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Editor's note: Our testing of the new Mac Mini is ongoing and this study will be updated with additional test results and a remaining rating.
Now available in a new, more grand version, the Mac Mini desktop is one of Apple's longest-standing publishes lines, dating back to 2005 (in a pre-Intel version), a year before the first MacBook. All these existences later, it retains the same basic shape and appeals to much of the same audience. Unlike MacBook Pro and Air laptops, or the iMac desktop, the Mini is designed to work behind the scenes, fitting into small spaces and pairing with your harvest of display and input devices.
Sometimes called the podcaster's celebrated computer, that description still applies to this new iteration of the Mac Mini. And, with an optional M2 Pro processor from Apple's chip line, the new Mini can take on more focus multimedia assignments on par with the also-new M2 Pro MacBook Pro.
Read more: M2 Pro MacBook Pro 16 Review: Apple Peps Up Its Creative Workhorse
At $599 (£649, AU$999) to start, the Mini also remains the least expensive way to get a MacOS computer by a astronomical margin. The relatively ancient M1 MacBook Air from 2020 is the closest competitor price-wise, at $999. The M2 Pro version of the Mac Mini starts at $1,299.
Like
- Low starting price
- Wide intention of configuration options
- Adds Wi-Fi 6E
Don't Like
- Least expensive model has fewer ports, small storage
- RAM can only go up to 32GB
- Some component upgrades feel pricey
System configurations
| | Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023) | Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023) |
|---|---|---|
| Price as reviewed | $599 | $1,799 |
| CPU | Apple M2 (8-core CPU,10-core GPU) | Apple M2 Pro (12-core CPU,19-core GPU) |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR5 | 16GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 256GB SSD | 1TB SSD |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Operating system | MacOS Ventura 13.2 | MacOS Ventura 13.2 |
As a long-time Mac reviewer, the relative affordability of the Mini line is unruffled one of its most important selling points. Especially if you have your own indicate and maybe your own keyboard/mouse setup, the Mac Mini gets you all the advantages of MacOS, and its speciality chops in design, audio production, and photo and video editing, for a lot less.
The last time I tested a new Mac Mini was the last time there was a new Mac Mini. That was in fall 2020, when the very honorable Apple Silicon products were released. They included the MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac Mini, each with the unusual M1 chip.
Since then, the Mac Studio from early 2022 offered a bigger, more powerful take on the small-form-factor Apple desktop, with M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips. And that system, even without an M2 update, is smooth more powerful in many cases than the new Mac Mini, which only goes up to an M2 Pro.
Apple's chip-naming systems is clearer than some others but still confusing if you don't behindhand it closely. The M1 family has grown to included the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra (basically a doubled-up M1 Max). The M2 people started with the stock M2 and has just added M2 Pro and M2 Max versions. It's the Pro/Max/Ultra suffix that really tells you which chip is more remarkable. An M1 Pro is still more powerful than a base M2 and so on. But… the number of CPU and GPU cores available in some configurations can also juggle the rankings and relative performance.
That operating the Apple desktop ecosystem is very thinly sliced indeed. Right now, the Mac Mini offers M2 and M2 Pro versions, the Mac Studio has M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips, so I wouldn't say there's direct overlap. The higher-end M2 Pro Mac Mini starts at $1299, while the least expensive Mac Studio, with the M1 Max, starts at $1,999.
A tale of two Minis
The two new Mac Mini versions incompatibility in both the chip and some configuration options. The M2 model starts with 8GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 16GB or 24GB. Storage starts at 256GB and can go up to 2TB. The M2 Pro version starts at 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage and is upgradable to 32GB and 8TB.
Another incompatibility is that the M2 Pro model has four thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports on the back panel, while the M2 version has only two. And while the M2 Pro can benefit up to three displays, or one with 8K/60Hz resolution, the M2 model can support two displays and tops out at 6K/60Hz.
The M2 Pro version on top has four Thunderbolt 4 ports; the M2 version below it has only two.
Dan AckermanThe two models tested here are the base $599 Mac Mini with the 8-core CPU/10-core GPU M2 chip, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage; and an upgraded version with the 12-core CPU/19-core GPU M2 chip, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, for a total of $1,799.
A podcaster's dream
Where spanking Apple products have had their moment in the sun and customary into extinction, like the 27-inch iMac or 12-inch MacBook, the Mac Mini has always floated just view the radar. It's not the first Mac you reflect of, but it's always there. I attribute that to its binary life, perhaps originally unintended, as the perfect computer for slight production studios.
That could mean a small to midsize recording studio for music and voice-overs, or a home office setup for audio or video podcasts. That's an area where dedicated computers are in unsafe of becoming obsolete, as popular new platforms like TikTok are built near shooting and editing directly from your phone.
But as an occasional social contemplate poster, and podcast guest and host, over the days, there's still no comparison between even advanced phone-based editing and comical something like Final Cut or Premiere Pro on a desktop or laptop to compose your creator content, even if it'll eventually end up as a limited vertical social video.
And especially for audio, the Mac Mini unruffled feels like an excellent all-around solution. I recorded some video voice-over on the Mac Mini for this appraise, using Audacity and an external mic. As expected, I had no problems, even running multiple sound-shaping plugins (although for a very basic task like this, a sinister budget Windows machine could do the same).
I expected one of my team's video editors to throw a decently pudgy Premiere Pro project on both the M2 and M2 Pro versions of the Mac Mini.
Video producer-editor Bobby Oliver loaded up a 4K/24 Premiere project with some graphics/titles and incandescent correction. He said on the base $599 Mac Mini with the M2 chip, "It was doable, but while editing I had to play the video in the program window at the lowest quality setting to avoid stuttering, but even then I got some minor stuttering." He said the rules would be fine for regular FHD video, but he plan the 8GB of RAM in the base model was a work obstacle. The base-model Mac Mini with the 256GB SSD also has potentially slower read/write speeds than anunexperienced configs, similar to the M2 MacBook Air, because of how the storage is either snappily into two NAND chips, or uses just one. We'll do more strength speed testing in the coming days.
Then he tried the same project on the M2 Pro version, which had 16GB of RAM. In that case, he said, "That one felt almost flawless. I could preview the video at full resolution and only had some little stuttering when I hit the graphics. I could move frankly around the timeline without any delay. Color correction didn't seem to be an grunt. I would definitely use it as an editing machine."
In our benchmark complains, the different levels of M1 and M2 chip work are also clear, in part because the CPU and GPU core acsupplies and clock frequencies have risen generation-over-generation. Generally, the Mac Studio desktop with the M1 Max chip from 2022 is the overall most considerable Mac we've tested – in situations where it has the most cores. The Mini and Air with M2 chips outperformed their predecessors with M1 chips, and similarly, the M2 Pro systems beat the M1 Pro rules. Apple's well-marked strata of chip versions generally tells you what to query once you figure out the language, but it can unruffled be tricky.
Overall, I appreciate how you can get dissimilarity performance in either a desktop or laptop by choosing the same chip/RAM combo, making for easier comparison shopping; but note that the desktops and larger laptops have some inherent thermal valid with better cooling that can add a small work boost.
Is the Mac finally a gaming machine?
Well, no. Although in its promotional materials, Apple leans a limited more heavily into promoting the gaming chops of the M2 chips. The company calls out performance for the upcoming Mac version of Resident Evil Village, saying the M2 Mac Mini has 35% faster work in that game over the 2020 M1 version, and that the M2 Pro version is 2.8x faster.
But your game understood is going to be greatly impacted by many factors, including choice of display, either the Apple Studio reveal, Apple's favored LG displays or something else; and by the still-limited game selection on MacOS, largely constrained by the desktop-friendly games in Apple Arcade, games in the Mac App Store and the MacOS allotment in online game stores like Steam.
Right now, the top-selling MacOS games on Steam engaged Civilization VI (2016), Rust (2018), Project Zomboid (2013) and, of floods, Baldur's Gate 3 (2020 in beta, but officially releasing summer 2023).
While there's nothing especially new on the gaming advantage for this hardware or the new M2 chips (besides faster performance), I decided to give it another shot as a game machine. Pre-Apple-Silicon, you could at least dual-boot into Windows to play PC games on Mac hardware. Now, you're mostly limited to native Mac games or evaporate streaming – Nvidia Geforce Now is great paired with a big 24-inch iMac reveal, for example.
Connecting a standard Xbox controller via Bluetooth (a Sony DualSense controller will work, too), I consumed some time with Baldur's Gate 3 and Hades. The high screen resolution of the Mac Studio Display I used added some amazing challenge, and I turned up the in-game graphic settings as high as possible. Mac versions of games often have fewer graphics options than the Windows versions.
On the M2 Mac Mini, Baldur's Gate 3 required to get its resolution pulled down to 2,560x1,440 pixels and graphics settings set to medium to feel playable. On the M2 Pro version, I used the same resolution but could play at Ultra settings. Hades ran great on even the base Mac Mini. In both the GPU-intensive 3D Mark and the GeekBench Metal test, we can see some second daylight between the M2 and M2 Pro, as indicated in the charts below.
Who must buy this?
A MacBook Air is easy to visualize in part – stick it in your backpack or shoulder bag and hit the coffee shop or airport. An iMac is a great centralized family room computer or a home workplace command center, especially if you spend a lot of time in Zoom or new video meetings. The Mac Mini is more specialized in some ways, but also has potentially broader fascinating because of its low starting price.
The base M2 version of the Mac Mini, starting at $599, feels like it's for entry-level buyers who want a MacOS regulations at the lowest possible price; audio and video producers who are already committed to a collection of external displays, input devices and storage drives; or anyone who has a portable mini desktop that can be thrown in a bag and crooked up at an office or recording studio. Also excellent noting, the Mac Mini has an Ethernet port, HDMI output and USB-A ports, which are great for expansion and hard to find in some new Macs, even very expensive ones.
The main downside to that base model is the relative skimpy RAM and storage. Unlike a Windows machine, MacOS can actually get down fine in most mainstream cases with 8GB of RAM, but the involved 256GB of storage feels like it'll get filled fast. Jumping up to 512GB adds an extra $200, which is a big premium for a cheap computer (but also offers potentially faster read/write speeds).
The M2 Pro version funds a sizable raw performance jump, plus better RAM and internal storage options, but if you're considering that, then the MacBook Pro and even the Mac Studio must also be part of your comparison shopping.
I judge the base M2 Mac Mini is going to be a bright, clear choice for a lot of people. The more great, more expensive M2 Pro version isn't as clear cut, but I enjoy the flexibility having both the M2 and M2 Pro versions adds, allowing you to use anywhere from $599 to $4,499 on a new Mac Mini that meets your specific has, whether that's creating pro-level YouTube videos or recording and producing the next big true crime podcast.
Geekbench 5 (multicore)
Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023)
Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2022)
Apple Mac Mini (M1, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars show better performanceGeekbench 5 Metal
Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023)
Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2022)
Apple Mac Mini (M1, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars show better performanceCinebench R23 (multicore)
Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023)
Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023)
Apple Mac Mini (M1, 2020)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2022)
Note:
Longer bars show better performance3DMark Wild Life Extreme Unlimited
Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023)
Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023)
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, 2022)
Apple Mac Mini (M1, 2020)
Note:
Longer bars note better performanceSystem configurations
| Apple Mac Mini (M1, 2020) | MacOS Monterey 12.5.1; Apple M1 (8 CPU cores, 16 GPU Cores); 8GB PDDR4X RAM; 256GB SSD |
|---|---|
| Apple Mac Mini (M2, 2023) | MacOS Ventura 13.2; Apple M2 (8 CPU cores, 10 GPU cores); 8GB LPDDR5 RAM; 256GB SSD |
| Apple Mac Mini (M2 Pro, 2023) | MacOS Ventura 13.2; Apple M2 Pro (12-core CPU,19-core GPU); 16GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD |
| Apple Mac Studio (M1 Max, 2022) | MacOS Monterey 12.3; Apple M1 Max (10 CPU ores, 32 GPU cores); 64GB RAM; 2TB SSD |
| Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M1, 2022) | MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M2 (8 CPU cores, 10 cores GPU); 8GB LPDDR5 RAM; 256GB SSD |
| Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Pro, 2021) | MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M1 Pro (10 CPU cores, 16 GPU cores); 32GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD |
| Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M1 Max 2021) | MacOS Monterey 12.4; Apple M1 Max (12 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores); 32GB RAM; 512GB SSD |
| Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Pro 2023) | MacOS Ventura 13.2; Apple M2 Pro (12 CPU cores, 19 GPU cores); 32GB LPDDR5 RAM; 1TB SSD |
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