Actually it seems like the "new" Wii measures exactly the same as the original Wii and has ports and buttons in the same places. The only difference is that it'll remove the GC compatibility.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-23-new-wii-same-size-as-current-model
While you can argue it's doable because most people didn't use them, it still feels like a cheap troll.