Apple just unveiled a new M1 Mac that no one was expecting (but should have) — the Mac mini.
Featuring the Apple M1 chip, the new Mac mini boasts 3x faster CPU performance and up to 6x faster graphics, compared to the previous generation mini, Apple said during Tuesday’s “One More Thing” keynote.
“Today, M1 comes to Mac Mini, bringing a seismic shift in what an ultra-compact desktop can do,” said Julie Broms, Apple’s senior manager of hardware engineering, during the event.
New Mac mini specs
Photo: Apple
With eight cores, the mini’s M1 CPU makes the machine 5x faster than 90% of most PC desktops sold in the last year, Apple claimed. The new chip also boasts an 8-core GPU and brings the machine learning-oriented Neural Engine to the mini (with a 15x performance boost).
“With M1 bringing the Neural Engine to Mac mini, machine-learning workloads take a quantum leap forward with up to 15 times faster ML performance than the previous generation,” said Broms. “This means the new Mac mini will supercharge innovative features that are powered by ML, like magically increasing the resolution of a photo in Pixelmator Pro, giving it more sharpness and detail. It also makes Mac mini a great machine for developers, scientists and engineers utilizing deep-learning technologies like TensorFlow or Create ML.”
Looks the same, but looks might be deceiving
Looks-wise, the new Mac mini comes with the same industrial design as the previous model. It features two USB-C ports that support Thunderbolt and USB 4, as well as Ethernet and HDMI for hooking up a TV.
“With the Mac mini’s advanced thermal design, M1 is unleashed — easily sustaining its breakthrough performance while the mini stays cool and quiet,” Broms said.
The new mini supports up to two displays, including Apple’s Pro Display XDR in full 6K resolution. It also packs Wi-Fi 6 for fast wireless.
It now starts at $699 — $100 less than its predecessor.
Although few pundits predicted a new Mac mini at Tuesday’s event, they probably should have. Apple has been sending out Apple Silicon-powered Mac minis to developers to help transition their apps to the new platform.
The M1 Mac mini is available for preorder today on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app, and will ship next week.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
