If the minor spec upgrade is as reported, Apple may have missed a chance to upgrade the GPU from the ATI 9200 to something that would support core graphics. The iBook was upgraded to the ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 at its last revision; the mini could use a similar upgrade. Boosting the VRAM from 32 to 64 MB isn't really enough to take advantage of the competitive benefits offered by the Core Graphics technology in Mac OS X 10.4.

If the GPU is still the 9200 this upgrade is completely uninteresting. The low-end GPU is the biggest shortcoming of the Mac Mini.. a slight CPU clock speed boost and extra VRAM isn't going to give it much extra punch.

I really have to wonder if Apple's deliberately holding the Mini back to keep it from cannibalizing the sales of eMacs and iMacs. If so, they're only hurting themselves... if you're gonna be eaten anyway, you might as well get a meal out of it.

You may be right about holding it back. With a better GPU I would instead buy a mini over an iMac.

But these are consumer machines and as such most do not know the difference anyway. Us hardcore Mac guys naturally do but I recall a recent study by some investment firm, out of Japan I think, that asked people about the Intel in Mac. Most did not even know that Macs did not have and Intel processor!

So while the hardcore users may pass on the mini due to shortcomings, I think the general consumer would not know or even car about the difference in GPUs. And I would think there are many more general consumers to tech consumers out there. Apple would know this to be true.

I dont think its cost holding Apple back on the GPU, so what is?

I'm not really using a lot of core image applications here. I know I'm not getting any quartz extreme advantage. Oh...I have a compatible graphics card. You may have noticed that reports of enabling quartz extreme results in some instability, but also doesn't provide a MASSIVE HUGE CAN'T LIVE W/O IT benefit. Core Image is hardly leveraged by ISVs. In fact, Apple changed requirements or took down pages about what graphics card you need for what because there is a fall back mode...called what your computer is doing now.

A macmini with a faster cpu and more video memory benefits from both. Sure....it might be even better w/ an x600/256 and a 2.5 G5, but it's a consumer machine AND it's now better at the same price point.

'Wah core image' is FUD http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=FUD (the 8th definition) for this.

Whiners and windows trolls aside.

iMac: Has a faster processor, better video card, A MONITOR, bigger hard drives, a TON of ports, toslink/spdif, comes with a keyboard and mouse, etc..etc...They are totally different machines..

Although the macmini might make a nice piece of NAS + a Toast Anywhere thing going on w/ the superdrive.

Can we whimper some more...at least it means the g5 powerbooks are coming.