There's only a few hours left before Apple's rumored announcement of new iMacs and Mac minis but a list of parts/specs posted to our forum indicate that Apple may be pushing out a number of additional updates including Mac Pros, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule. The posting was made by someone who has had access to Apple part numbers in the past, and we've since been able to confirm that these part numbers and specs are valid and found in Apple's systems. The most surprising news is that it looks like Apple will be releasing new Mac Pros as well on Tuesday.
The list of parts and specs correspond to the previous iMac rumors of one 20" model and three 24" models. The speeds of the processors appear comparable to the previous iMacs. Hard drive capacities and RAM, however, have been bumped to twice their previous amounts. The iMac will almost certainly adopt the NVIDIA platform which brings with it accelerated video that should also support Apple's upcoming Snow Leopard.
MB417LL/A - IMAC 20" 2.66/2GB/320GB/SD/MSE/KB-USA
MB418LL/A - IMAC 24" 2.66/4GB/640/SD/MSE/KB-USA
MB419LL/A - IMAC 24" 2.93/4GB/640/256/SD/MSE/KB-USA
MB420LL/A - IMAC 24" 3.06/4GB/1TB/512/SD/MSE/KB-USA
The Mac minis are said to be 2.0 GHz each with improved hard drive space. We've heard whispers that the entry level price for the Mac mini may finally fall to $499, representing a $100 drop. The adoption of the NVIDIA platform in the Mac mini should also provide a significant performance boost over the existing models.
MB463LL/A - MAC MINI 2.0/1X1G/120/SD/AP/BT-USA
MB464LL/A - MAC MINI 2.0/2X1G/320/SD/AP/BT-USA
Meanwhile, new Time Capsule and Airport Extreme models are consistent with FCC filings that were just published this week. The timing of the release of these filings almost certainly means these releases are imminent.
Finally, the parts list surprisingly reveals that the Mac Pro will finally be updated alongside a new ATI RADEON HD 4870 graphics card. The Mac Pro specs reveal the following specs:
MAC PRO 2.26_8CX/6X1G/640/GT120/SD-USA
MAC PRO 2.66QCX/3X1GB/640/GT120/SD-USA
The 2.66GHz configuration is a familiar baseline configuration for the Mac Pros and it seems likely there would be build-to-order processor upgrades. The 2.26GHz configuration, however, seems more of a mystery. While a 2.26GHz Xeon processor seems to exist, it does not appear to come in 8-core configurations. Otherwise, the specs seem consistent with the adoption of Intel's Nehalem processors.
Update: Apple Stores down already:
