Early Impressions and Benchmarks on Apple's 2012 Mac Mini

[MacRumors]

Colocation data center Macminicolo has already gotten its hands on the new Mac mini, putting all three stock models through benchmarking tests and sharing initial impressions of the machines.

Geekbench results, which focus strictly on processor and memory performance, show a marginal increase in performance for the entry-level machine compared to the previous generation, with more substantial gains coming in the higher-end models tapping into quad-core Ivy Bridge processors. Early impressions of the latest models include:

- Don't look now, but the new Mac minis are getting comparable to the last gen Xserve and 2010 Mac Pros as far as benchmarks. Tech progress marches on.
- All Mac minis now come standard with 4GB of RAM. Thank goodness. As of last week, the base Mac mini had 2GB of RAM and that was brutal with Mountain Lion.
- The Mac mini can officially be upgraded to 16GB now. It's been possible for over a year, but it had to be done after ordering. Now, Apple offers the 16GB of RAM.
- The base mini is still i5, but the middle and high end minis are quad core i7 Ivy Bridge processors. That middle mini is the most interesting. Many customers prefer the quad core for things like an Xcode build server or for plenty of cores to spread between virtual machines. That $799 Mac mini is going to be very popular.
- The machines now come with 1600MHz DDR3 Memory. Seriously, 16GB of 1600MHz RAM in such a small machine. It's really quite amazing.

Another colocation center, Mac Mini Vault, has also taken a look at the new Mac mini, noting that their machine arrived running a custom Build 12B2080 of OS X 10.8.1. The company also performed a quick teardown of the machine, noting that Apple has tweaked the fan design since last year's model and also made some changes to the wireless antennas.

Article Link: Early Impressions and Benchmarks on Apple's 2012 Mac Mini

[TheShinyMac]

Im thinking about one to replace my 08 MBP

[waloshin]

Looks like Moores law is working.

[redirector]

Breaking 11k.
Impressive. Most impressive.
And about 3x my 2009 iMac 24" C2D!

[davidcmc]

They forgot the GPU benchmark.

Oh wait...

[polaris20]

I'm thinking the 2.6Ghz quad is in my future. I don't really need a laptop as much anymore, with the iPad, and I've got a 24" Samsung LED LCD that I'm quite fond of.

[MacintoshMan]

Don't insult us with Xserves and say that the two are comparable. Does the new Mac Mini support ethernet bonding? oh wait, it only has one ethernet port.

[Hakone]

Hmmm, can I play SC2 on high settings on a 1920x1080 and get 40fps+?

[tkatz]

Originally Posted by MacintoshMan

Don't insult us with Xserves and say that the two are comparable. Does the new Mac Mini support ethernet bonding? oh wait, it only has one ethernet port.

But the Mac Mini has a thunderbolt port which you can add at least another ethernet "port" with.

[flopticalcube]

Seriously, 16GB of 1600MHz RAM in such a small machine. It's really quite amazing.

Reminds me of a quote I overheard 25 years ago. Company director was conducting a tour and pointing out one of the "new" VMS workstations (about twice the size of a Mac Pro). "The amazing thing is that is a 1 MIPS machine! It's incredible!"

Plus ça change...

[Kid A]

meet the all new Mac Pro: the Mac mini. (???)

[Eidorian]

I think it is a little silly to be so amazed over 8 GB SO-DIMMs.

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by MacintoshMan

Don't insult us with Xserves and say that the two are comparable. Does the new Mac Mini support ethernet bonding? oh wait, it only has one ethernet port.

Thunderbolt to Ethernet dongle + built in Ethernet
Thunderbolt Display with Ethernet + built in Ethernet
USB3.0 to Ethernet dongle + built in Ethernet

I'd say that's three ways (two fairly cheap) to get two GB Ethernet ports on the Mac Mini wouldn't you?

[emulator]

Memory is cheap.

[daneoni]

No dedicated GPU = no buy

[PeterQVenkman]

Originally Posted by TheShinyMac

Im thinking about one to replace my 08 MBP

Me too.

[Naimfan]

I almost wish I needed one!

Looks like a great machine.

[zombierunner]

I think for the prices apple charge for their macs, a ssd should come as standard across the board.

[Pathologos]

Anyone going to use the new Mac mini to build a render farm? Looking for some tips... I.e. is CPU the most important variable?

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by MacintoshMan

Don't insult us with Xserves and say that the two are comparable. Does the new Mac Mini support ethernet bonding? oh wait, it only has one ethernet port.

Geez, sensitive much?

You were 'insulted' by a tech review?

It was a helpful comparison to give a rough estimate of how far the mini has come. I found it useful and not once did I think "Ha ha, Macrumors sure stuck it to MacintoshMan!"

[Fifemacuser]

I was considering the new low end, but I think that this has just made my mind up. Want the machine to last a good while so the mid it is!

[Sacird]

Scores are good. Imagine the increase if the case was...dare I say...a little bigger and fatter, with the ability to have a nice GPU as well as a desktop CPU. Wait I said bigger? WHOA Johnny Five Ive don't pass out.

Mini is a good machine though not knocking it really, it could be so much more.

[dagamer34]

Seems the dedicated GPU got the ax in favor of a quad-core CPU.

[limesmoothie]

I'm picking one up to act as the main workhorse at home. We both have iPads and one ageing MBP, which should last a while longer yet. I get edu discount, so @ £430 it seems like a good buy. Will upgrade the RAM, obviously!

[KindredMAC]

I absolutely love my 2010 mini and would love to replace it with the quad core version.

The mini has really become a nice little machine for everything from home theater use to graphic design to mini server use.

Between this and the iMac, the only pros that need the Mac Pro have been dwindled down to maybe 750-1000 potential customers possibly?