Apple is Interested in NVIDIA's Ion Platform

According to report on Tom's Hardware Guide the next generation of Mac Mini computers will be based on Nvidia's Ion platform.

It is believed that Apple was the first to receive samples of Nvidia's Ion platform, including prototype units before NVIDIA partners who opted to work on Ion.

Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro 'unibody' notebooks already use NVIDIA's 9400M GPU — same as the Ion. The GPU is capable of HD video decoding and supports NVIDIA's CUDA technology for general purpose computing.

It is purported that Apple's Ion-based platform will be powered by the Intel Atom 330 processor. The Atom 330 is a 1.6 GHz processor with a 533 MHz front side bus (FSB) and has twice the execution resources and L2 cache as the Atom 230.

Since the Ion platform is based on a pico-ITX form factor, one can even expect the new Mac Mini to be smaller than the current generation. The new Mac Mini may launch in March 2009 — probably CeBIT time.

Pricing has understandably not been revealed but could be in the range of $600 to $700 range. NVIDIA itself stated previously that it expected Ion products to start at roughly $400.

There is speculation the Ion platform might be used for the Apple TV. However, it seems quite certain that the Ion platform will show up within the Mac Mini.
Can't wait for further updates on this!