I have to think it could be about half as big. Given how much smaller the M1-based board is inside the Mac Mini, I think we can expect a much smaller and redesigned Mac Mini in the near future. (The ports’ other capabilities- USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gbps, plus DisplayPort, and Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI, and VGA support via adapters-are the same between both versions.)Ĭompared to Intel’s wonderful NUC mini-PCs, the Mac Mini is bigger: It’s much wider and deeper, though less tall. Those two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports support USB4 at up to 40 Gbps on the M1 Mac Mini, where the Intel versions do not. There is one important technical difference in those USB-C ports too. But where the Intel-based Mac Mini provides four USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, the M1 version provides only two. Both provide a power port, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0 (video-out), two USB-A ports (with speeds up to 5 Gbps), and a 3.5-mm headphone jack.
On the rear, you’ll find the first-and arguably the only-external visual differences between the M1-based Mac Mini and those earlier products. Here, Apple has chosen the clean lines of its design preferences over practicality, and that was-and still is-a mistake.
I don’t like that this computer has no ports at all on the front. That kind of news is always appreciated.įrom a form factor perspective, there’s not much new about the M1-based Mac Mini: It utilizes the same enclosure as its Intel-based predecessors. This morning, I woke up to an email telling me that it was on the UPS truck and would be delivered today. You may recall that the original estimate was for a January 14 delivery, but I got an update last week indicating that it would come a week earlier, on January 8 (this coming Thursday). This Mac arrived a lot earlier than originally promised, which is typical of Apple. Here, I’ll provide some early impressions of the hardware itself, but I of course have bigger plans for reviewing this computer going forward. I wrote about my plans to assess the new M1-based Mac Mini a few weeks ago. The new M1-based Mac Mini arrives in a form factor that is identical to its predecessor but with fewer expansion ports and dramatically different internals.
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