys happy, Steve also felt it necessary to unveil the new Mac Mini. This new desktop computer now comes with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 320GB memory, and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics. However, that’s not the best part. At only $699, the cheapest Mac available also comes with an HDMI port and SD card reader on the back. Quite impressive.

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).

So, the Mac Mini finally received its much wanted update; rather quietly, with no events or notifications. Judging by the front exterior, there’s not that much different. So, what has actually changed? Is it worth investing in now, or should hold off for later models? To give you some idea, the rumored images that you likely saw around the net these past few weeks were, in fact, the new Mac Mini. Well, not the version with 17 USB ports unfortunately.

The Apple store is back up, and pretty much every Macintosh that doesn’t have the word “Book” in it has received an upgrade. The Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro all have new models at various price points, with the iMac seeing the most models (four). But were the Mac mini predictions right? Are there really five USB ports? HDMI? Well…yes, no, and just head inside for more.

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.

It seems perhaps Apple is poised to release new Mac Minis and iMacs, not on March 24th, but as soon as tomorrow, March 3rd, 2009. This rumor surfaced on two separate websites, at least one of which is fairly trustworthy. The rumor started on HardwareMac.com, a generally trustable source, and was further backed up by OneMoreThing.nl. Not only do they say they that Apple will be releasing new Mac Mini and iMac models tomorrow, but they also have model numbers and specs on the hardware.

We’ve been hearing a lot of whispers about the Mac mini as of late, and we’ve brushed a number of them off as fake. But it seems that either this is one of the most elaborate hoaxes we’ve come across in a long time, or this is actually the next Mac mini.

Regardless of whether the Mac mini that has been popping up in pictures and video is the real deal “2009 Edition” or not (my bet: not), a key point many are making to prove it is fake actually makes sense: the two video out ports, one DisplayPort and one mini-DVI.