
If you already have those, then the starting price of $699 feels all the more attractive.


You will need to provide all of those yourself, plus a monitor to connect the Mac Mini to. What you will not get is a keyboard, mouse, trackpad, or any other kind of peripheral. That is all identical to the Intel Mac Mini. An adapter or dongle might be required.Įlsewhere, the M1 Mac Mini comes with an Ethernet jack, two Thunderbolt 3/ USB 4 ports running at 40Gbps, an HDMI 2.0 slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, plus the power button and slot for the power cable. But it is worth noting if you are still reliant on USB-A in your day-to-day tasks. This is more likely a limitation of the M1 rather than a plan by Apple to phase out USB-A ports on the Mac Mini, and I would not be surprised to see a return to four ports when more powerful Apple Silicon chips come out. But while the Intel Mac Mini came with four USB-A ports, the M1 version has only two (both running at 5Gbps). Apple has long since dropped USB-A ports on its MacBooks, but its desktop Macs - including the Mac Mini - have held out. Alex Blake/Digital TrendsĪ more significant difference lies around the back. The Intel Mac Mini is also slightly heavier, weighing in at 2.9 pounds, compared to the M1 Mac Mini’s 2.6 pounds. The most obvious is the paint job, with the M1 model coming in silver and the Intel version in the darker space gray. There are a few differences between the M1 and Intel models, though. It feels like a device that could take a few knocks and still come up smiling - not that you would want that to happen. The entire device is weighty and solid, with no flexing or bending to be found anywhere. It is a Jony Ive fever dream, perhaps the ultimate expression of Apple’s obsessive design mores.Īs we have come to expect with Apple hardware, the build quality is excellent. There is no other branding and no other labeling, just a tiny white light on the front that lights up when you power the device on. Almost the entire surface of the device is covered in matte aluminum, with just a large Apple logo on top to break up the uniformity.

It is also one of Apple’s most minimalist devices. It is identical in footprint to the previous Intel-based Mac Mini. Measuring 7.7 inches wide and 1.4 inches tall from top to bottom, this is a device that can easily fit on your desk or slide under a monitor.

The Mac Mini is by far Apple’s most compact desktop Mac. S mode: What’s the difference?Īpple could soon put an M3 chip in its worst laptopĪ new iMac and 15-inch MacBook Air are almost ready to launch
