Perhaps it is just that modern CPUs are powerful enough that even the low-end ones are now Good Enough for most people. There have always been cheaper CPUs available; Apple just avoided them in favor of a better experience.

I would imagine being energy efficient and cheap is their main goal. This is the kind of computer people will leave on, plugged into their TV.

Ding ding ding. My TV and home media and general server needs are powered by a Mid-2010 Mac Mini 4,1 with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, which is most certainly less than half the horsepower of this new model [1], and it works great. This would only be an improvement for this or any other use.

[1] Hey, I was right: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2238&cmp[]=14...

Yup. If I was to put together another HTPC, this would be the ideal product I think (something that runs XBMC). I spent about $800 (sigh..) on putting together something a lot bulkier and noisier about a year ago.