Apple unveils cheaper Mac mini with new M2 and M2 Pro CPUs

Apple today unveiled an updated Mac mini featuring new Apple M2 and M2 Pro CPUs and a new, cheaper, $599 starting price. The M2 Pro version is the first model to offer ‘Pro’ performance to the mini lineup.

According to Apple: “Mac mini with M2 features an 8-core CPU with four high-performance and four high-efficiency cores, along with a 10-core GPU — perfect for users looking for superfast performance and incredible productivity at an even more affordable starting price of $599. Everyday tasks are blazing fast — from launching and multitasking between apps to browsing the web. For users with more intensive tasks, Mac mini with M2 also powers through even more demanding workloads. With up to 24GB of unified memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth, activities like image editing in Adobe Photoshop are up to 50 percent faster1 than the previous generation. M2 also adds ProRes acceleration to Mac mini, so tasks like video editing in Final Cut Pro are more than twice as fast. The M2 model can also simultaneously play up to two streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, or up to 12 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps. With all this performance, Mac mini is up to 5x faster than the bestselling Windows desktop, delivering incredible value to first-time computer buyers, upgraders, and PC switchers”

With respect to the M2 Pro model, “M2 Pro brings pro-level performance to Mac mini for the first time. Featuring up to a 12-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, along with up to a 19-core GPU, M2 Pro has 200GB/s of memory bandwidth — double the amount in M2 — and supports up to 32GB of memory. The next-generation Neural Engine is 40 percent faster than M1, speeding up ML tasks like video analysis and image processing. Designed to dramatically accelerate video playback and encoding while using very little power, M2 Pro offers a powerful media engine, which speeds through the most popular video codecs and can simultaneously play up to five streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps, or up to 23 streams of 4K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps. The M2 Pro-powered model is up to 14x faster than the fastest Intel-based Mac mini.”

The design remains the same. The M2 mini features two Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to two displays. The M2 Pro model includes four Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to three displays. The M2 Pro model can support one 8K display, including the Studio Display. Both models feature two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet port with a 10GB option, and an upgraded headphone jack to support high-impedance headphones. Both new minis also feature the latest standards with Wi-Fi 6E for up to 2x faster throughput than before, as well as Bluetooth 5.

The M2 Mac mini is available for $599, while the M2 Pro Mac mini is priced at $1299.

We’ll be updating our Mac mini Price Tracker with the latest information on the new models as it becomes available from Apple retailers.