Apple has apparently told its direct-sales partners like the Apple Stores not to order new iMacs or Mac Minis and don’t expect any more shipments either. This can mean only one of two things: Apple is going bankrupt or there are new models coming real soon.

The latest Mac mini is barely a day old and already we are getting the first look inside the updated computer. Apple kept to the original design though which still requires the use of a putty knife and a bit of patience to open her up. It would be nice if Apple adapted a similar easy swap-out design that the new notebooks sport, but whatya going to do. Inside, there isn’t that much different besides the obvious new parts. Click through for a bit of circuit board pr0n.

Oh, and one more thing. (see what I did there) The latest, and hopefully last, rumor of the day is stating that Apple might release new iMacs and Mac minis tomorrow. That’s right, March 3rd, 2009 which would then leave the Mac Pro and Time Machine update for the also rumored March 24th event. What makes this rumor so special is that it comes packaged with ‘official’ specs.

The Mac Mini rumors are flying like toasters in System 7 these days, and this one is particularly robust. Although some image analysis on the original picture has shown it to be likely a fake, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning out video of this crytogadget.

A pic surfaced yesterday showing what could be the next Mac Mini but somebody with way too much time examined the photo under filters only to crush our dreams. Apparently the digital artifacts don’t line up or match or something like that, which proves beyond a doubt that at least this pic is not real. Sorry. Super big pic after the jump if you must see why this isn’t the next Mac Mini.

Chances are Apple is prepping the next version of the Mac Mini. It’s about time for a refresh and this pic might be the real deal. It’s got FireWire 800, Mini DVI along with a Mini DisplayPort, five USB ports and an aluminum-ish finish; everything we would imagine that would be on the next-gen Mac Mini. Now, if we only knew when it will be released.

Interesting bit of speculation surrounding the Mac Mini. Tom’s Hardware, one of the oldest, bestest hardware-focused sites out there, says that the upcoming Mac Mini speed bump will feature Nvidia’s new Ion platform. Among other things, that can lead to an even smaller Mac Mini.

Everyone was expecting a Mini refresh at MacWorld, and although the 17-inch MBP is a sweet setup, the Mini has been one of Apple’s more neglected products and people thought it was time. Well, they were sort of right. The new Minis are going to be coming out a little later this year, and they’ll be sporting the NVIDIA Ion platform, which is a combination of the 9400M video solution with Intel’s dual-core low-power processor, the Atom 330, on a really tiny mobo — 12 square inches.

Despite the big guy not making the coveted keynote himself, the show trudging-on with Apple making its last appearance. So what does Apple have in store for us today or tomorrow? The safe bet is on an updated dual core, dual monitor-supported Mac Mini. But could it be new unibody notebooks? How ’bout a low cost netbook, eh? Or even,*gasp*, an iPhone Nano. Poll after the jump.

My goodness. If the Mac Mini doesn’t recieve an update next week at Macworld, there will be some disappointed MacHeads. We’ve heard dual core CPUs, NVIDIA GPU power, SATA optical drive interface, and a new chassis. But wait! There is more!

Time to throw away your old Mac Minis, friends, because new ones are coming next week. TUAW has on good authority (read “some guy told them”) that the new minis will have SATA optical drives that can be replaced with hard drives and that they will look more like the MacBooks with sexier styling and black and aluminum accents.

The new line of iMacs due early this coming year are likely to sport some pretty serious upgrades, most notably (we reckon) a quad-core processor and new NVIDIA chipsets. Of course, this more powerful hardware will be producing more heat, and if Apple wants to keep the iMac and Mini lines trim and svelte, they may be putting a bit of work into a new cooling system.

Macenstein got a hot tip from some mysterious stranger claiming to have found the newest Mac Mini design with the Apple-esque tagline “The world’s smallest desktop computer.”