In late 2010, Apple announced that they would cease production of the Xserve. That meant two things about the future of Apple hardware to me. It meant that new designs for both the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro would be more supportive of playing a server role.

Apple updated the Mac Mini in the middle of 2011 and proved me half right. The new Mac Mini shedded an optical drive in favor of opting for a second drive to increase storage capacity and it packed vastly improved processing power. With OS X Lion Server available from the App Store, a Mac server can be had for as little as $650 today. Apple also offers a faster, pre-configured Mac Mini with Lion Server for $1000.

Amazingly, Apple hasn’t refreshed the Mac Pro since the current model was released in the middle of 2010 before they axed the Xserve. Despite this long wait, I do think that Apple will update the Mac Pro contrary to some of the rumors swirling around. How? This is just a guess, naturally, but the new Mac Pro will be smaller and will be designed to stand vertically, horizontally, and easily be stored in a server rack. This means the Mac Pro could return to the legacy desktop computer form factor that littered desktops and elevated monitors in the nineties—elegantly refined by Jonathan Ive, of course! I doubt the optical drives will survive in a refreshed Mac Pro which will probably result in a boost to sales of Apple’s external SuperDrive. These changes are but one of the many ways Apple could make the Mac Pro more favorable for places that want a Mac server. I’m looking forward to seeing how Apple does it if they complete my prophecy next week at WWDC.