The Mac mini has always had something stacked in its favour: the price. For many years the Mac mini was the most affordable Mac, offering the advantage of being able to connect to your existing peripherals to create an affordable macOS desktop system.

With the world changing over the past couple of years, there's renewed interest in this sort of solution: working off a docked laptop is fine, but many are discovering that having a permanent computing solution at home now makes a lot more sense.

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Apple Mac mini (M2, 2023)
Recommended

The Mac mini maintains much of the appeal that it previously did, now boosted by the more affordable entry point, so if you're looking for an affordable desktop computer, the M2 Mac mini is perfectly placed to offer that.

Pros
  • Great entry point to macOS
  • Plenty of connectivity
  • Runs quiet
  • Plenty of power
Cons
  • No user upgrade options
  • Expensive to increase RAM or storage
  • No ports on the front

Which to choose M2 or M2 Pro?

This is going to be one of the big questions when it comes to the Mac mini - do you take the M2 or do you opt for the M2 Pro? The big difference you'll notice between them is the price, which takes you from Apple's cheapest Mac to a price that's about the same as the M2 MacBook Air (which is the model we'd recommend over the M2 MacBook Pro).

But there's a lot more going on here. Firstly, M2 Pro has more power, sitting between M2 and M2 Max. There's double the RAM and double the storage too (although there are configuration options on all models), while the connectivity is better too, thanks to having four Thunderbolt ports rather than just two - although there are plenty of other connection options.

Finally, the M2 Pro will support up to three external displays, whereas the M2 is just two. Some of those decisions will be impacted by what you want to do. For most generalist users, the M2 version will have all the power you need, but if you can afford a little more, we'd recommend moving to 16GB RAM.

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Design and build

  • 35.8 x 197 x 197mm, 1.18-1.28g
  • Aluminium body

The design of the Mac mini hasn't changed since 2010, when Apple was moving over to aluminium unibody designs for all its Macs. That brings a wonderful sense of consistency and it remains a simple, elegant, and understated design. Gone from those early days in this bodywork is the removable panel on the bottom, so you can't upgrade this Mac yourself, which is a shame because that would deliver real value and the upgrades are expensive.

So you'll have to spec-up the Mac you want with enough RAM and storage to see you through its life and while that ramps the cost up pretty quickly, it's better to know that you have a system that will see you into the future.

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Around the back you'll find that the rear panel is largely unchanged (in design terms) from those early models, and generally reflecting the positioning of the previous M1 model: as mentioned above, however, the M2 Pro gets two additional Thunderbolt ports. There's still no sign of SD card support, which has made it way back to the MacBook Pro, but remains absent here.

What's welcomed is that there's a full run of connectivity, although the criticism remains that there are no ports on the front, so every connect or disconnect involves scrabbling around the back, or just using a hub where you can reach it on your desk, which is what we resorted to. If you're opting for a minimalist setup, however, it's hard to beat for a clean install.

The advantage of this design, or retaining this design, is that there's space for ventilation, with an exhaust port on the back and a fan that's very quiet in normal use, which often isn't the case for other small format PCs running desktop hardware.

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There is an internal speaker in the Mac mini, but the performance is basic and rather muted, so it's only really good for system sounds. If you're watching videos, gaming or anything else, you'll need to hook-up an audio solution.

Hardware and performance

  • Apple M2 or M2 Pro
  • 8-32GB RAM, 256GB-8TB storage
  • 2x USB-A, 2-4 Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5mm

The hardware changes are where the story is really told, with the move to the Apple M2. As outlined, there's the option of the M2, or the more advanced M2 Pro, which adds two additional performance cores and jumps up to a 16-core GPU; there's also the option to have a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU on the M2 Pro - although it's a $300 jump in price.

Options for RAM and storage also come with a hefty price bump, but those options are there, so you can tailor the Mac mini to your requirements and budget. There are early reports that the 256GB storage options have slightly slower performance than those with 512GB or above, so if speed is important, this might also be worth investigating. Our review model was equipped with 1TB storage and didn't suffer from this problem.

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As for the performance itself, we now have a good sense of what the M2, M2 Pro and M2 Max offer having seen them in a generation of MacBook models. The M2 Pro in our review model slots neatly into the middle space between the performance of the standard M2 and the M2 Max as you'd expect. That leaves the Mac mini with plenty of power, a great home solution for those wanting a little more power for things like photo and video editing - although the MacBook Pro M2 Max still offers better performance on those intensive tasks.

Having used the M2 MacBook Air, we'd say that the entry-level Mac mini with M2 will be perfectly equipped for general domestic computing tasks, including light photo and video editing. If you have more serious creative demands then the M2 Pro is worth greater consideration to help you cut through those more intensive tasks. We found the M2 Pro adeptly coped with a heavy photo editing workload, without really feeling stressed; everything is smooth and fast, even when working with large RAW image files.

We also found that support for multiple monitors caused no problems, running the Apple Studio Display via Thunderbolt while taking advantage of its speakers and USB hub - alongside an older 27-inch HP monitor on HDMI. As we mentioned, the M2 version will support two monitors, the M2 Pro will support three. The output supported is different, so if you have a particular requirement for 144Hz for example, make sure you check compatibility for your connection type before you buy.

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Of course, as lovely as the 5K Apple monitor is, those looking to save money and invest in Apple's most affordable Mac will be attracted to the fact that you can use existing devices with the Mac mini. We disconnected the cables from our PC and plugged in the Mac mini and it was happy to get on with it. The setup process, however, expects to find Apple's Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse and encourages Bluetooth use, but having connected a wired keyboard, it was perfectly happy.

There can be some confusion connecting third-party devices: connecting a wired Corsair mouse saw it identified as a keyboard, but it worked after a fashion. Connecting a wired PC keyboard also worked, but you'll want a keyboard designed for Mac to take advantage of shortcuts, otherwise it's a bit messy.

The presence of those two USB-A means you have plenty of options, so things like legacy mics and webcams also pose no problems: we hooked up a Blue mic and Logitech webcam and both worked seamlessly.

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While the Mac mini can be the cheap plug-and-play desktop, there's definitely an optimal setup to be had. Mac mini works so well with Apple accessories, they're worth investing in over time. We tested the Mac mini with a vintage Apple Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad and they still work seamlessly, so you're not limited to having the latest devices either.

Verdict

The Mac mini maintains much of the appeal that it previously did, now boosted by the more affordable entry point, so if you're looking for an affordable desktop computer, the M2 Mac mini is perfectly placed to offer that. While the experience is best with Apple's accessories, in reality you're not limited and existing third-party devices are widely supported.

For those looking for a little more power, the M2 Pro has a bit more grunt for working more intensively with image or video files. Running in almost complete silence and keeping that minimalist design, the biggest criticisms of the Mac mini are as they have been for a number of years: the lack of ports on the front can be inconvenient, while the inability to upgrade means you need to carefully consider what you need at the point of purchase.