First look at the new space gray 2018 Mac mini

After a four year gap, the updated Mac mini is here, and it is a powerful and versatile machine. AppleInsider got to spend some time with it and while it looks similar, it shows vast improvements over even the vaunted 2012 model.

Apple retained the rounded square exterior of the Mac mini, including the user-accessible bottom and a lineup of ports on the back. Mac mini's small but vocal user base was clearly heard as Apple took a lot of their considerations to heart. Memory consists of two user-upgradable SO-DIMM slots and the flat body design makes it a great choice for server farms.

Mac mini stack

On the back we found several Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI, USB-A, audio out, and a Gigabit Ethernet port that can be upgraded at purchase to a 10-gig port.. What we found most impressive was a stack of five Mac Minis, connected over Ethernet, running tasks assigned by Final Cut, Logic, and Xcode while the primary machine carried on with its normal tasks.

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We love the space gray body, but Apple maybe should have called it the Mac mini Pro to go with the Space Gray iMac Pro. The body, made from a proprietary recycled aluminum, looks the same as any other Apple aluminum other than the color as far as we could tell.

The real test of the Mac Mini is how it does in performance and that is something we could only scratch the surface on in Apple's demo area. We'll have the machines in our lab soon to put them to the test to see how they actually line up.

Apple's new 2018 Mac Mini is available to order starting today starting at $799.

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60 Comments

wizard69 21 Years · 13358 comments

About 6 years ago

This review should be most interesting! This isn’t the Mini I was hoping for but it is one impressive upgrade. Now I just need to struggle with which is more desirable, the Mini or a new iPad Pro!

tylersdad 13 Years · 310 comments

it is absolutely unbelievable what Apple charges for these things. The base model is $799 and only comes with an I3 processor, 8 GB RAM, and a 128 SSD drive. Want to upgrade to 256 GB? That'll be $200...the cost of a 1TB SSD on Amazon.

Ridiculous.

Mike Wuerthele 8 Years · 6906 comments

tylersdad said:

it is absolutely unbelievable what Apple charges for these things. The base model is $799 and only comes with an I3 processor, 8 GB RAM, and a 128 SSD drive. Want to upgrade to 256 GB? That'll be $200...the cost of a 1TB SSD on Amazon.

Ridiculous.

Those SSDs aren't even close to equivalent in performance. The $200 1TB SSD is 1/6 the speed of the Apple drive.

I get where you're coming from, but compare like with like.

Mike Wuerthele said:

tylersdad said:

it is absolutely unbelievable what Apple charges for these things. The base model is $799 and only comes with an I3 processor, 8 GB RAM, and a 128 SSD drive. Want to upgrade to 256 GB? That'll be $200...the cost of a 1TB SSD on Amazon.

Ridiculous.

Those SSDs aren't even close to equivalent in performance. The $200 1TB SSD is 1/6 the speed of the Apple drive.
I get where you're coming from, but compare like with like.

What are the specs for the Apple drives? I have a really hard time believing that. Even the Samsung 860 SSD Pro (one of the fastest tested on Tom's Hardware) is only $300 for a 1TB. The best performing budget SSD is half the performance of the Samsung 860 Pro and costs $83 for a 500 GB version. There's no way the Apple SSDs perform 6x better than these lower priced SSDs. It's not possible.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ssds,3891.html

toxicman 13 Years · 3 comments

Seriously! A fully configured Mac Mini without keyboard, mouse and monitor is over $4299!

for what? I7 6 core, with 64gb ram and a 1.5tb SSD. That’s a $1800 PC. Come on apple. Get real.