When Apple launched refreshed hardware last week, it was no surprise that the ultrathin MacBook Air still does not have an internal DVD drive. Many were shocked to find out, though, that Apple has now also removed the DVD drive from the Mac Mini. But, Apple shouldn't stop there, and the revolution shouldn't be limited to Apple, or even just to PCs for that matter. It's time for discs to die.

Apple on Tuesday introduced an even smaller version of the Mac mini, with an HDMI port, an SD card reader, and more graphics and processing power. The new Mac mini is only 1.4-inches tall and rocks a unibody aluminium enclosure, making it a potential match to your HDTV in the living room.

Apple's cigar box desktop, better known as the Mac mini, has always been something of an oddball. Like the rest of Cupertino's hardware lineup, the mini is sleek, shiny, and stylish. But this miniature, monitor-less desktop has a much higher geek quotient than Apple's more polished consumer offerings like the MacBook, iMac, or iPhone. There's a tinkerer's quality to the Mac mini, a device that's never seemed to have a clearly defined niche.

Among the retooling of the more prominent iMac and MacBook lines earlier Tuesday, Apple quietly introduced its first small-scale server, a $US999 box based on the Mac mini that one analyst called the only significant announcement of today.

Apple today revamped its iMac, MacBook and Mac mini lines in a long-expected refresh that company executives hinted yesterday was imminent.