Apple’s New Mac Mini Is Available With M2 And M2 Pro Processors

Apple has unveiled the new Mac mini available with M2 or the new M2 Pro processors. The tech giant’s smallest desktop has a new starting price of US $599. 

The new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro delivers faster performance, even more unified memory, and advanced connectivity, including support for up to two displays on the M2 model, and up to three displays on the M2 Pro model.  Customers can order the new Mac mini models today, with availability beginning Tuesday, January 24.

According to Apple, compared to the previous-generation Mac mini, M2 and M2 Pro bring a faster next-generation CPU and GPU, much higher memory bandwidth, and a more powerful media engine to Mac mini, delivering extraordinary performance and industry-leading power efficiency. Both models feature an advanced thermal system for exceptional sustained performance.

M2 MAC MINI

The Mac mini with M2 features an 8-core CPU with four high-performance and four high-efficiency cores, along with a 10-core GPU. For users with more intensive tasks, Mac mini with M2 offers up to 24GB of unified memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth. This means activities like image editing in Adobe Photoshop are up to 50% faster than the previous generation, according to Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

The M2 also adds ProRes acceleration to Mac mini, so tasks like video editing in Final Cut Pro are more than twice as fast, he adds. The M2 model can also simultaneously play up to two streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, or up to 12 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps. With all this performance, Apple claims the Mac mini is up to 5x faster than the bestselling Windows desktop.

The tech giant says that, when compared to the Mac mini with Intel Core i7, the Mac mini with M2 offers:

• Up to 22x faster machine learning (ML) image upscaling performance in Pixelmator Pro.
• 9.8x faster complex timeline rendering in Final Cut Pro.

When compared to the previous-generation Mac mini with M1,1 Mac mini with M2 delivers:

• Up to 2.4x faster ProRes transcode in Final Cut Pro.
• Up to 50% faster filter and function performance in Adobe Photoshop.
• Up to 35% faster gameplay in Resident Evil Village.

M2 PRO MAC MINI

The M2 Pro features to a 12-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, along with up to a 19-core GPU, M2 Pro has 200GB/s of memory bandwidth — double the amount in M2 — and supports up to 32GB of memory. The next-generation Neural Engine is 40% faster than M1, speeding up ML tasks like video analysis and image processing. 

Designed to dramatically accelerate video playback and encoding while using very little power, M2 Pro offers a powerful media engine, which speeds through the most popular video codecs and can simultaneously play up to five streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, or up to 23 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, according to Joswak. The M2 Pro-powered model is up to 14x faster than the fastest Intel-based Mac mini, he adds. According to Apple, when compared to the 27-inch iMac with Intel Core i7 and Radeon Pro 5500 XT, Mac mini with M2 Pro offers:

• Up to 50% faster filter and function performance in Adobe Photoshop.
• Up to 5.5x faster panoramic merge in Adobe Lightroom Classic.
• Up to 4.4x faster object tracking in Final Cut Pro.

When compared to the previous-generation M1 Mac mini,1 Mac mini with M2 Pro delivers:

• Up to 2.5x faster graphics performance in Affinity Photo.
• Up to 4.2x faster ProRes transcode in Final Cut Pro.
• Up to 2.8x faster gameplay in Resident Evil Village.

CONNECTIVITY

The M2 model features two Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to two displays. The M2 Pro model includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to three displays. Additionally, the M2 Pro model can support one 8K display, a first for the Mac. 

Both models feature two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet port with a 10GB option, and an upgraded headphone jack to support high-impedance headphones. For wireless connectivity, both new models also feature the latest standards with Wi-Fi 6E5 for up to 2x faster throughput than before, as well as Bluetooth 5.3.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro is available to order today, January 17, on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in 27 countries and regions, including the US. It will start arriving to customers, and in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, beginning Tuesday, January 24.

The Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro will be available in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, and New Zealandbeginning Friday, February 3.

The Mac mini with M2 starts at $599 and $499 (US) for education. Additional technical specifications are available at apple.com/mac-mini.

The Mac mini with M2 Pro starts at $1,299 and $1,199 for education. Additional technical specifications are available at apple.com/mac-mini.

First Apple Silicon (M1) Macs Are MacBook Air, MacBook Pro And Mac Mini

During Apple’s “One More Thing” event, Apple revealed a 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini all powered by the M1, the most powerful chip Apple’s ever developed.

“The introduction of three new Macs featuring Apple’s breakthrough M1 chip represents a bold change that was years in the making, and marks a truly historic day for the Mac and for Apple,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said at today’s virtual event. “M1 is by far the most powerful chip we’ve ever created, and combined with macOS Big Sur, delivers mind-blowing performance, extraordinary battery life, and access to more software and apps than ever before. We can’t wait for our customers to experience this new generation of Mac, and we have no doubt it will help them continue to change the world.”

Apple says the new MacBook Air’s 8-core CPU performs up to 3.5x faster than the previous generation. With up to an 8-core GPU, graphics are up to 5x faster, the biggest leap ever for MacBook Air, so immersive, graphics-intensive games run at significantly higher frame rates. 

ML workloads are purportedly up to 9x faster, so apps that use ML-based features like face recognition or object detection can do so quicker. The M1 chip’s storage controller and latest flash technology deliver up to 2x faster SSD performance. Apple claims that the new MacBook Air is faster than the chips in 985of PC laptops sold in the past year — all in a fanless design. The company says the new laptop also  features up to 15 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 18 hours of video playback — the longest battery life ever on MacBook Air. Pricing starts at US$999 ($899 for education).

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is Apple’s most popular pro notebook. With the M1 chip and Big Sur, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with its 8-core CPU is up to 2.8x faster than the previous generation. The 8-core GPU is up to 5x faster. Apple says that, with the M1, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is up to 3x faster than the best-selling Windows laptop in its class. Machine learning (ML) is up to 11x faster, and for on-device ML tasks that use the Neural Engine, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is now the world’s fastest compact pro notebook, Apple says.

It offers up to 17 hours of wireless web browsing and up to 20 hours of video playback. According to Apple, the new MacBook Pro delivers up to twice the battery life of the previous generation and the longest battery life ever on a Mac.

Other new features in the new 13-inch MacBook Pro include studio-quality mics, and Apple’s latest camera ISP. The new MacBook Pro also delivers best-in-class security with the Secure Enclave in M1 and Touch ID. And it features two Thunderbolt ports with USB 4 support. It’s available for the same starting price of $1,299, and $1,199 for education.

The new Mac mini with the M1 brings an 8-core CPU with up to 3x faster performance than the previous generation. An 8-core GPU delivers up to a 6x increase in graphics performance. Apple says that when compared to the best-selling Windows desktop in its price range, the Mac mini is just one-tenth the size, yet delivers up to 5x faster performance. Pricing starts at $699, $100 less than before.

The new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini with M1 are available to order today on apple.com and in the Apple Store app. They will begin arriving to customers and will be in select Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers starting next week.

Apple Announces New Mac Mini

During Apples October event, the company announced an update to the Mac mini. The new space gray Mac mini starts at $799, and is available for order today for delivery or pickup at Apple retail stores as early as November 7.

The base model of the Mac mini comes with a 3.6GHz quad-core 8th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and 128GB of PCIe-based SSD storage. That model can be configured with a 3.2GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz, up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB of SSD storage, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. If you went with all of the top end options, that little Mac mini goes up to $4,199, that’s  without a keyboard, pointing device or monitor.

The higher-end Mac mini starts with a 3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 4.1 GHz, 8GB of 2666MHz, DDR4 memory, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and 256GB of PCIe-based SSD storage. Configure-to-order options include that same 3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 chip with Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz, RAM up to 64GB, storage up to 2TB and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Oddly enough, maxing out this model of the Mac mini gives you a lower price tag of just $3,999 for exactly the same specs as the maxed-out base model.

Apple notes that the new Mac mini delivers five times the performance of previous models, and that the device comes with the T2 security chip for real-time encryption of data. 

The Mac mini has always been a very versatile Mac, with lots of ports in the back. The new version gives you four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, HDMI 2.0 out, two USB 3 ports, and a 3.5 mm headphone port. 

What’s great is that Apple has made the RAM in the new Mac mini user-replaceable so that users have a choice to purchase RAM upgrades from lower-cost third parties. At this time, we don’t know if the SSD is user-replaceable or not. 

Apple Rumored To Release New Mac Mini, MacBook Air and Display

According to Bloomberg, Apple will release a Mac mini focused at pro users later this year. New storage and processor options are likely to make it more expensive than previous versions. Bloomberg also claims that a 13-inch MacBook Air with retina display is coming soon. The article says it will include thinner bezels around the screen.

Could Apple Ditch The Headphone Jack On Macs ?

Apple has ditched the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Now the company may be planning to do the same with Macs. As noted on Twitter, Apple is surveying some MacBook Pro customers to see if they use the laptop's headphone jack. Apple is also asking users about battery life and other ports, including the SD card slot. One question asked "How do you upload photos from a digital camera or phone to your MacBook Pro with Retina Display?" An upgraded version of the MacBook Pro is expected to be unveiled next month. Thoughts ?

Looks Like OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 Didn’t Fix Wi Fi Issues On Some Mac’s

Apple released OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 the other day to fix Wi-Fi problems that Mac owners had reported since the operating system was released. But for many, the update did nothing to restore connectivity, and for some 10.10.1 caused Wi-Fi problems where none existed before. The Wi-Fi problems haven’t affected every Mac, and 10.10.1. Apple hasn’t said what exactly is causing the trouble with Yosemite Wi-Fi, or if another fix is coming to help users that are still dealing with connectivity problems. To install the update, select Software Update in the Mac App Store.

Apple Releases First Update To OS X Yosemite

Today Apple released OS X Yosemite 10.10.1, which is the the first update to Yosemite. this update proves improved Wi-Fi reliability, improved reliability when connecting to a Microsoft exchange sever, improved reliability sending mail messages when using certain email service providers and improved reliability when connecting to remote computers using Back to my Mac.

Apple Announces Update For Mac Mini

It’s been nearly 3 years since the Mac Mini has received an update, today an update was announced at Apples press conference. Improvements include  the fourth generation Intel Core processors the Intel Iris and HD Graphics 5000,  PCIe-based flash storage, faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi along with 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports. The new Mac mini will be available today starting at $499.

Apple Announces That OSX Yosemite Is Available Today

During Apples press conference Apple announced that OS X Yosemite will launch today on the Mac App Store. OS X Yosemite will be available for free to all users with an eligible machine. Those eligible machine are the following, 

• iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
• MacBook (13" Late 2008 Fall, Early 2009 or later)
• MacBook Pro (13" Mid-2009 or later)
• MacBook Pro (15" Mid/Late 2007 or later)
• MacBook Pro (17" Late 2007 or later)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or later)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
• Xserve (Early 2009)