Apple is expected to refresh its line of mini desktop computers sometime around March this year, NVIDIA insiders have confirmed to the folks at tom's hardware. The device is allegedly smaller in size, thanks to the Ion platform it employs. Apple is also believed to have gained preferential treatment from NVIDIA, who allegedly has sent out mere blue prints of Ion to the rest of its partners.

“A large portion of the Apple Mac community is waiting for Apple to refresh the Mac Mini line. We learned today that the next generation of Mac Mini computers will be based on Nvidia's Ion platform,” the source reveals. “An Nvidia partner confirmed to us that Apple was the first to receive samples of Nvidia's Ion platform, which we covered extensively during CES. In fact, Apple received prototype units long before Nvidia partners who opted to work on Ion. We're told that some partners still only have blue prints of Ion,” the report shows.

Being considerably smaller in size, the Ion platform may well lead to the reduction in size of the new Mac mini, the site pointsout. Undoubtedly, Apple will not only beef up the mini inside, but will also add a redesigned case to the unit(s) launching in March, around CeBit.

As far as pricing goes, the new mini is expected to cost no more than $700, for a high-end model, and around $500 for the low-end SKU. This could well be the case with the new minis, as NVIDIA itself stated in the past that it expected Ion products to start at roughly $400, the same source points out.

Older Mac mini rumors said that two port versions were expected to show up on the device, one for use with Apple's old monitors, the other (MiniDisplay Port) for use with the company's new Cinema displays. A new firewire 800 port is also rumored for the new-generation Mac mini.