In a recession, it's more critical that they deliver value.
I know that most of the people posting here are comfortable with the fact that Apple sometimes ships hardware for a greater price than comparatively spec'ed hardware from other manufacturers. But in these economic times, people are going to be more interested in getting the most of their money. Such was the case during the recession in 1992. During that time, I worked at a small computer store that sold Apple PCs. When Apple started losing sales, Apple's first reaction was to raise prices a bit. THAT started a decline (along with a couple of other factors) until Steve Jobs returned. People decided they would rather put up with Windows because it worked "well enough."
The point is that the greater market considers Apple's products as luxury items. During recessions, luxuries are the first things to be budgeted, and I think Apple's hardware business is particularly vulnerable to this. The great value in a Mac lies in OSX. It's simply the best, slickest, easily used UNIX that's out there. Power Users have access to over 30 years of UNIX stability and 3rd party programs and development tools and Casual Users never have to worry about what's behind the desktop.
To Apple's credit, some of their new computer offerings do match up favorably with comparatively spec'ed products - but not for long. Apple's hardware release schedules lag pathetically behind the Dells and HPs of the world and I submit that they need to address this more aggressively.
I think the new mini will have:
The fastest processor (Duo or Quad) with which they can still manufacture a SILENT computer. This is very important to Apple.
A discrete video chip solution. Intel X3100 is GARBAGE. It uses system RAM and performance lags well behind nVidia and ATI. My P4 mini uses a separate graphics processor and performs very well.
2-4 GB RAM / 800 MHz bus. OSX is nowhere near the system hog that Windows is, but sometimes we need the extra RAM to virtualize other OS's. I love and use OSX at home, but Windows pays the bills.
HDMI/DVI outout. It's a mini, and the selling point IS to connect it to a 3rd party keyboard/mouse/monitor.
Hard Drive - Does that really matter? Get the small one and upgrade yourself for much less $$$ (Goes for RAM, too).
USB, of course. Firewire? Good question. Bulk throughput is mostly the same on both, but Firewire has an advantage when you're making many small and frequent disk accesses due to processing circuits on the motherboard. But THAT adds cost, whereas USB relies on the CPU for communications processing.
Integrated Bluetooth / WiFi. I bought my P4 mini without it, so I had to use a bluetooth dongle and had to wire my house with CAT6 cable. The upside was wiring my house with CAT6!!
OSX Snow Leopard, or a coupon for the upgrade.
Of course, if they DONT offer a decent Mac Mini, maybe I WILL buy an iMac from the refurbished store and use my existing monitor as a second display...
