For the reason that Mac mini’s debut in 2005, it has been Apple’s inexpensive small-form-factor soldier. Want one thing low cost to pair with an outdated monitor? Simply get the Mac mini! Need to begin a low energy media server or laptop close to your TV? Mini, child. The road has had its ups and downs: the 2014 replace was criticized for changing a quad-core mannequin with a dual-core chip, the 2018 replace had notoriously weak graphics, nevertheless it made a full comeback with the M1-powered mannequin. in 2021.

This 12 months, nevertheless, the Mac mini is completely different. The $599 mannequin remains to be an entry-level champ, particularly because it’s $100 lower than the M1 model (perhaps we’ll see the $499 possibility return finally). However it’s also possible to pay greater than double: $1,299! — for a Mini with a barely simplified M2 Professional chip and 16 GB of RAM. Which may have sounded loopy just a few years in the past, however now it matches proper into Apple’s desktop ecosystem. Not all creatives want the ability of a $1,999 Mac Studio with an M1 Max, however those self same folks might really feel restricted by the bottom M2 chip. Finally, there’s a highly effective Mini to serve you. (And no, the now-dead $1,099 Intel mannequin by no means crammed that function.)

As with Apple’s new MacBook Professionals, the Mac mini would not look any completely different than earlier than. It is nonetheless a stubby little aluminum case with a ton of ports on the again and a barely raised black base beneath to permit for airflow. The $599 mannequin options an M2 chip with eight CPU cores, 10 graphics cores, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage; that is about as primary as you will get with PC {hardware} nowadays. The $1,299 M2 Professional Mini affords 10 CPU cores, 16 GPU cores, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. For a further $300, it’s also possible to improve to the full-power M2 Professional chip with a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU (however that is most likely not a good suggestion, as I will focus on later).

On the rear, the Mac mini dock affords two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C connections, HDMI 2.0 (with 4K 240Hz and 8K 60Hz output), two USB-A ports, a headphone jack, and Gigabit Ethernet (expandable to 10 Gigabit). The M2 Professional mannequin provides two extra USB-C ports, making it much more helpful for creatives with a ton of equipment.

Probably the most putting factor in regards to the Mac mini is its mixture of simplicity and performance. In contrast to the taller, extra domineering Mac Studio, the Mini is designed to vanish in your desk, a little bit of energy that does not have to be seen. Nonetheless, that might be a nasty factor if you have to entry your rear ports ceaselessly. The Studio, by comparability, affords two USB-C ports and an SD card slot on the entrance. You will want a separate adapter to make use of SD playing cards with the Mini, a cheap resolution, however one which additionally creates extra desktop litter.

Our assessment mannequin, which featured the dearer 12-core M2 Professional chip, carried out in addition to I might hoped. It is slower than the M2 Max within the 14-inch MacBook Professional in GeekBench’s CPU benchmark, nevertheless it additionally beats the M1 Max in Mac Studio. The M1 Extremely-equipped Studio is way quicker, as you’d anticipate, as a result of it is primarily two M1 Max chips strung collectively. Nonetheless, what’s extra essential for some creatives is their potential rendering efficiency. The Mac Mini scored 2,000 factors greater than the M1 Max Studio within the Cinebench R23 benchmark, and was on par with the 14-inch MacBook Professional with M2 Max.

Neither	Geekbench 5 processor	Geekbench 5 Computing	cinema bench R23	3DMark Wild Life Excessive
Apple Mac Mini (Apple M2 Professional, 2022)	1,826/13,155	43,241	1,647/14,598	12,769
Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch (Apple M2 Max, 2023)	1,970/15,338	71,583	1,603/14,725	18,487
Apple MacBook Professional 13-inch, (Apple M2, 2022)	1,938/8,984	27,304	1,583/8,719	6,767
Apple Mac Studio (Apple M1 Max)	1,715/12,642	61,412	1,534/12,314	10,017
Apple Mac Studio (Apple M1 Extremely)	1,785/23,942	85,800	1,537/24,078	10,020

In a extra hands-on check, the Mac Mini transcoded a minute-long 4K clip to 1080p in 37 seconds on uncooked CPU energy utilizing Handbrake; the identical job took 32 seconds with the GPU. Each figures narrowly beat the M1 Max Studio, which took 43 seconds with a CPU encode and 34 seconds utilizing the GPU.

Benchmarks apart, the Mac Mini was an absolute dream for my typical workflow (coping with dozens of browser tabs, batch picture processing, and just about each chat app on the market). However I might anticipate an identical end result from the $599 mannequin, so long as you in the reduction of on demanding browsers to get by on 8GB of RAM. The pc remains to be a strong entry for mainstream customers, and is doubtlessly an incredible residence theater PC if you need one thing extra customizable than an Apple TV.