.... I am aware that many of you here are sick and tired of these types of threads. ....
Can you imagine what a mess the Mac mini would be if there were any attempt made to please the individual desires of users? It would be twice the size, five times the cost, and be a waste of money for 99% of the public for whom it was designed to actually appeal.
I can't say I'm sick and tired of these types of threads, but it mystifies me that there's anyone seriously waiting on an update to what is by design and intention, the entry-level Mac designed to appeal to people who want exactly that, an entry-level system that does what it needs to do in order to meet the needs of average users.
So what if it contains out-of-date technology? I'd rather that (and so would the average buyer) than having to spend far more to get into MacOS at the cheapest reasonable price.
In the end, it's like any other mass-production consumer item - it is targeted at a market segment that the manufacturer thinks is appropriate (after not inconsiderable market research without doubt) and is engineered to fit the profile of that market. That's why it doesn't get much in the way of Apple's attention, because it doesn't need it in order to fulfill it's purpose in the product line-up, and why when it does get upgrades, they're generally fairly modest and lack anything of a startling nature. It's already $100 too expensive to fit the market perfectly, adding better internals would simply push the price up or risk increasing cannibalization of iMac sales.
I, for one, want an entry-level Mac that the market can bear, which given the present economic condition means at the lowest possible price. If the system doesn't suit, there are other Macs that undoubtedly will, so it's up to the individual to decide whether to pay more for the system of choice to meet the expectations they have - not to demand improvements that might get them the system they want, but mean the rest of us have to pay more than necessary for one into the bargain.