New Apple products but no keynote

When I heard all the rumors about the new Apple products launching this week the first thing I thought of was if I missed the keynote. If you are not familiar Apple normally holds large keynotes to introduce new or refresh products. None of that this time and when the Apple store went down earlier this week we knew what was coming.

Lets start with the new iMacs. They come in 21.5″ and 27″ flavors now wide screen and LED backlit. Prices are pretty comparable with previous versions. The 21.5″ model starts at $1199 and comes with 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB ram, 500GB hard drive and NVIDIA 9400M. The 27″ model starts at $1699 with similar CPU and ram but larger hard drive and ATI HD 4670 graphics.

The white MacBook got a refresher with a new plastic unibody shell. There is nothing super special here, still $999. 13inch LED screen, 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3, 250GB hard drive, NVIDIA 9400M and an estimated 7 hour batter life. The screen is still glossy and the track pad is still large and glass covered. Only 2 USB ports and no firewire.

The MacMini is next and just like the other products it got a refresher. This is probably the product that needed it the most. Now the MacMini start at $599 and that gets you a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB ram, 160GB hard drive and NVIDIA 9400M graphics. The $799 model pushes more CPU, ram and hard drive. The really surprise is the new MacMini server, for $999 you get a mini case with no media slot drive instead it has two 500GB hard drives. It comes with Snow Leopard Server and unlimited clients.

The last and probably most interesting production was the new Magic Mouse. A wireless mouse with no visible buttons but a multi-touch body. The mouse has a very thin profile and allows you to scroll with the swipe of a finger. The scrolling works similar to the iPhone in that it uses momentum. You can use two fingers to swipe back and forth in your browser history or through your photos in iPhoto. The battery is said to last four months and for the $69 price tag you get a mouse to change all mices (mouses?).