Just in case the release of OSX Lion and the unveiling of the updated MacBook Air isn't enough to satisfy your Apple cravings today, the company has also taken the wraps off its first Thunderbolt equipped display and revealed a beefed up Mac Mini line-up
27-inch Thunderbolt Display
If you've purchased a Thunderbolt equipped Mac notebook recently this is likely to set you drooling.
The new Thunderbolt Display is designed to expand the screen real estate of Mac notebooks and take advantage of Thunderbolts' two way 10Gbps transfer speeds.
The screen itself is a 16:9 edge-to-edge glass design bordered in black with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 178 degree viewing angle, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 12 ms response time and an ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts brightness.
Audio is via a 49 watt, 2.1 speaker system and on the back there's three powered USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, Ethernet port, Kensington security slot and of course a Thunderbolt port.
There's also the clever inclusion of an additional built in Thunderbolt cable and Universal MagSafe cable (up to 85W), so you can charge your notebook and daisy-chain a second display and multiple high speed devices.
There's no definite word on availability but Apple says the Thunderbolt Display will hit stores "within the next 60 days." The price: US$999.
Updated Mac mini
The latest Mac notebooks aren't the only option if you want to plug into the new Thunderbolt Display. The addition of a Thunderbolt port is also among the upgrades given to the Mac mini which also gets new dual-core Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, Mac OS X Lion and an SSD option, but loses its optical drive.
The Mac mini retains the 7.7-inches (19.5cm) square and 1.4-inches (3.6cm) high aluminum enclosure that arrived last year and there are two consumer configurations (2 GB and 4 GB) plus a Server model on offer.
The US$599 model has a 2.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 Mac processor with 2GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. The specs can be upgraded to 8GB and a 750GB hard drive.
The second model costs US$799 and in its standard configuration comes with a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. This can be upgraded to a 2.7GHz dual-core Core i7 processor, up to 8GB of memory, and a 750GB hard drive - plus the option to add or replace this with a 256GB solid state drive.
Finally, there's also a server model with 4GB of memory, dual 500GB hard drives and a 2.0 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor priced at US$999.
The new Mac mini is now available through the Apple Store and will hit stores from July 21.
