Well, Apple has updated it's desktop line and has finally put new hardware in the Mini. Surprisingly, the rumours about the Mini seem to have been correct. The system does indeed feature five USB 2.0 ports, Firewire 800, and both a mini-displayport and mini-DVI. When stripped down to it's nuts and bolts, the hardware is identical to the new Macbooks; including a Geforce 9400M IGP, up to 4gb DDR3 1066, and either a 2.0ghz or 2.26ghz Core 2 Duo "Penryn". It also features 802.11n Wifi and a 120gb SATA HDD & DVD burner in the base model. It starts at $599.

The iMac has been upgraded. It comes with either a 20'' (1680x1050) screen or a 24'' (1920x1200) screen. Processors have been upgraded to either a 2.66ghz, 2.93ghz, or 3.0ghz Core 2 Duo "Penryn". All models support up to 8gb DDR3 1066 in SO-DIMM form factor. The 2.66ghz 20'' and 24'' use the Geforce 9400M while the faster 24'' models upgrade graphics to either a Geforce GT 120 256/512mb or Radeon 4850 512mb. Everything else is the same. The base model starts at $1199.

The Mac pro has been updated to feature Intel's new Xeon "Gainstown" processors, which are i7 based. The 8 core models feature either two 2.26GHz, 2.66GHz, or 2.93GHz processors while the four core model is speced at 2.66ghz or 2.93ghz. It uses up to 32gb of RAM for the 8-core model our 8gb for the quad core model using DDR3 1066 ECC memory. For graphics, there's either a Geforce GT 120 512mb or Radeon 4870 512mb card. The system is quite expensive at $2499. Even for professionsals, I'm not sure it's worth it given that it no longer offers professional graphics cards with the bundle.

The updates really contain no surprises. Apple has moved their platforms to NVIDIA chipsets as they did with the Macbook and all now support DDR3. Unfortunately, there are no blu-ray drives, professional graphics cards, or HDMI available for any of the systems. Apple needs to start adding these features to justify the high price of their systems in a recession.