Night Mode on iPhone: Everything You Need to Know

 Now with Apple's M1 chip with up to 3x faster CPU, up to 6x faster graphics, and machine learning up to 15x faster.

At a Glance

With the latest Apple M1 chip on low-end and mid-tier versions, the Mac mini was revised in November 2020, turning away from Intel processors and graphics options. The Mac mini now begins at a lower price point of $699 and includes the M1 chip for machine learning with an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. The Mac mini appears to be fitted with 8th-generation Intel processors at the high end and has not been modified substantially since October 2018.

Apple M1 Models

• Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU
• 8 or 16 GB of unified RAM
• Up to 2TB storage
• Thunderbolt 3/USB 4
• Prices starting at $699

The M1 Mac mini

In November 2020, Apple updated the Mac mini to introduce new low-end and mid-tier models equipped with the new M1 chip, the first Arm-based Mac chip built by Apple to be launched by Apple.

This is the first major update Apple has made since October 2018 to the Mac mini, and the latest M1 models are sold with a 6-core Intel Core i5 processor alongside a higher-end variant.

The M1 chip in the Mac mini is Apple's first System on a Chip for Mac, integrating GPU, CPU, RAM, and other components for improved performance and efficiency. The M1 in the Mac mini has an 8-core CPU with four high-efficiency cores and four high-performance cores along with an integrated GPU that has 8 cores.

In the Mac mini, the M1 chip's CPU offers 3x faster performance than the previous-generation entry-level model and the GPU offers 6x better graphics performance. Machine learning workloads are up to 15x faster thanks to the 16-core Neural Engine, and the Mac mini is 5x faster than the best-selling Windows desktop in its price range.

The Mac mini has no design improvements, and it continues to feature a smooth, 1.4-inch square-shaped, 7.7-inch wide aluminium unibody enclosure. In Silver, the M1 Mac mini is available, while in Space Gray, the Intel Mac mini is available.

Apple says the advanced thermal architecture of the M1 Mac mini sustains efficiency while the system stays cool and quiet. It is configurable with up to 16GB of RAM, while up to 64GB can be provided by the Intel model. It is possible to upgrade both versions to up to 2TB of storage space.

The M1 Mac mini supports a single full 6K resolution display and one 4K display over HDMI, while up to two 5K displays are supported by previous-generation versions. WiFi 6 support for higher WiFi speeds and a Secure Enclave for enhanced security are other features. Two Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a Gigabit Ethernet are available on the M1 Mac mini.

Pricing on the M1 Mac mini begins at $699 for 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD, while a 512 GB SSD variant is available for $899. The Intel 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor and UHD 630 graphics are available starting at $1,099.

Buyers could hold off on the Intel-based Mac mini 2018/Early 2020 at this time until the performance gaps between the Intel chips and the latest Apple M1 chips become clearer.

How to Buy

The M1 Mac mini can be ordered from the online Apple Store or purchased in Apple retail stores.

Intel Mac mini vs. M1 Mac mini

Planning to purchase a Mac mini and not sure which edition to purchase? Make sure that you check out our comparison guide to help you make a decision. The M1 Mac mini is more affordable and more powerful than the remaining Intel model in a nutshell, and it's the best buy.

Issues

Some M1 Mac owners have reported Bluetooth communication problems that range from sporadic wireless peripheral disconnects to non-functional Bluetooth connections. At this point, there's no patch, but the Mac mini models tend to be most affected. If it's a hardware or a software problem isn't obvious, but it's likely that we're going to see something patched in a future macOS update.

M1 Mac mini Reviews

Reviewers find that the best performance of the M1 Macs is provided by M1 Mac mini, although it's very similar. Apple does not have to account for the close confines of a laptop enclosure, as The Verge points out, so the M1 chip "hit the very best speeds it's capable of and sustain them without throttling." The fan never triggered during testing.

PCMag said that during rigorous testing, even after several GPU game benchmarks, the Mac mini was 'whisper quiet'. The body of the Mac Pro still remained remarkably cool," and since it was barely warm to the touch, there was no point in thermal testing.

The Mac mini uses the same power supply as the Intel model at 150W, but more efficient, which makes the power efficiency improvements less apparent on the smallest desktop computer from Apple.

The Verge pointed out that the M1 Mac mini has two fewer Thunderbolt ports, which is a "downgrade for the mini's expandability." However other reviewers agree that most individuals would be able to operate with two ports, especially as daisy chained devices can be used. The one other negative that was pointed out by reviewers was the speaker of the Mac mini, described as "tinny, hollow, and just plain bad."

Design

Apple did not change the design of the Mac mini with the 2020 M1 update, but it did re-introduce the silver colour. While the Intel model comes in space grey, all M1 Mac mini models are silver, with colour being the distinctive attribute between the two.

The Mac mini was always the smallest, most compact desktop computer from Apple and that hasn't changed. The Mac mini also has a small square-shaped enclosure that measures 7.7 inches on each side and 1.4 inches thick on each side.

Apple's Mac mini weighs in at 2.9 pounds, so it's compact enough to plug into available peripherals and displays from place to place if desired. Unlike other Macs from Apple, the Mac mini does not come with a monitor, keyboard, or mouse, so it is suitable for those who want to supply accessories of their own.

A host of ports are on one side of the Mac mini, while the other features an LED that lets you know when it's on. At the top of the unit is an Apple logo, and there are no other markings on the visible portion of the computer other than the Apple logo and port labels.

M1 Mac mini in space gray

Apple updated the interior in 2018 to incorporate a new thermal architecture to handle higher-powered 8th-generation chips and all-flash storage, while the exterior of the Mac mini has remained unchanged over the last few years. It has a larger internal fan with twice as much airflow, and enlarged vents compared to pre-2018 Mac mini models, both of which also fit the M1 chip.

Ports

The Mac mini has been equipped with multiple ports by Apple, enabling it to be used with multiple peripherals at once. At the rear of the unit, the M1 Mac mini has a total of two Thunderbolt 3/USB-C 4 ports capable of supporting USB-C devices and displays, along with an HDMI 2.0 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB-A ports, and a plug-in point for the power cable.

The Intel Mac mini has four Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a spot for the power cord, and a Gigabit Ethernet port, which can be upgraded to 10Gb. The 10Gb Ethernet port upgrade is limited to the Intel version of the Mac mini and is not available for the M1 version.

Thunderbolt 3 provides up to 40Gb/s of data transfer speeds. One external monitor up to 6K and one second with HDMI up to 4K are officially supported on the M1 Mac mini. Two 4K displays (along with a third 4K display over HDMI) or one 5K can be supported by the Intel Mac mini.

Although Apple claims the Mac mini is restricted to one 6K and one 4K monitor, M1 Mac mini models can run up to six external displays with DisplayPort adapters. This only works as the Thunderbolt ports do not have the bandwidth to operate six 4K displays with a combination of 4K and 1080p displays.

M1 Apple Silicon Chip

M1

One of the first Macs to be upgraded with an Arm-based chip built by Apple rather than an Intel chip like previous Mac mini models is the 2020 Mac mini. The name of these chips is "Apple Silicon," and the M1 is the chip used in the current Mac mini.

The M1 is the first device on a Mac-designed chip from Apple, meaning it has the processor, GPU, I/O, security features, and RAM all on one chip within the Mac. Apple claims this makes for a longer battery life with improved output and power consumption.

Unified Memory Architecture

A unified memory architecture, or UMA, is one of the features of the M1, which unifies high-bandwidth low-latency memory into a single pool. This means that without copying it between different memory pools, the technologies in the M1 chip can access the same data for significant performance improvement across the entire device.

The Mac mini supports up to 16 GB of consolidated memory, with 8 GB of shipping for the base model.

Speed Improvements

An 8-core CPU and an integrated 8-core GPU are included with the M1 in the Mac mini. Four high-efficiency cores and four high-performance cores are required for the CPU. The Mac mini can engage the high-efficiency cores when performing basic tasks such as web browsing or email reading, but the high-performance cores are used for more system-intensive tasks such as photo and video editing.

The M1 chip's CPU is up to 3x faster than the Intel chip in the previous Mac mini, according to Apple, and GPU speeds are up to 6x faster.

Compared to rival laptop processors, the M1 is designed to deliver higher efficiency at any power level. While using 25 percent of the power, it provides 2x faster CPU output than the current PC laptop chip.

With the M1 chip, the transcoding of ProRes is up to 3.4 times faster, designing a project in Xcode is up to 3 times faster, and Logic Pro supports 2.8x more Amp Designer plug-ins.

Benchmarks

The M1 chip in the Mac mini, which has a frequency of 3.2 GHz, receives single-core scores exceeding 1700 in Geekbench benchmarks, and multi-core scores around 7600, which makes it faster than the Intel version of the Mac mini that Apple still sells.

In addition, the M1 chip provides single-core performance in the Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air that is better than any other Mac available.

Even if Rosetta 2 emulates x86, the M1 Macs are still faster than all previously released Macs. The Macs achieve 78 to 79 percent of the output of native Apple Silicon code, with Geekbench running via Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer.

The M1 chip's R23 Cinebench benchmarks come in at multi-core 7508 and single-core 1498. For the MacBook Pro, the benchmark is but the Mac mini has the same chip inside.

In contrast, a multi-core score of 8818 was obtained by the high-end 2020 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.3GHz Core i9 chip. On the same test, the 2.6GHz low-end 16-inch MacBook Pro earned a single-core score of 1113 and a multi-core score of 6912, and a single-core score of 1119 and a multi-core score of 4329 were earned by the high-end prior-generation MacBook Air.

GPU

The 8-core GPU (which means it is not a separate chip) is built into the M1 chip, and Apple calls it the best integrated graphics on a personal computer in the world. It can run 25,000 threads at a time and integrates better performance of graphics with reduced power consumption.

In Final Cut Pro, the GPU in the M1 can make a timeline up to 6x faster, according to Apple, and it is up to 4x faster to edit high-resolution images with Affinity Photo.

The M1 tops the GTX 1050 Ti and the Radeon RX 560 with 2,6 TFLOPs of throughput in the GFX Bench 5.0 benchmarks.

Neural Engine

For machine learning tasks, there is a new, more advanced Neural Engine in the Mac mini that is up to 15x faster. The Neural Engine has a 16-core architecture that can perform 11 trillion operations per second and makes ML-based tasks much faster, along with machine learning accelerators.

The Neural Engine benefits from apps like Final Cut Pro, Pixelmator, and others that use machine learning for video, picture, and audio editing purposes.

Running Apps

The M1 chip is based on an Arm architecture instead of an x86 architecture like Intel chips, but it can still run apps designed for Intel machines thanks to Rosetta 2, a translation mechanism that runs in the background and is invisible to the user.

Apple is also encouraging developers to build Universal apps that use a single binary and run on both Apple Silicon Macs and Intel Macs. In addition, Apple Silicon Macs are able to run iPhone and iPad-designed applications.

We have knowledge about applications that have been modified with native or universal support, M1 Macs gaming, homebrew apps running, and more. Check our guide to the M1 tidbits for information.

Intel Mac mini

Alongside the latest Mac mini models, Apple is continuing to market the Intel Mac mini. The Intel Mac mini is fitted with a 6-core 3GHz Intel Core i5 processor of the 8th generation that can be upgraded to a Core i7 chip.

The Intel Mac mini is not as fast as the Apple Silicon Mac mini, and the M1 models are probably not worth buying at this time. In the future, Apple will possibly be launching higher-end Mac mini models with Apple Silicon chips.

RAM

The Base M1 models come with 8GB of RAM, up to 16GB of which can be customized. Intel's higher-end versions support up to 64 GB of RAM. Tests show that even when performing highly system-intensive activities, there is not a whole lot of difference between M1 models with 8 GB RAM and 16 GB RAM.

Other Features

SSD

The Mac mini supports up to 2TB of solid state storage, with read speeds of up to 3.4GB/s.

Connectivity

The M1 Mac mini supports 802.11ax WiFi, or WiFi 6, which offers better performance than the 802.11ac Wi-Fi of the previous generation. For quick file transfers, it provides 1.2Gb/s of throughput.

802.11ac Wi-Fi is supported by the Intel Mac mini, while all versions feature Bluetooth 5.0.0

Base Models

Apple offers three stock Mac mini setups. The M1 chip has two, while the most costly one has an Intel chip.

• $699 - M1 chip, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD.

• $899 - M1 chip, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD.

• $1,099 - 3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel core i5 chip, 8GB RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 630, 512GB SSD.

Build-to-Order Options

Entry-level Mac mini upgrade options:

• 16GB RAM - +$200
• 512GB SSD - +$200
• 1TB SSD - +$400
• 2TB SSD - +$800

Middle-tier Mac mini upgrade options:

• 16GB RAM - +$200
• 1TB SSD - +$200
• 2TB SSD - +$600

Higher-end Mac mini upgrade options

• 3.2GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i7 chip - +$200
• 16GB RAM - +$200
• 32GB RAM - +$600
• 64GB RAM - +$1000
• 1TB SSD - +$200
• 2TB SSD - +$600
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet - +$100

M1 Mac How Tos

There are some tips and tricks for doing things like moving data, entering recovery mode, and finding applications tailored for the new devices, since the M1 Macs are using a new form of chip developed by Apple. We have some M1-specific how to find out the tos that are worth.

BEST PRICES

Mac mini (Early 2020): 3.0 GHz 6-Core, 512 GB

$1049.00

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Mac mini (Early 2020): 3.6 GHz Quad-Core, 256 GB

$769.99

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$764.00

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Mac mini (Late 2020): M1 Chip, 256 GB

$669.93

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$699.00

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$699.99

$699.00

Mac mini (Late 2020): M1 Chip, 512 GB

$869.99

$899.00

$889.00

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Mac mini Timeline

NOVEMBER2020

Nov 25Some Apple M1 Mac Owners Reporting Bluetooth Connectivity Issues

Nov 24M1 Macs Able to Run Up to Six External Displays Using Display Link

Nov 23Apple M1 Hands-On Comparison: MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro vs. Mac Mini

Nov 23Video Demos Performance Differences Between 8GB and 16GB Apple M1 MacBook Pro

Nov 20Apple Lists M1-Based Mac Mini Logic Boards With 10 Gigabit Ethernet in Internal Parts Ordering System

Nov 18Apple M1 Tidbits: Running iOS Apps With .IPAs, Running x86 Homebrew Apps, Accessing macOS Recovery and More

Nov 18Mac Mini Teardown Provides Real-World Look at M1 Chip on Smaller Logic Board

Nov 17Apple Silicon Mac Reviews: M1 Chip Delivers Exceptional Performance, Thermals, and Battery Life

Nov 17Watch: Apple Silicon Mac Reviews and Unboxing Videos

Nov 17First M1 Apple Silicon Macs Now Available for In-Store Pickup

Nov 16Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Pro Earns 7508 Multi-Core Score in Cinebench Benchmark

Nov 16First M1 Apple Silicon Macs Now Arriving to Customers

Nov 15Apple Silicon M1 Emulating x86 is Still Faster Than Every Other Mac in Single Core Benchmark

Nov 12Apple Silicon M1 Mac Mini vs. Intel Mac Mini Buyer's Guide

Nov 11Apple Silicon M1 Chip in MacBook Air Outperforms High-End 16-Inch MacBook Pro

Nov 10Apple's New M1 Chip Brings 6K Display Support to Mac Mini and Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro For the First Time

Nov 10M1 Macs Support WiFi 6, MacBook Air Has Updated Function Keys

Nov 10M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini Not Compatible With eGPUs

Nov 10Everything Announced at Today's Apple Event in 6 Minutes

Nov 10New M1 Mac Models Feature Thunderbolt 3 Ports, Not Newer Thunderbolt 4