One thing they could do to extend the life of the existing hardware would be to cost reduce the middle tier $699 2.6GHz 8GB RAM Mac Mini to the $499 price point

One thing they could do to extend the life of the existing hardware would be to cost reduce the middle tier $699 2.6GHz 8GB RAM Mac Mini to the $499 price point. I have to think that at least some of the memory and drive components have dropped in price over the past 3 years.