It doesn't mean dual core CPUs unless they go i3. The analogous 15w i5 is the i5-8250U (Kaby Lake Refresh) which has been out since last year. It just lacks Iris Graphics and goes with UHD620 graphics which gives the Iris 5100 graphics in the 'current' Mac Mini 2014 models a run for their money. For clarity - Notebookcheck.net seems to rank the Iris 5100 near the top of Class 4 whereas the more modern UHD620 is mid table in Class 3 (the class above). These are the benefits of being 5 generations newer, I guess.
In theory, if it was good enough to run a Retina Screen in a mid 2014 13" Retina MacBook Pro why couldn't it do run the same screen in a cost reduced 13" MacBook (not pro) this year? @dogslobber pointed out in another thread that Dell seem to be offering the XPS 13 (9370) with a 4k 13" IGZO screen so it can only be Apple's own performance standards that prevents them from allowing the lower spec Intel CPU from running a Retina Screen (or a marketing veto). For reference, the 13" Retina Screen is 2560x1600 whereas the Dell screen is their own Ultrasharp 4K 3840x2160 with 100 percent colour gamut - it's a 16:9 capacitive touchscreen which is apparently also IPS. Here's another review of it.
Ironically, the XPS 9370 isn't without its own keyboard issues - you didn't need to copy everything from Apple, guys.
I believe the i5-8250U will get speed bumped with a Whiskey Lake model later this year (dodgy rumours are dubbing the WL variant the i5-8265U and it will supposedly have a higher turbo frequency of 3.7GHz from the same base speed of 1.6GHz, but improved graphics performance - the key phrase that gets Apple interested). There's no suggestion that this is an Iris Graphics part though.
If Apple are waiting for an improved CPU with better graphics for an upgraded MacBook Air it wouldn't be a bad choice and would probably be most welcome as a Mac Mini CPU not least because it give the fabled 2012 quad core 45w CPU a run for its money in most benchmarks due to the process shrink and modernity.
Apple do need to hit a price point but in the macOS Mojave era I think all models have to start at 8Gb, especially if upgrading RAM is not possible and certainly if Apple do another 2014 and abandon the Mini for 4 years. By Apple standards that means the base price goes up but I am expecting that the 2018 iPad can pick up the slack quite easily for people who need that cheaper 'computer'.
And while adding the 28w CPUs into the middle and top SKUs would mirror the 'current' 2014 models we hit upon the old excuse of different sockets - the i5-8250U uses FC-BGA1356 like the i5-7200U before it. The 28w i5-8259U uses FCBGA1528. If Apple aren't going to design two different motherboards for their next Mini, I would say that they would be reluctant to release a capable 28w Mini with quad core and Iris Graphics when the 15w CPUs have a different socket. So it'll be choice time for Apple and given that the 28w CPUs are in pricey MacBook Pros with touch bars I would say that any Mini will be 15w across the board.
If they stay in the same case, capable of cooling 45w TDP, Apple could reintroduce dGPU into a higher SKU or two with upwards of 30w budget - a Mini in the now traditional case with a 15w Intel CPU and AMD Pro 555X GPU for instance - would be very interesting to people who might otherwise have been forced to consider an expensive eGPU to get better performance than the iGPU. This allows Apple to position a higher SKU Mini as being capable of running a 5k Apple monitor next year.
It might also be Apple's solution to specifying a base model Retina 4k iMac if, as I would expect, this is the year that the entire iMac range goes Retina. And if the MBA goes away this year too - turning into a 13" Retina MacBook for example - that's the rest of the range going Retina as well.
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