Apple’s Mac Mini doesn’t normally get much of the spotlight. With the latest model, it’s high time that this changes. Why? Since there is no 27-inch iMac, the Mac Mini is poised to fill the gap for those looking for a powerful, compact machine that can tackle home, productivity and even higher-end creative tasks. This is thanks to Apple’s new M2 and M2 Pro chips, which elevate the Mac mini from its humble origins to a pint-sized powerhouse.
What’s changed? What’s the same?
While the 2023 Mac mini looks nearly identical to the previous models, this isn’t a bad thing. The silver aluminium case is still flat and compact, however, there are quite a few changes within. This includes the chip, memory, storage, cooling system and connections – but more on this later.
Also, like previous models, you only get the Mac Mini and a power cable in the box, so you’ll need to bring your own keyboard, mouse and monitor.
Mac Mini models
There are a few different models to choose from; the $999 entry-level with the M2 chip and 256GB of solid-state (SSD) storage, a $1,299 M2 with a larger 512GB hard drive or step up to the ‘Pro’ version for $1,999, which includes the M2 Pro chip and 512GB of storage.
You can also configure between 8, 16, 24 (and 32GB for the M2 Pro) of unified memory, up to 2 terabytes of RAM for the M2 and a huge 8TB for the M2 Pro model, and either 1GB or 10GB Ethernet port. There are two M2 Pro chips too, one with a 16-core GPU and a more powerful 19-core GPU variant.
All up, depending on what you need, you can spend anywhere from $999 to well over $3,000 on your configuration.
M2 Chip differences
Apple’s M2 chip is the successor to the very successful M1. The benefit of Apple using its own chips instead of using the same chips that are found in other PCs and laptops is that they can be fine-tuned for Apple’s specific hardware and software. The net result is a vastly more powerful chip that at the same time uses much less energy.
Without getting into the technical nitty gritty, the M2 brings with it a faster CPU (Central Processing Unit) with more cores, as well as GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), again with more cores, along with faster memory bandwidth and dedicated media processors for doing things like decoding or compressing video. We recently explained the improvements introduced by the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips if you want to learn more.
Putting the M2 Pro into the Mac Mini versus a laptop such as the new MacBook Pro has a key advantage in that it’s easier to keep it cool. The cooler it runs, the faster it can go, and the better performance it produces. This is why the Mac Mini with the M2 Pro model has a slightly larger cooling system versus models with the standard M2.
Connectivity
As with the new M2 chip, there are big improvements to connectivity too. The standard M2 gets 2 Thunderbolt 4 connectors and can support two screens, while the Pro gets 4 Thunderbolt 4 connectors and can manage up to three displays. The M2 Pro can even support one 8K display. Both models now get an HDMI 2.1 connector, which can work with 144Hz TVs and monitors. All Mac minis get 2 standard USB-A ports, plus a 1GB Ethernet port as standard, which can be upgraded to the faster 10GB version. On the wireless front, it’s great to see that the very latest (and fastest) Wi-Fi 6E is included, as well as Bluetooth 5.3.
With all of these updated attachments, it’s great to see that the Mini can link up to just about anything you could throw at it, such as multiple high-resolution displays, ultra-fast 144Hz monitors and TVs for gaming, super fast external storage and the latest Wi-Fi routers. This should also provide some future proofing to keep your Mini playing nicely with external components for many years.
Performance
For testing, we had the Mac Mini with the M2 Pro, 16 core GPU version, with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Below is a table of benchmark results with comparisons to a MacBook Air with M2 chip, along with the latest MacBook Pro with the M2 Max.
| Mac Mini M2 Pro (2023) | 14-inch MacBook Pro M2 Max (2023) | MacBook Air M2 (2022) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 5 CPU single-core | 1940 | 1975 | 1895 |
| Geekbench 5 CPU multi-core | 15105 | 15303 | 8927 |
| Geekbench 5 GPU Metal | 53334 | 85485 | N/A |
| Cinebench R23 CPU single-core | 1645 | 1609 | 1602 |
| Cinebench R23 CPU multi-core | 14666 | 14732 | 7642 |
We found that there was an increase across all benchmarks. However, the M2 isn’t a vast step up from the M1. This, we expect, is due mainly to the M2 also being a 5nm chip, so we expect more gains when Apple moves to a 4nm or 3nm architecture with the M3 next year. This isn’t to say that the M2 offers excellent performance for its price and class, which it indeed does, and should be more than enough for just about any office or productivity task, compiling coding, working with large images, 4K video editing and more. As a platform, you can dial up the power by specifying a faster chip, more RAM or a larger hard drive.
It should be said that Apple has been somewhat hobbling the performance of the M2 chip at the lower end of its models by using a considerably slower SSD drive than that found in the M1. In some configurations (such as with 8GB of RAM and doing a RAM-intensive task), an M1 with the faster hard drive can beat an M2 doing the same task. What this boils down to is that you should avoid the 256GB SSD on the Mac Mini entry-level model and go for the faster 512GB version should you want the maximise performance, or otherwise increase the RAM. On the Mac Mini with M2 Pro, you’ll need to shell out for the 1TB SSD to get full-fat hard drive performance.
GadgetGuy’s take: Mac Mini M2
The new Mac Mini M2 has everything it needs to find its place on many a home or office desktop. The combination of very capable performance, impressive connectivity options and a sleek and compact case all work together to make it a valuable successor to aging 27-inch Intel-based iMacs out there, or those switching from the PC camp to something more compact.
Pricing is competitive too, but don’t forget to factor in a keyboard, mouse and monitor. Also, at the upper end of the configurations, such as around $3,300, you may actually find that the larger and more Pro-focused Mac Studio starts at a similar cost, only you get the addition of more ports, an SD card and 32GB of memory to start with. However, you won’t get the faster Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and 144Hz HDMI 2.1 port if that matters.
All up, for what it offers, the Mac Mini with M2 or M2 Pro is a great option for those that want to have their cake and eat it too.
The post Apple Mac Mini M2 (2023) review: pint-sized powerhouse appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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