Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Announces New Mac Mini With M2 and M2 Pro Chips at Lower $599 Starting Price

So glad I did not wait to buy this. My Mac Studio M1 Max that I bought 10 months ago to replace a 6 year old Mac Mini has 32GB RAM and a 1TB drive for $300 than an M2 Pro Mini with the same RAM and drive. Without knowing the RAM or drive speed differences, the Studio appears to be a better machine despite being an M1. And to spec the M2 Mini to the same RAM and storage brings the two machines far too close in price to justify the Mini.

EDIT: Difference is $200 if you bump the Mini to 10GB Ethernet to match the Studio.
 
  • Like
Reactions: weezin and rjw1678
I was right about the design, especially the M2 Pro Mini having the four Thunderbolt/USB-C ports rather than two!
I'll probably order one with the 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB SSD later this spring, around mid-April to mid-June. Just need to save up, as that configuration will be $1900. But it'll be worth it in the end, the way it was buying that M1 MacBook Air for $1500 almost two years ago.
 
Now that the corporate overlords in my company are tightening the purse strings, that M2 or M2 Pro Mac Mini looks like a good replacement for my aging 2017 Macbook Pro with a useless battery.

I was looking at the M2 air simply to get 24 GB of ram, but would sorely miss using two external displays.
 
Brien said:
$500 is a steal.

Shame there’s no space gray anymore…
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's where I ordered my Mini, on the education website. I also get back $16 in Apple Card cashback. My total price which included $60 of store credit including tax was $473 and I can subtract $16 off that price because I will be using my cashback money towards the purchase.

So my base Mini will cost $457.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: zapmymac, robotica, Thakk and 3 others
Heat_Fan89 said:
Yeah, that's where I ordered my Mini, on the education website. I also get back $16 in Apple Card cashback. My total price which included $60 of store credit including tax was $473 and I can subtract $16 off that price because I will be using my cashback money towards the purchase.

So my base Mini will cost $457.
Click to expand...
What a Mac for that.

At that price one could upgrade yearly, not that they need to.
 
now i see it said:
The high end M2 mini is essentially a Studio without the larger heat sink. Who wants a computer with a -smaller- heatsink? Only way to get rid of the heat is to run the fan faster.
Click to expand...
The base Studio probably has overkill cooling capacity for a laptop-friendly chip like M2 Pro - the Studio case was designed to accommodate the cooler for the M1 Ultra which puts out twice the heat of a M1 Max which, itself, is hotter than a M1 Pro. The fan in the M1 Max Studio rarely has to go beyond its minimum speed.

We'll see when the reviews come out, but the cooler in the Mini could prove to be more than adequate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riot Nrrrd, zapmymac, hooptyuber and 3 others
Heat_Fan89 said:
Yeah, that's where I ordered my Mini, on the education website. I also get back $16 in Apple Card cashback. My total price which included $60 of store credit including tax was $473 and I can subtract $16 off that price because I will be using my cashback money towards the purchase.

So my base Mini will cost $457.
Click to expand...

8 GB is just criminal IMHO. I purchased an M1 MBA with 8 GB and returned it within a week because the 8 GB RAM limit. At least for my needs, I was constantly hitting up against that limit. 16 GB should be the bare minimum, I think.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: macsforme, Riot Nrrrd, zapmymac and 5 others
xraydoc said:
I'm guessing they can't/won't bump the Mac Studio to M2 until the M2 Ultra chips are ready.
Click to expand...
My bet: The Studio won't see a spec bump until after the Mac Pro is released.

The new Mac Pro will be the maximum in both performance and price. It's highly advantageous to Apple to have as large of a performance gap as possible between the new Mac Pro and the Studio.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riot Nrrrd
I was really expecting a price increase on the base model, I am pleasantly surprised. This will most likely be the replacement for my 2014 Mac mini and then I will have completed my Apple Silicon transition.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DotCom2
theluggage said:
We'll see when the reviews come out, but the cooler in the Mini could prove to be more than adequate.
Click to expand...
I think you are correct.
It's the same thermal constraints that supported the 2018's six-core i7, a processor with a 65W TDP.
M2 Pro is what, half of that?
 
  • Like
Reactions: zapmymac
DotCom2 said:
Yeah, I'm mourning the iMac 27" too but I'm going with the mini M2 and studio display now. I'm happy!
Click to expand...

Beautiful combo. I’m tempted to go third party display for the inputs, but losing built in camera/speakers is tough for a clean setup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DotCom2
Oh wow that is juicy. M3 Mac Mini might get the Mac Mini back to $500 like it was back when it was on PowerPC at this rate.

I love this little thing. Best desktop I ever had and was my first Mac, and the M1 gave such a good first impression I traded it in for a 14 inch Macbook Pro.
 
I’m guessing these Mac mini’s are much cheaper to build with higher margin than the iMacs.

Apple would rather you spend your money on a Studio Display + Mac mini.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DotCom2
Eldaerenth Faexidor said:
USB-A ports… 🤣
Click to expand...
Having a wide range of ports is a major benefit. There are still lots of peripherals with USB-A connections. Having a port or two for that is welcome. Especially while also having 4 Thunderbolt ports. This is not a laptop where you need to limit the ports to conserve space. so yes, USB-A ports! 👍
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: WiscoNicky, macsforme, usagora and 5 others
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back