Apple overhauls the Mac Mini with 8th gen Intel CPUs, Thunderbolt 3, and more

Hello, old friend. It’s been a long time.

Apple announced a new Mac Mini this morning, and it’s a pretty large overhaul. The outer casing remains virtually unchanged from the 2014 Mac Mini. It’s still the same 7.7” x 7.7” x 1.4” (19.7 cm x 19.7 cm x 3.6 cm) aluminum unibody shell. The new Mac Mini is a bit heavier at 2.9 pounds (1.3 kg). However, the internals have been completely overhauled for a modern computing experience.

Here are the specs:

• CPU: 8th Gen Intel Core i3 (4 cores, 3.6 GHz) / Core i5 (6 cores, 3.0-4.1 GHz) / Core i7 (6 cores, 3.2-4.6 GHz)
• GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630
• RAM: up to 64 GB DDR4-2666 SODIMM
• Storage: up to a 2 TB NVMe SSD

The new Mac Mini also has a bevy of modern ports, including 4x Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, 2x USB 3.0 Type-A ports, 10/100/1000 Ethernet (configurable to 10 Gb), and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The 2018 Mac Mini also has 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0.

The biggest change is obviously the new CPUs, a major upgrade from the 2014 Mac Mini’s dual-core chips. Apple’s T2 security chip is onboard as well, allowing improved drive encryption.

These improvements won’t come cheap. The base model Core i3/8 GB RAM/129 GB PCIe SSD model starts at US $799, which is a pretty steep price for what is now a pretty basic desktop. Keep in mind that buyers will have to bring their own monitor, keyboard, and mouse. With all the bells and whistles, the Mac Mini comes in at a staggering $4199.

The Mac Mini goes on sale today and will begin shipping on November 7th.

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