A Mac reseller in Belgium claims to have received inside information suggesting Apple plans to update its Mac mini desktop before the end of February.
New Mac mini configurations in both Intel Core i5 and Core i7 Haswell processor configurations have been listed on Computerstore.be. However, the listings are just placeholders representing assumptions made by the store.
But one shopper who contacted the stores about the listings posted on MacRumors to reveal that the retailer believes the new Mac minis will launch by the end of February. Computerstore.be based this on information they claimed to have received from "reliable sources."
The Mac mini was the only product in Apple's Mac lineup that didn't see an update in 2013. The desktop was last refreshed in October of 2012 with Intel's Ivy Bridge processors, as well as upgrade options allowing up to 16 gigabytes of RAM.
The Mac mini starts at $599, making it Apple's most affordable Mac, undercutting the $999 11.6-inch MacBook Air.
Apple resellers saw regular stock-outs of the Mac mini throughout 2013. Though low supply has historically suggested that a refresh could be imminent, it's believed that Apple has recently become more conservative with its inventory levels to prevent a glut of stock on the market.
Intel's Haswell line of processors were mostly focused on mobile devices such as notebooks, as the chipmaker concentrated on reducing power consumption to enhance battery life. Such performance gains would obviously not translate to the Mac mini, which is not a mobile computer.