With the pre-release of the iPhone today Apple managed to quietly update the Mac mini with a new slick small form factor (SFF) design along with a much needed hardware upgrade.

Most notable is the inclusion of a HDMI port, reduced power consumption to less than 10W at idle, and an improved video card to the NVIDIA GeForce 320M Graphics Card.  Apple is advertising the 320M as having "twice the graphics performance" but I believe it utilizes shared system memory so it will be interesting to see how well it performs.

On the down side, the improvements come with a price increase.  The base model is priced at $699.  Makes for a nice looking SFF HTPC but for the price I’d probably stick with an Intel i3 or wait for an Atom\ION2 system.

Apple Unveils All New Mac mini

CUPERTINO, California—June 15, 2010—Apple® today unveiled a completely redesigned Mac® mini, featuring up to twice the graphics performance, a new HDMI port and a new SD card slot, all in an amazingly compact aluminum enclosure. Mac mini is the world’s most energy efficient desktop and starting at $699, is the most affordable way to enjoy Mac OS® X, iLife® or Mac OS X Snow Leopard® Server.

“The sleek, aluminum Mac mini packs great features, versatility and value into an elegant, amazingly compact design,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With twice the graphics performance, HDMI support and industry-leading energy efficiency, customers are going to love the new Mac mini.”

[Apple]