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The Mac Mini has always been that runt you might buy if you couldn’t afford any other Apple computer. Which is to say: it was the Apple computer you bought when you should’ve picked up a budget Dell or something. No longer. The 2012 model is a fantastic, affordable, and small.
In models past, the Mac Mini was an underpowered joke, best used to serve up media or pull down your torrents in the background: an auxiliary computer. But the new Mac Mini can be a few different things, all of them worthy. Starting at just $600, it can be a budget computer that still packs great guts and, of course, OS X. For a few hundred more, you can stick in massive storage, gobs of memory, and a quad-core CPU that’ll more than handle any normal computing tasks you throw at it. We priced ours out at around a grand—a decent price for a desktop—and took it from there, using a keyboard, mouse, and LCD display we had sitting around.
A small (about 8×8 inches) desktop Macintosh computer. BYO mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
Anyone who wants a new computer, doesn’t need a monitor, and wants to save a little cash.
It’s like a big Apple TV. The same compact puck idea is at work here. Important ports are stuck in the back, and that’s a real screwup for anyone with hands.
Plug your peripherals in and go—the screw-off hatch on the bottom is a wonderful touch, giving you the option to swap out guts in mere minutes.
Performance. If you’re not planning on heavy gaming or video editing, there’s little reason to buy an iMac over this. I was able to play multiple 1080p videos simultaneously, which is absolutely pointless, but shows how much processing power this thing has inside.
The graphics. You’re stuck with an integrated chipset, which precludes hardcore gaming with titles from the last several years.
Apple: why did you make something so beautiful and good, yet stick the often-used headphone, USB, and Thunderbolt jacks in the back of the computer? It’s a crowded mess, and this will be a daily annoyance for anyone who regularly swaps accessories.
- If you care about synthetic benchmarks, the Mac Mini scored an 11,761 on Geekbench. My mid-2011 MacBook Air with a Core i7 at 1.8 GHz hit 6,189, and a 2.7 GHz Core i5 iMac pushed 8,797.
- On the PC side, browsing Geekbench’s public listings shows the $1,100 Dell XPS 8500 closely matching or beating the Mac Mini—but it’s a full tower computer. The $500 Inspiron 660 cranks about 2/3 of the Mac Mini’s Geekbench score.
- Some gaming is definitely feasible. Half Life 2 (I know, I know, an old game) ran at 1920×1080 with every setting maxed out. Sure, not so impressive. But the notoriously resource hoggy Civilization V ran decently with settings turned all the way up.
- It’s hard to measure how much of a difference the Fusion Drive makes, given that it helps in certain areas and not others without letting you know, but read and write speeds were both quite good: 301 MB/sec average write, 428 MB/sec average read. Frequently-used programs like Safari bounced open in less than a second.
If you’re OK with a Mac whose specs are less than top of the line, and don’t want the design grace of an all-in-one iMac, the answer is absolutely yes. This is a small, fast, affordable thing. But be warned: you will find the rear-positioned jacks a rear pain.
Apple Mac Mini (As Tested)
• CPU: 2.3 GHz Quad Core Intel Core i7 (Up to 2.7 GHz)
• Memory: 4 GB (Up to 16 GB)
• GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000
• Hard Drive: 1 TB Fusion Drive
• Ports: 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 1 FireWire 800, 1 HDMI, 1 Thunderbolt, 4 USB 3, SDXC slot, Audio-In, Audio-Out
• Wireless: 802.11 a/g/b/n
• Price: £879 (as configured)
• Gizrank: 3.5
“Anyone who wants a new computer, doesn’t need a monitor, and wants to save a little cash”…
£879. For those specs. No
Yeah, I just built something metric tons better than this for about £880.
And if I had sourced differently, it would have been £800…
But it won’t be as small will it.
Almost with a micro-itx.
I have a micro-itx system and have compared them, the whoule mac mini takes up about the same space as the micro-itx mobo. You won’t get that small with that power without custom hardware.
If you can build your own computer, you’re not exactly the target audience of Apple, are you?
I’m getting one shipped from the states. Glad to read this review as I’m saving a packet compared to the ripoff British price
Mine arrived from the states yesterday, I got the i7 quad core. Works out as £500. Planning to upgrade the RAM to 16GB for £60 and install OSX on a 128gb SSD drive for approx £60.
This will make the Mini a work horse!
Looking at getting a new 27″ monitor, can anybody recommend anything?
Funny that, I’m getting exactly the same model for the same purpose! By the way, what model/brand Ram are you using? Crucial seems to be the popular choice!
Yep, getting 16gb of RAM directly from the Crucial website.
Decided on this montior
http://www.amazon.co.uk/VE278Q-Widescreen-Display-Response-Picture/dp/B0041RXPQY?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camelcamelcam-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0041RXPQY
Where did you buy it from?
A friend got it from the Apple Store in New York.
I have just bought a Samsung S27B550V 27″ Monitor LED Display with built in speaker`s 2x 5 watts. Connectivity – audio in,D-Sub,HDMI, VGA 2. Analogue input,and digital input. 3.Speakers power 2 x5 watts RMS.It comes with 3 different connector wires Price £250 Argos
The speakers are not that good.
I had an iMac which was faulty.It`s a long story. I got a full refund off Apple because of the fault.
I was looking to buy the Mac Mini i am typing this out on 2007 Mac Mini,but i know there is a fault with the HDMI Connectivity. I wanted the top specs Mac Mini price £1,298 with the AppleCare Plan,but i am not risking it till I suss this problem out with the Mac Mini
Sweet to save money but surely you have just bought a tiny integrated specialist system with no warranty.
I visited the Apple Store in Regent St and they confirmed the warranty is valid in the UK.
Apple warranties are valid world wide for 1 year free and in the EU for 2 years free (http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/)
Every Apple product I’ve ever bought or received as a gift has been from the US (Approx 3 iPods, 4 iPod touches, 3 iPads, a 12″ PowerBook G4, 1st gen Macbook and a 2010 Macbook Pro) and have never had a problem getting service on those here. Recently got my out of warranty power supply for the Macbook Pro replaced free! They do have some of the nicest after care.
Does a non Apple 27 inch monitor with a res of 2560×1440 exist?
My Dell XPS One 2710 would suggest the affirmative…..
Off the top of my head:
Hazro HZ27WB
DGM IPS-2701WPH
Asus PB278Q
Dell UltraSharp U2713HM
Dell UltraSharp U2711
There’s probably more that I’ve forgotten. IIRC most of those, including the DGM that Overclockers UK were selling for £199 the other weekend, have exactly the same IPS panel inside of them as the Apple one.
It will be left hand drive though
Any word on the HDMI port?
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4472316?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4490924?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2617896?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4480354?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4497508?tstart=0
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1478837
That’s a pretty serious complaint, Westyfield2, especially as people will be using the HDMI Mac Mini as an under-the-tv box with a large sized television or monitor
I’m surprised that none of the tech press have picked up on it!
From what I’ve read it’s a design defect and is present in every 2012 Mac Mini, and reveals itself with certain HDMI connected screens (I guess it’s HDCP/EDID related?), but if you *buy* a MDP to HDMI adapter you should be fine.
People calling Apple are getting the run around and they aren’t admitting fault
I think that most of the tech press seems to consider the Mac Mini a bit of a novelty.
Firmware update released a few days to fix the problem.
It’s hardly going to swing me back over to Mac but thanks for the heads up. I will keep an eye on it
It does not work?
Aww, it’s so cute.
Could be nice if you want to mess around with OSX without having to unload a ridiculous amount of money. I was contemplating doing just that, but it only appears to have stereo sound.
What are the sound options for these things? I can’t find anything about getting 5.1 on the apple site
oh nevermind. I guess my options are a little limited because of my setup. I cant use HDMI or optical cables for the sound
Actually, the cheapest way to enjoy OSX is running a Hackintosh. Because, y’know, it’s free.
By that reasoning, so is shoplifting a Mac Pro.
OK, £30 on top if you don’t pirate the OS, but that’s hell of a lot cheaper than spending £600 just to “mess around”, isn’t it?
Like everyone else, I thought the Mac Mini was absolutely fantastic, even as a stock Core i5 with 4GB of RAM. It was only after looking at it more closely that I realised I would be buying a machine with specs equal to my last home-built PC that is nearly five years old. I guess that Apple are still behind the times when it comes to new CPU technology.
Sorry, should have been 3 year old PC (in case anyone’s monocle popped into their cereal bowl in amazement)
Wrong Again, all Mac Mini’s are Ivy Bridge CPU’s so they are the current Intel chips
Not a great deal of difference though and not enough to justify purchase in my eyes.
I would seriously be considering a Mac Mini to use at home instead of a Windows 7 PC if the graphics option wasn’t so anaemic. The decision to go back to an integrated solution after offering a proper (though mobile) GPU is rather infuriating.
Intel 4000 is good enough to play the absolute newest games on middling settings.
If you like to play in 1024×768 resolution than yes…
Hence middling settings. Besides, it can manage 1080p.
A windows nettop PC with similar specs can be had for under £300. It was cool a couple of years ago.
If you can show me an Ivy Bridge net top that cheap, which is USB 3, has a Thunderbolt connection, SDXC, FireWire 800, that supports osx and windows, can fit 2 SATA III Hard drives, runs under 85 watts, doesnt have a power brick, and is as small as the Mac Mini, I’d be inclined to give you the benefit, but I doubt you’ll find anything that comes close.
Check pcspecialist, http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-top-spec-mini-pc/
for 528£ you actually get similar spec. (better processors 2.5 they do not have 2.3 i7)
Matching the specs will still be much bigger than a mac mini, louder, use more power (nothing less than 90 watts for the Asus boards unless you want mb failures), have a power brick and still be missing thunderbolt and FireWire 800 ports. The best thing about that mini itx is the esata ports and optical outs.
The spec may be similar but you compromise on many things that make the mac mini unique. I’m planning on getting the quad core 2.6 upgrade which is based on the 3770 I7 but with 2mb less l3 cache, and is still only costing me under £600.
This will be a workhorse machine for me, probably left on 24/7, I’ll be saving a ton on electricity as well compared to the P8Z77-I which, I was going to build on earlier in the year but couldn’t make my mind up on zotac and msi offerings before getting lazy :-p
Complete balls.
I don’t really understand why this is being compared to a dell desktop when it is in a completely different class. What this is, is a laptop without a screen, thus the mobile processor. Seems a flawed comparison. What it should be compared to is something like the dell inspiring 15r se
Sorry, Giz – a grand for a machine that has no user-serviceable hard drive or CPU and no discrete GPU option isn’t a “decent” price, unless you mean “decent” as in “pretty expensive”.
The Mac Mini is still a joke. The ports are all in the back – even the SD slot! – and there’s no optical drive (so less options as an HTPC or main machine) and only the RAM is upgradeable. Oh, and the stupid big black foot on the bottom has no rubber on it, so the thing slides around all the damn time.
Also, I find it awesome and completely predictable that this thing already has a major hardware issue that, yet again, Apple is refusing to acknowledge as a software or hardware defect on their end.
I have just got a refund from the the Faulty iMac saga. Evan the new iMacs are faulty.
So i was going to buy the new Mac Mini full specs including The AppleCare Plan Price £1,298,but i have found out there is a hardware fault with that. It`s the connectivity the HDMI port is faulty,and they evan gave you a firmware update 1.7 for the late 2012 Mini,and this does not work.
The only thing i like about an Apple Computer(When they work) is the system Period?