New iPod mini and iMac next week?

The iPod mini and the iMac now have shipping times at the Apple Store which have changed from same day shipping to 5-7 and 7-10 days respectively. Usually this means an upgrade is imminent. Furthermore, a post a few days ago at this blog from a supposed Apple employee suggested there may be "something big" coming next week:

i have to take one day off from apple, see, because the taping for def poetry requires it, but the good news is that i will fly to nyc on my day off, tape the next day, which is my day off, then fly out the next day, which is the only day i need off from apple.

but, here's the thing... something big is about to happen at apple, and they won't tell us what it is, but this big thing is happening on wednesday, my day off, and everyone in the entire call center is being put on mandatory overtime from wednesday to friday, which is when i want to leave. it's probably a new product release, probably the new operating system tiger, anyway, i've been told by the lady in charge of allowing for time off that i not only cannot have the friday off, but my normal day off of wednesday is being switched to tuesday for this week. like, with no asking, with no notice, just buh-blam.

Curiously, that post has since been removed.

However, such shipping delays could also simply signify manufacturing issues, especially with the iMac. Still, if you're considering purchasing either product, it may be prudent to wait until next Wednesday. If they are updated, we can expect the iPod mini to be bumped to 5 GB or 6 GB, and the iMac to be bumped to 2+ GHz, with or without GPU upgrades.

[Update: 2005-02-17]

The iMac page at the Apple Store now quotes 3-5 day shipping.