Mac Mini 2023: Powerful Desktop Replacement
The Apple Mac Mini has been considered by most to be a budget desktop option. The latest 2023 Mac Mini with the improved M2 and M2 Pro Apple silicon chips makes the Mac Mini a small powerful workhorse.
Small Form Factor
The major selling point of the Mac Mini model is the small form factor which can be placed under the monitor or thrown into a bag when on the move. Even though the Mac Mini is small there are plenty of ports on offer as you get two USA A ports, an HDMI port, four Thunderbolt ports (the base model gets two), a headphone jack, and an Ethernet port. Apple has built the Mac Mini with thermals in mind to keep the Mac Mini cool under an intensive computing load.
Power of the M2 Pro
The success of the introduction of Apple silicon has shown how powerful Apple-made microprocessors are when compared to its competitors. The power efficiencies of the M1 chip highlighted how current microprocessor chips were slow and not efficient. The M1 chip changed the microprocessor landscape and the introduction of the M2 Pro in the Mac Mini has enhanced the processor performance capabilities of the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini is available with the M2 (8 Core CPU and 10 Core GPU) and M2 Pro (10 Core CPU and 16 Core GPU or 12 core CPU and 19 core GPU). With the M2 Pro, the Mac Mini will be available power through CPU-intensive applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.
Great Price
The base model Mac Mini is available at £649 with M2, 8GB unified memory and 256GB SSD storage. If you want the M2 Pro version the starting price is £1,399 which has 16GB unified memory and 512GB SSD storage. If you completely max out the Mac Mini with 32GB RAM, 8TB storage and 10 Gig Ethernet can cost as much as £4599. If you built a Mac Mini with M2 Pro (12 core CPU and 19 Core GPU), 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage are cheaper than the M1 Pro or M2 Pro MacBook Pro.
Summary
The 2023 Mac Mini provides the perfect small form factor desktop replacement with Apple silicon to power through intensive tasks. The base model is capable of powering through high CPU-intensive photo and video editing applications. The base model price point will be tempting for anyone wanting to try Apple silicon that comes with the M2 chips. Adding the M2 Pro chip enables wider capabilities while being cheaper than the MacBook Pro 14 equivalent.