In addition to the MacBook Air, Apple also introduced a new Mac Mini. It runs Apple’s first custom chipset specifically designed for Mac computers, the M1. It still features the same familiar design, but it now uses an Arm-based chip.
“If you compare a Mac mini to the top-selling desktop in this price range, the Mini is one-tenth its size and yet it’s up to five times faster,” Hardware Engineering Senior Manager Julie Broms said.
The M1 features four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. It uses a 5nm process. There are eight GPU cores with 128 execution units, which should lead to peak performance of 2.6 teraflops. There is also Apple’s neural engine for machine learning tasks.
According to Apple, the new Mac Mini is up to three times faster than the previous model when it comes to CPU performance. As for GPU performance, it is up to six times faster. ML acceleration is also up to 15 times faster.
At the back of the device, you’ll find an Ethernet port, two Thunderbolt/USB4 ports that support a 6K display, an HDMI 2.0 port, two USB A ports and a 3.5mm headphone port.
Pricing starts at $699 for the base model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. You can upgrade to 16GB of RAM for another $200. Going from 256GB of storage to 512GB, 1TB and 2TB of storage costs $200 for each incremental step. Pre-orders start today and the new Mac Mini will be available next week.
Image Credits: Apple
