The guys at XtremeSystems.org, the home of hardcore modders and computer enthusiasts (they always dominate the Futuremark Hall of Fame for benchmarking), have finally proven that my prediction was correct. It is possible to purchase the cheaper 1.5GHz Core Solo Mac Mini and upgrade it to a Core Duo processor, such as the 2.16GHz Core Duo that XS member Fugger did. I went more in depth about this over at 123MacMini, where I will be posting occassionally about little snippets of Mac news. But don't worry, nothing will change over here. Read the rest.
The XtremeSystems thread is very impressive, showing the steps necessary to complete such an upgrade yourself. The CPU swap involves removing the motherboard completely, taking off the heatsink and the old CPU. The process is definitely not for the faint of heart when it comes to dismantling a new Mac Mini.
After I sell my Mac Mini I will be purchasing an Intel Mac Mini 1.5GHz Core Solo, 2GB of DDR2-667, a 7200RPM 80GB SATA hard drive, a 2.0GHz Intel Yonah Core Duo and upgrade to the 8x SuperDrive from Apple. I figure that will be a monster web development and media creation machine.