The new high-end Mac mini was 21 percent faster overall than the previous high-end Mac mini, which also had a 120GB hard drive. The biggest differences between the two Mac minis were in 3-D game performance, of course, but drive tests and even Compressor and Photoshop tests, show some real improvement in this new generation.

Comparing the new entry-level Mac mini to its predecessor, a 1.83GHz model with a 80GB hard drive, we see a performance gain of 23 percent in our Speedmark 5 score, with the new mini beating the older model in every test we ran.

The performance of the new low-end Mac mini and the entry level, White are very similar. With just 3 Speedmark points separating them, the two systems finished within a second or two of each other and the majority of our tests.

We're still testing the new Mac minis as well as the new iMacs and we'll include the results in Macworld's full review. it will be interesting to see how the new desktop systems compete.

[James Galbraith is Macworld's lab director.]