Mac mini M2 packs a performance punch for under $600

The brand new Mac mini comes with an M2 or M2 Professional processor

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It is arduous to complain a lot concerning the up to date Mac mini. Apple delivered not one — however two variations — with both the M2 or the M2 Professional on the within. The brand new model of the headless Mac comes with extra highly effective silicon, and a cheaper price tag as well.

Apple dropped the Mac mini price on the entry-level mannequin from $699 to $599, getting you an M2-equipped Mac mini with 8GB of ram and 256GB of SSD storage. On the schooling retailer, the worth drops additional to solely $499.

Relying in your wants, the Mac mini would be the desktop Mac to personal. Let’s examine it to the iMac and the Mac Studio, ignoring the Mac Pro because it’s in a league of its personal.

Apple’s 24-inch iMac is tempting as an all-in-one design that features the whole lot you want from the keyboard and mouse to the show. When you can compromise on the equipment, Mac mini may be much more energy for the worth.

You possibly can go for the entry-level 24-inch iMac that runs you $1,300 with an 8-core M1 with a 7-core GPU or for lower than $600, you’ll be able to have an 8-core M2 with a 10-core GPU. Lower than half the worth with higher efficiency.

Alternatively, you might spend the identical $1,300 however get a 10-core M2 Professional Mac mini that comes with a 16-core GPU and double the reminiscence and storage.

When you can supply your personal monitor and peripherals, or have already got ones you want, the brand new Mac mini is unbelievable worth.

Within the initial batch of M2 Mac mini critiques the efficiency was so stable some had already dubbed it the “Mac Studio Junior” and it is easy to see why.

The Mac Studio can completely be outfitted to be extra highly effective than the highest-end Mac mini. However, in the event you had been taking a look at an entry-level Mac Studio per week in the past, the Mac mini with M2 Professional processor could also be a more sensible choice.

Latest benchmarks have proven that the 12-core M2 Professional outpaces the 10-core M1 Max. Which means you’ll be able to choose up the brand new 10-core M2 Professional Mac Mini for $1,300 whereas the M1 Max Mac Studio begins at $2000 — a $700 financial savings with related efficiency.

Spending one other $300 will get you a 12-core M2 Professional Mac mini, nonetheless a $400 financial savings and now higher efficiency. Mac Studio has extra ports, however in the event you’re comfy with Ethernet, 4 Thunderbolt, HDMI, and two USB-A, the Mac mini wins out.

Plus the Mac mini has additional advantages the Mac Studio would not, resembling assist for 4K 240Hz and 8K shows.

This comparability is complicated, although. We already ran through the Mac Mini versus Mac Studio specs on paper, and we’ll revisit it when we have now the {hardware} in-hand.

Readers can completely save $100 on the next retail configurations with promo code APINSIDER at Apple Approved Reseller Adorama.

• M2 (8C CPU, 10C GPU), 8GB, 256GB: Reg. $599, now $549* ($50 off)
• M2 (8C CPU, 10C GPU), 8GB, 512GB: Reg. $799, now $699* ($100 off)
• M2 Professional (10C CPU, 16C GPU), 16GB, 512GB: Reg. $1,299, now $1,199* ($100 off)


*Worth with coupon code APINSIDER.