If you used to run a Mac, then you'd know that they didn't redesign the outside of any Macs when they switched to Intel. It signals continuity of the platform. And besides, they just redesigned the Air two years ago. What were you expecting?
And yes, they did add more cores. There's PCIe 4. There's support for Ethernet. There's also Thunderbolt and HDMI.
You're extrapolating the three lowest-end Macs up through the entire product line. They aren't going to keep the higher-end Intel Mac mini available if they don't think it (and its specs) serves a purpose. They aren't going to invest everything they did in the new Mac Pro just to drop it after a year.
And if the performance of Apple's chips over the last decade makes you think they won't put the resources behind their silicon to compete, I don't know what to tell you.
And yes, they did add more cores. There's PCIe 4. There's support for Ethernet. There's also Thunderbolt and HDMI.
You're extrapolating the three lowest-end Macs up through the entire product line. They aren't going to keep the higher-end Intel Mac mini available if they don't think it (and its specs) serves a purpose. They aren't going to invest everything they did in the new Mac Pro just to drop it after a year.
And if the performance of Apple's chips over the last decade makes you think they won't put the resources behind their silicon to compete, I don't know what to tell you.