New Mac Mini released - with HDMI!

from TUAW:

Mac Mini gets a sneaky update: spec bump, unibody enclosure, HDMI

by Chris Rawson (RSS feed) on Jun 15th 2010 at 4:40AM

Amidst all the excitement over iPhone 4 being available for pre-order, Apple also snuck an update to the Mac Mini under the radar -- and it's a pretty big update. The new Mac Mini comes in two flavors:

2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB RAM
320 GB hard drive
$699

or the "server class" Mac Mini:

2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB RAM
Dual 500 GB hard drive
$999

Both models of Mac Mini have been updated with NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, the same integrated GPU present in the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

The Mac Mini has received far more than a simple spec bump, however. The enclosure itself has been updated to a unibody aluminum construction similar to the MacBook Pro, and the "server" Mac Mini omits an optical drive entirely in favor of dual hard drives [this was the case for the previous server model –Ed.]. Perhaps more important than that, the Mac Mini is now the first Mac ever to include built-in HDMI. You read that right: the Mac Mini has HDMI. The Mac Mini also has an SD card slot in the back. [Ed: This is one sexy little machine!]

Apple has also addressed the well-known difficulty of upgrading the Mac Mini's RAM. There's now a removable twist-off panel on the Mac Mini's bottom that allows for easy access to the Mini's RAM slots. We're not sure yet if the hard drive will be as easy to upgrade, but at the very least, a RAM upgrade looks like it'll take less than a minute with this new model.

The Mac Mini is available now.