The Mac mini at one point had a quad core option. It actually had the maximum spec option reduced some time ago. The current Mac mini is less powerful than one you could buy several years ago.

Sure, but the CPU offerings haven't been updated since 2014. It's only a marginal upgrade on the 2011 and 2012 models.

My point exactly. 6 years have passed and only a 0.3 GHz improvement in CPU speed and not much else.