Exactly. Only way the Mac mini makes sense is if it covers the low end of the market. The rumored high end mini would surely cannibalize iMac sales to an extent.
The thing about all these arguments of mac mini cannibalizing iMac sales: it presumes that the bulk of we consumers don't mind essentially "throwing away" a big/expensive machine including a high end display every 5 years or so. I'm now on my second iMac (a 2014 retina) and I will not buy another one. It's a nice machine, but in a few years when it's long in the tooth, it will be a big/bulky unit that can only serve limited purposes such as kids playing games on it, or using it as a "fancy" but outdated display.
On the other hand, I still run several mini 2011 & 2012 machines in a data center and they are great. I would spend $$ to buy several of those right away if Apple got a clue and made a decent machine again.
When my newer iMac gets long in the tooth, if there were a new and fast mac Mini, I'd simply plug that in to use the iMac as the display.
But, if Apple doesn't get a clue about this, then I'll be headed to PC's (running linux) for an increasing amount of my computing.
I'm not the only one I know who feels this way: nearly everyone I know who owns a Mac is disappointed with Apple's decisions about things like the Mini, soldered-in RAM, etc.
One disappointed person == noise.
Many disappointed people == reduced sales.
As a pro user, I've been responsible for 100's of Mac sales over the years. Around 70 of those have been direct sales related to my work, and the rest have been due to my recommendations to others looking at a new computer. Yet I have not purchased a single Mac Pro since 2009, nor any post-2012 Mac mini. They are not at all fit for my purposes. Instead, I recently bought two older (top of the line) Minis from eBay rather than buying a new one from Apple. I am about to buy another for the office.
It is only in the past year that I have begun NOT recommending macs anymore to people. That really bums me out, but until Apple starts treating us pro users as more than just buyers of throw-away toys, they no longer have my support in recommending them.
While Apple's mac sales went up this quarter, there is an inevitable time lag between when pro users start getting turned off and stop recommending the machines, to when Apple sees a substantial decline. I don't have data on exactly how big that time lag is, but I can guess from 1-3 years.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see where Apple's sales are in a few more years if they continue to anger pro users.
Hopefully they are starting to get the message.
The problem is - as much as Apple as fallen - the grass isn't greener on the other side yet, IMO. I could switch... I'd get by. I'd save some money and have access to some higher performance (note: not necessarily better) hardware. But on the whole, the experience would still be worse.
