The arrival of the new Mac Mini was announced during the Apple Special Event of October 16 at Cupertino, California.
The Mac Mini has not been updated for two years so this new version will be well received by fans of the compact desktop computer; although despite the fact that this new Mac Mini has been upgraded it still looks the same as the actual design has not been changed.
Apple says that this latest Mac Mini “punches way above its weight”, it features fourth generation Intel Core Processors with Intel Iris Graphics or Intel HD Graphics 5000 which should show significantly improved performance, certainly that of graphics performance which now delivers up to ninety per cent faster than the previous version. Connectivity features include Thunderbolt 2 ports and HDTV support, along with a Gigabit Ethernet port and an SDXC card slot. The powerful 802.11ac Wi-Fi is built in, this will automatically locate your Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth wireless technology is also built in so you can connect to your wireless peripherals.
The new Mac Mini is available in three different versions, starting at the base model 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive and Intel HD Graphics 5000. The price for this base model is $499, a drop in price by $100. The next step up is the 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with 8GB memory, 1TB hard drive and Intel Iris Graphics. The price for this model is $699. The top Mac Mini model is the 2.8GHz duel-core Intel Core i5 with 8GM memory, 1TB Fusion Drive and Intel Iris Graphics. The price for this model is $999. Apple is also offering upgrades to these models in the form of built to order options – the base model can be upgraded to 8GB to 16GB memory and 1TB Fusion Drive, the mid level model can be upgraded to 3.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 with 16GB memory and either a 1TB Fusion Drive or 256GB flash storage. The top model can be upgraded to 3.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 with 16GB memory and up to 1TB of PCIe-based flash storage. The new Mac Mini will run the new operating system from Apple, OS X Yosemite, which was also released during the Apple Special Event on October 16.
If you are considering purchasing a new Mac Mini you should be aware that you will not be able to upgrade the RAM yourself, the only way to get more RAM is to order a more expensive model or choose the custom build option. You will be able to replace the hard drive but this will void your warranty.