The new Mac mini, powered by M2 and the brand-new M2 Pro, was announced by Apple today. The new Mac mini is much more powerful, versatile, and reasonably priced with the M2 chip.
The recently unveiled Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro by Apple gives its smallest desktop computer some much-needed improvements. The Mac mini continues to be an enticing entry point into the world of Macs, now offering more power than ever before at a lower starting price.
Except for a welcome price reduction, the Mac mini M2 is a virtually direct successor to the Mac mini M1. However, there is also a more advanced model with an M2 Pro processor, which is what the latest MacBook Pros use. The price is essentially double that of the standard model, but you get more computing power in a smaller space than you could before with a Mac mini.
New Mac mini specs are as good as it gets
An 8-core CPU with four high-performance and four high-efficiency cores, as well as a 10-core GPU, are included in the new Mac mini with M2, which is ideal for those seeking lightning-fast performance and exceptional productivity at an even more reasonable starting price.
Activities like retouching images in Adobe Photoshop run up to 50% faster with up to 24GB of unified memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth than they did with the previous version.
The M2 variant can simultaneously play up to two streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 frames per second or up to 12 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 frames per second thanks to the addition of ProRes acceleration to the new Mac mini.
M2 chips work a lot faster than the old M1 chips.
M2 Pro brings pro-level performance
M2 Pro delivers the new Mac mini users professional-level performance for the first time. Up to 32GB of memory can be supported by M2 Pro, which has a memory bandwidth of 200GB/s, which is twice as fast as M2. It has up to a 19-core GPU and up to a 12-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and four efficient cores each. When compared to M1, the next-generation Neural Engine speeds up ML tasks like image and video processing by 40%.
The powerful media engine available from M2 Pro can play up to five streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 frames per second or up to 23 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 frames per second concurrently. It is made to use a minimum of power while substantially accelerating video playback and encoding. The M2 Pro-powered Mac mini is up to 14 times faster than the quickest Mac mini.
If you would like to know the differences between the two M2 chip models check out our article titled comparison: Apple M2 Pro vs M2 Max.
Connectivity made even easier
The new Mac mini still offers a lot of connectivity and a variety of ports. Two Thunderbolt 4 connections and compatibility for up to two screens are provided by the M2 variant. The M2 Pro model supports up to three screens and has four Thunderbolt 4 connections. The M2 Pro variant can also handle one 8K monitor, which is a first for the Mac. Both variants have a Gigabit Ethernet connector with a 10GB option, an HDMI port, two USB-A ports, and an improved headphone jack that supports high-impedance headphones. Both of the new models have Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E5, which both offer up to two times quicker output than previous models.
We have prepared a table below to summarize the features of the new Mac mini and compare it with the old Mac mini 2020 model.
| Model | M2 Mac mini (2023) | M1 Mac mini (2020) |
| CPU | M2 (8-core GPU, 10-core GPU) or M2 Max (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU) | Apple M1 (8-core, 8-Core GPU) |
| RAM | 8-24GB (M2), 16-32GB (M2 Pro) | 8GB / 16GB |
| Storage | 256GB-2TB (M2), 512GB-8TB (M2 Pro) | 256GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB |
| Ports | 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4 (M2) or 4x (M2 Pro), HDMI, 2x USB-A, Ethernet (up to 10GB), 3.5mm headphone jack | Thunderbolt/USB 4 (2), HDMI 2.0, USB-A (2), Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 |
| Dimensions | 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches | 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches |
| Weight | 2.6 pounds (M2), 2.8 pounds (M2 Pro) | 2.6 pounds |
The New Mac mini price is much more affordable
You can order the new Mac mini now from the Apple Online Store. The base model configuration for $599 includes an M2 chip with an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 256 GB SSD, and 8 GB RAM. The $1299 base model configuration for the M2 Pro chip has a 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD.
The new lineup also means that Apple has stopped working with Intel to power the Mac mini, which leaves the Mac Pro as the only remaining Mac on sale with an Intel CPU inside.
The New Mac mini release date is already here
If you order the new Mac mini now, it will be ready for shipment on the 24th. You can get your brand new and much more powerful Mac mini by using the link we gave above and you can reach it with your order today.
Apple also launched the new MacBooks today.
