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Mac mini
Overview hero design

The top of a "unibody" Mac mini.

Code name Q88
Date released October 16, 2014
Processor Intel Core i5 & i7
Operating System OS X El Capitan
Price at release USD $499

The Mac mini is a small desktop computer developed by Apple Inc. Like other Mini-ITX PC designs, it is very small for a desktop computer: 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) square and 2 inches (5.1 cm) tall. It weighs 2.9 pounds (1.31 kg); its external power supply is roughly one third of the size of the computer itself.

The Mac mini is the first Macintosh desktop to not include a keyboard or mouse. (The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh also shipped without a mouse, however it included a re-positionable touchpad). In addition there is no included display. The primary intended market for the Mac mini was for "switchers" who would already own a display, USB keyboard and mouse, and other customers could easily purchase these if needed.

Product history[]

Overview hero

A "unibody" Mac Mini as it would appear sitting on a desk.

The first PowerPC G4-based Mac mini was introduced in January 2005 at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco by Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Computer at the time. It was announced at the same time as the iPod shuffle, both scaled-down and less expensive alternatives to the company's main products in those lines. It was described by Jobs as the "most affordable Mac ever". It has since been updated numerous times with newer processors and system architectures.

As of October 2015, the Mac mini shipped with Apple's OS X 10.11 operating system installed, and also included software such as the Safari web browser and the iLife suite of Apple applications to create and manage videos, music, photos and DVDs. The iWork productivity suite was also included.

On November 10, 2020, Apple announced the new Mac Mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro as the first Mac systems to run on an in-house designed chip, the Apple M1.[1] In January 2023, it was updated to support the Apple M2 or M2 Pro chip.[2]

Specifications[]

Component PowerPC G4 Intel Core Duo Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core i5 & i7
Model Early Mid 2005[3] Late 2005[4] Early 2006[5] Late 2006[6] Mid 2007[7] Late 2009 Mid 2010 Mid 2011 Late 2012 Late 2014
Graphics ATI Radeon 9200 graphics processor with 32MB of DDR SDRAM ATI Radeon 9200 graphics processor with 32MB or 64MB of DDR SDRAM Intel GMA 950 graphics processor using 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared by main memory (up to 224MB in Windows through Boot Camp).[8] Nvidia
GeForce 9400M using 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM
Nvidia GeForce 320Musing 256 MB of DDR3 SDRAM Intel HD Graphics3000processor with 288 MB of DDR3 SDRAM AMD Radeon HD6630Mgraphics processor with dedicated 256 MB of GDDR5 memory Intel HD Graphics 4000 Intel HD Graphics 5000 processor Intel Iris Graphics 5100
Hard drive 40GB or 80GB Ultra ATA/100, 4200-rpm 40GB or 80GB Ultra ATA/100, 5400-rpm 60GB, 80GB
Optional 100GB or 120GB, 5400-rpm.
60GB, 80GB
Optional 100GB, 120GB or 160GB, 5400-rpm.
80GB or 120GB
Optional 160GB, 5400-rpm.
160 or 320 GB
2 × 500 GB on server model

Optional 500 GB

320 GB5400 rpmSATA HDD

Optional 500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD

500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDDOptional 750 GB 7200 rpm SATA HDD 500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDDOptional 750 GB 7200 rpm SATA HDD, 256 GBSSD, or 1 × 256 GB SSD + 1 × 750 GB 7200 rpm SATA HDD 500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA HDD

Optional 1 TBFusion Drive or 256 GB SSD

500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDDOptional 1 TB Fusion Drive 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA HDDOptional 1 TBFusion Drive or 256 GB SSD 1 TB Fusion Drive

Optional 2 TBFusion Drive or 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB SSD

Processor 1.25Ghz or 1.42Ghz PowerPC G4 (7447A) 1.33Ghz or 1.5Ghz PowerPC G4 (7447A) 1.5Ghz Intel Core Solo or 1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo (T1200/T2300) 1.66Ghz or 1.83Ghz Intel Core Duo (T2300/T2400) 1.83Ghz or 2.0Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo (T5600/T7200) 2.26 GHz (P7550) or 2.53 GHz (P8700) Intel Core 2 Duo
Optional 2.66 GHz (P8800) Intel Core 2 Duo
Intel Core 2 Duo(P8600)
Optional 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (P8800)
Dual-core Intel Core i5(i5-2415M) Dual-core Intel Core i5 (i5-2520M Turbo Boost up to 3.2 GHz)
Optional i7-2620M dual-core Intel Core i7
Dual-core Intel Core i5 (i5-3210M) Quad-core Intel Core i7 (i7-3615QM Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz)
Optional i7-3720QM quad-core Intel Core i7
Dual-core Intel Core i5 (i5-4260U) Dual-core Intel Core i5 (i5-4278U)
Optional i7-4578U dual-core Intel Core i7
Dual-core Intel Core i5 (i5-4308U)
Optional i7-4578U dual-core Intel Core i7
Memory 256MB or 512MB PC-2700 DDR SDRAM
Expandable to 1GB
512MB PC-2700 DDR SDRAM
Expandable to 1GB
512MB (two 256MB) PC2-5300 DDR2 SO-DIMM SDRAM
Expandable to 2GB
1GB (two 512MB) PC2-5300 DDR2 SO-DIMM SDRAM
Expandable to 4GB although not officially confirmed by Apple.[9]
2 GB (2 × 1 GB) or 4 GB (2 × 2 GB) of 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Expandable to 8 GB (4 GB supported by Apple)
2 GB (2 × 1 GB) 1066 MHzDDR3 SDRAM204-pin SO-DIMM

Expandable to 8 GB (2 × 4 GB) 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM

2 GB (2 × 1 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3
Optional 4 (2 × 2 GB) or 8 GB (2 × 4 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
4 GB (2 × 2 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3
Optional 8 GB (2 × 4 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
4 GB (2 × 2 GB) 1600 MHz DDR3
Optional 8 GB (2 × 4 GB) or 16 GB (2 × 8 GB) 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 soldered on board
Optional 8 GB or 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM available at time of purchase only
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 soldered on board
Optional 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM available at time of purchase only
16 GB (2 × 8 GB) 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
AirPort Extreme Optional or Integrated 802.11b/g Integrated 802.11b/g Airport Extreme Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n

Gigabit Ethernet Bluetooth 2.1+EDR

10/100/1000 Base-T Gigabit Ethernet portbuilt-in AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n)

Bluetooth 2.1+EDR IR receiver

10/100/1000 Base-T Gigabit Ethernet port built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n)

Bluetooth 4.0 IR receiver

Optical drive 8x DVD read, 24x CD-R and 16x CD-RW recording, 8x DVD±R read Combo Drive or 8x DVD±R read, 8x DVD±R writes, 4x DVD±RW writes or 2.4x DVD±R writes, 24x CD read, 24x CD-R, and 16x CD-RW recording SuperDrive 8x DVD read, 24x CD-R and 16x CD-RW recording Combo Drive or 8x DVD±R read, 4x DVD±R writes or 2x DVD±RW writes, 24x CD read, 16x CD-R, and 8x CD-RW recording SuperDrive 8× DVD±R read, 6× DVD±R-DL writes, 8× DVD±R writes, 6× DVD-RW writes, 8× DVD+RW writes, 24× CD read, 24× CD-R and CD-RW recording SuperDrive

No optical drive on server model

SuperDrive

(writes: 6× DVD±R-DL, 8× DVD±R, 6× DVD-RW, 8× DVD+RW; reads: 8× DVD±R, 24× CD, 24× CD-R and CD-RW

None included(Optional External SuperDrive)
Minimum operating system required Mac OS X 10.3.7 Mac OS X 10.4.2 Mac OS X 10.7.5
"Lion" if 2GB RAM installed
OS X 10.11
"El Capitan" if 2GB RAM installed
OS X 10.11
"El Capitan"
OS X 10.11
"El Capitan"
OS X 10.11
"El Capitan"
OS X 10.11
"El Capitan"
OS X 10.11
"El Capitan"
Weight 2.9 pounds / 1.32 kg 3.0 pounds (1.4 kg) 2.7 pounds (1.2 kg) 2.7 pounds (1.2 kg) 2.6 pounds (1.2 kg) 2.7 pounds (1.2 kg)
Dimensions 2 x 6.5 x 6.5 inches / 50.8 x 165.1 x 165.1 mm 1.4 inches (36 mm) H × 7.7 inches (196 mm) W × 7.7 inches (196 mm) D
  • All changes between models are marked by bold lettering.

Home theater[]

File:MiniHT.JPG

A Mac Mini as a home theater PC

The Mac mini is also well suited for home theater applications. The small footprint, CD/DVD player, multi-format video output, digital audio output and remote control make it relatively easy to use the Mac mini as part of an entertainment system.[10]

It can be classified as a HTPC (Home Theater PC) with some limitations. The Mac mini does not include a tuner card and cannot be upgraded to integrate one internally, instead, external devices like Elgato's HD HomeRun can encode and manage broadcast television from a cable or satellite receiver.

The video connector is compatible with DVI, HDMI (video only), SVGA, S-Video, composite video and component video with the appropriate adapter. Sound is provided by a combination jack that uses both Mini-RCA (analog) and optical fiber cables (digital).[11]

The Mac mini competes with the Apple TV: it has both iTunes for media rental, purchase, and management, and a similar front-end interface with Front Row.[11] The Apple TV is limited to video in the mp4 format, whereas Mini users employing the appropriate QuickTime codecs can watch other video formats like Divx, Xvid, and Mkv without resorting to hacks. The faster of Mac Mini models can display video at a maximum resolution of 1080p, compared to the Apple TV's 720p.[10] The Mac mini can also incorporate third-party front-end applications like XBMC Media Center, Plex, and Boxee. Unlike the Apple TV, the Mac mini is backward compatible with televisions that have only composite or S-Video inputs.

References[]

  1. Apple unleashes M1, Apple Inc. 2020-11-10.
  2. Apple introduces new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro — more powerful, capable, and versatile than ever, Apple Inc. 2023-01-17.
  3. [1]
  4. [2]
  5. [3]
  6. [4]
  7. [5]
  8. Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset Family Datasheet. Intel (12 April 2007).
  9. RAM Benchmarks for Apple Mac Mini. OtherWorldComputing. Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Saunders, Grover (2007). Mac Mini: The original Apple TV alternative. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Chris Breen (2006-05-31). My multimedia Mac Mini. Macworld. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.

External links[]

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