New Mac Mini Reviews: Performance Boost Makes This a 'Mac Studio Junior'

[MacRumors]

Apple's new Mac mini models will start arriving to customers and launch in stores this Tuesday. Ahead of time, the first reviews of the desktop computer have been shared by select media publications and YouTube channels.

The new Mac mini is available with new M2 and M2 Pro chip options. There are no major design changes, but the M2 Pro version of the Mac mini is equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports and an HDMI 2.1 port, compared to two Thunderbolt 4 ports and HDMI 2.0 on the M2 model. Other upgraded specs include Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

The new Mac mini can be pre-ordered now on Apple's online store, with the M2 model starting at a lower $599 price and the M2 Pro model starting at $1,299.

Written Reviews

Dan Moren shared benchmarks for the Mac mini with the M2 Pro chip in his Six Colors review:

Moren said the fan inside the M2 Pro model is incredibly quiet:

Oh, and since I know fan noise is of particular concern to segments of the market that might be interested in the M2 Pro mini, I’ll say this: I could not hear the machine’s fan. Ever. I fired up all the cores and left them going for a while, and still nothing. I held my Apple Watch’s decibel reader near the back of the mini, and I noticed no appreciable change. I even installed Fanny, an app that reports fan data, to make sure there was indeed a fan inside. (There is, but apparently it is very quiet.) Apple’s not blowing smoke when it says low power consumption is a cornerstone of how it develops its chips.

The Verge's Chris Welch said "Apple's littlest Mac has never been more appealing" and said the performance improvements offered by the M2 and M2 Pro chip options make the Mac mini a good compromise between an iMac and the far more expensive Mac Studio:

If you've been waiting for the in-betweener Mac that’s more capable than the iMac and less exorbitant than the Mac Studio, look no further. The new Mac Mini is still small and not the type of computer that calls attention to itself on your desk, but it’s never been more mighty.

Welch said the increased performance makes the Mac mini worthy of a "Mac Studio junior" title:

So far, it’s been an absolute screamer worthy of the “Mac Studio junior” moniker — and then some. In benchmarks, its Cinebench single-core and multicore CPU scores bested last year’s M1 Max MacBook Pro. And the added GPU cores over the standard M2 made a noticeable difference when exporting 4K footage or gaming. As our Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark shows, that graphics horsepower isn’t quite on the level of Apple’s Max chips since they have even more GPU cores to spare. But it’s a big step up from what the standard M2 Mini, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro are capable of.

Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham did wish the new Mac mini had ports on the front of the computer like the Mac Studio, and he said pricing for higher-end configurations can end up being equal to an entry-level Mac Studio:

I wish the new minis had ports on the front, as the Studios do. And pricing is still on the high side for the M2 Pro version. If you upgrade to the fully enabled 12-core M2 Pro and 32GB of RAM, the new mini costs $1,999, the same amount as a (mostly more-powerful) entry-level Mac Studio with the same amount of memory and storage, more ports, and 10 gigabit Ethernet.

TechCrunch's Matt Burns said M2 Pro performance lives up to the hype:

I threw everything in my daily rotation at the M2 Pro, and it never blinked. It zoomed through media encoding and heavy photo editing. It conquered benchmarks and put up with Chrome’s never-ending quest for system memory. It’s been a joy to use.

More Written Reviews

• Macworld's Jason Cross
• Forbes' David Phelan
• PCMag's Brian Westover
• CNET's Dan Ackerman
• Tom's Guide's Alex Wawro

Video Reviews and Unboxings

Article Link: New Mac Mini Reviews: Performance Boost Makes This a 'Mac Studio Junior'

 

[dantracht]

The star of the show so far this year. Cannot wait to get mine.

 

[Justin Cymbal]

I’m glad that Apple was able to get the price down to $599 from the previous $699

This lower starting price is going to allow many new potential Apple users to be able to afford their first Mac

 

[brooklyn360]

Ready to get one. Just need the right peripherals. a Monitor and a keyboard that can also play nice with my work laptop.

 

[asdfjkl;]

I'm torn between a M2 16/512 and an M2 Pro 32/512. The latter has the ports and plenty of RAM. I don't need the higher binned 12 core CPU. That SKU doesn't make a lot of sense, frankly, as once you go there you might as well buy a Studio. However, the 10 core with 32GB is $300 less than a base Studio with the differences of no value to me.

 

[tstafford]

Looks like a terrific machine. At the high end offers a different package of pros/cons vs. base Studio. My current display set-up wouldn't work with the M2 Pro Mini. However if I were starting today I think I'd choose a different set of displays in order to take advantage of the Mini's extra single core performance (vs. my base Studio).

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

One of the cheapest Mac ever. Apple nailed it with the price.

 

[radus]

A M2 Max Version with 64GB Ram would had been nice.

 

[antnythr]

Ready to get one. Just need the right peripherals. a Monitor and a keyboard that can also play nice with my work laptop.

There lies the catch that there's basically no monitor out there that you can use without needing to resort to weird scaling without buying the $1600 Studio display. 4K displays look comical at 2x scaling, and I'm not even sure you can get the 5K LG anymore.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

A M2 Max Version with 64GB Ram would had been nice.

Thats… that’s the Studio.
What on earth would be the point of putting that same chip in the mini?

 

[asdfjkl;]

Thats… that’s the Studio.
What on earth would be the point of putting that same chip in the mini?

Yep, and there's no way there'd be enough cooling capacity for a Max, either. Hence, the Studio.

 

[Horselover Fat]

Any word on the fan noise under sustained heavy load?

 

[randolorian]

I returned the Mac Studio that I bought last week because this new mini makes a lot of more sense for my use case.

 

[Razorpit]

Not going to lie, I threw-up a little in my mouth scrolling past all the links to the "influencer" videos. 🙄 🤢

 

[btbeme]

No doubt at all that these are potent machines...but the upgrade pricing for extra storage is obscene.

 

[greenbreadmmm]

Yep, and there's no way there'd be enough cooling capacity for a Max, either. Hence, the Studio.

Wouldnt that be right on par with the last gen Intels power needs?

 

[Swissfashion]

Six Colors review Mac Mini
They say the M2 Pro Mac Mini Fan is inaudible

 

[magbarn]

Irritating you have to opt up to the higher spec machines to get HDMI 2.1
Definitely market segmentation.

 

[FierceCorgi]

Any word on the fan noise under sustained heavy load?

The Ars Tech review mentioned that the M2 Pro mini had about the same fan usage as the old M1 mini during their tests, but didn't give any details beyond that (so probably mainly talking about benchmark tests).

 

[BGPL]

What a great machine for the price. Grab a M2 Pro and then select a display of your choice and you have a Studio competitor for well under 2k.

 

[MatthewUT44]

No reviews for the M2 mini. I only see benchmarks for m2 pro mini

 

[profets]

I'm torn between a M2 16/512 and an M2 Pro 32/512. The latter has the ports and plenty of RAM. I don't need the higher binned 12 core CPU. That SKU doesn't make a lot of sense, frankly, as once you go there you might as well buy a Studio. However, the 10 core with 32GB is $300 less than a base Studio with the differences of no value to me.

I feel like this happens with many of their product lines now.

 

[Turribeach]

There lies the catch that there's basically no monitor out there that you can use without needing to resort to weird scaling without buying the $1600 Studio display. 4K displays look comical at 2x scaling, and I'm not even sure you can get the 5K LG anymore.

What do you mean??! Diffefrent monitors will display images at their native resolution. You can adjust the screen resolution if you want but why would you do that?

 

[Turribeach]

Looks like a terrific machine. At the high end offers a different package of pros/cons vs. base Studio. My current display set-up wouldn't work with the M2 Pro Mini. However if I were starting today I think I'd choose a different set of displays in order to take advantage of the Mini's extra single core performance (vs. my base Studio).

Why? What's wrong with your displays?

 

[Jankie]

There lies the catch that there's basically no monitor out there that you can use without needing to resort to weird scaling without buying the $1600 Studio display. 4K displays look comical at 2x scaling, and I'm not even sure you can get the 5K LG anymore.

Correct. That is why a lot of Mac users are excited to see the price and reviews for the Samsung 5k 27 inch and Dell 6k 32 inch displays that were revealed at CES this year.

I have the Studio display and agree with you, I spent too much. I also have 2 LG 4k 24 inch displays from Best Buy for $279/each. I have found that these are very good for those that want to keep their costs down. While not the traditional scaling/PPI, because the display is 24 inch, it is still very good for the price.