When trying to devine what may be coming next from Apple it is necessary to look at the absense of information and product releases Apple released a new updated 24″ Cinema Display but did not update the 30″ monitor. Why not? Apple has not changed the AppleTV hardware in a while despite the updates to the software. What happens when you think about these two things together?
You get an updated 30″ monitor with a built-in AppleTV. Is 30″ big enough? It is for me. Putting a CPU & hard drive into the TV would make it remarkably like an iMac.
What else is due for a refresh? What about the Mac Mini. I do not think this is a product that Apple cares about. I also think Apple needs to keep it on the price list as a gateway drug for people who already have a monitor and want to switch to the Mac.