Articles tagged Mac Mini

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The New Mac mini Starts at $899, and That Price Is the Real Story

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop,

The Mac mini used to be the easy recommendation. Somebody asks what desktop to buy, you say Mac mini, they say how much, you say $599. Apple dropped a new one on Tuesday with no keynote and no fanfare, and the cheapest one now costs $899.

That's a $300 jump from where the M4 model launched in October 2024, in under two years. You get the same 16GB of memory and the same 256GB of storage you got at $599. What the extra money buys is speed.

Click to continue reading The New Mac mini Starts at $899, and That Price Is the Real Story

Apple’s New M6 Mac mini Wants to Be the AI Box That Lives on Your Desk

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Artificial Intelligence,

Apple didn't hold an event for this one. It put a new Mac mini on the store page on a Tuesday morning, two weeks before the iPhone 18 event, and let the spec sheet do the talking. Read that sheet closely and something stands out: this is the first Mac that Apple openly pitches as a machine that sits on your desk and runs AI models all day, whether or not you're sitting in front of it.

The headline is the chip. M6 is Apple's first 2nm processor, and it landed in the cheapest desktop Apple sells. Pre-orders opened today, machines arrive September 22, and the M6 model starts at $899 with 16GB of unified memory. There's also an M5 Pro version at $1,699 for people who need real render horsepower in a box the size of a sandwich.

Click to continue reading Apple’s New M6 Mac mini Wants to Be the AI Box That Lives on Your Desk

Apple Is Quietly Rebuilding Every Mac It Sells

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Rumors,

Look at Apple's Mac lineup today, then picture the whole thing swapped out. That is roughly the plan. According to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is getting ready to refresh every single Mac it sells over the next two years, from the cheapest MacBook Air to the Mac Studio sitting under a video editor's desk. Not a spec bump here and a new color there. The entire family, top to bottom.

It is worth saying up front that this is a report, not an Apple announcement, so treat the dates and details as the best current read on Apple's plans rather than a promise. But the shape of it is easy to understand, and it tells you something about where Apple thinks the Mac is going. The short version: people are buying Macs again, a lot of them to run demanding AI work locally, and Apple wants a lineup that can meet that moment. Mac sales are reportedly on track to climb for a third year running.

Click to continue reading Apple Is Quietly Rebuilding Every Mac It Sells

The Next Mac Mini Might Put a Newer Chip in the Cheaper Model

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Rumors,

Picture buying the entry-level Mac mini and walking out with a newer chip than the person next to you who paid more. That is the small, strange promise tucked inside the latest report about Apple's tiniest desktop.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is testing a next-generation Mac mini that pairs two chips from two different families: a fresh M6 in the base model, and last year's M5 Pro in the step-up configuration. None of this is official. There's no price, no spec sheet, and no release date attached yet. But if it holds up, it means the cheaper mini would run Apple's newest silicon while the pricier one leans on a chip that's technically a generation behind.

Click to continue reading The Next Mac Mini Might Put a Newer Chip in the Cheaper Model

Talking with Apple about M2 Chip Design and the Power It Brings to the latest Macs

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, PC / Laptop, Videos,

In this episode I talk to Apple about the design process of Apple Silicon, the M2 chip, the M2 Max MacBook Pro, the M2 Pro Mac mini, and more. These are some of the most powerful and innovative Macs that Apple has ever created, and I wanted to learn more about how they came to be and what they can do. I'm joined by Laura Metz, the Director of Product Marketing, Anand Shimpi of Hardware Engineering, and Tuba Yalcin from the Pro Workflow team. They're all very passionate and knowledgeable about Apple's design process, and they shared some amazing insights.

This is a rare opportunity to hear from some of the people behind the scenes of Apple's amazing products and learn more about how they create and optimize them for different use cases. If you are a tech enthusiast or an Apple fan, you don't want to miss this video.

You can find my M2 Max MacBook Pro review, as well as pick one up for yourself!

Apple to reveal new iPad Air, Retina display iMac, and more this week

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Rumors,

Apple its been way too long

About a month ago, Apple took the stage at the Flint Center to unveil the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Later this week, the company will hold another special event, then time to reveal this years iPad lineup, and if reports are correct, updated iMacs (including one with a Retina display.) We’ve heard conflicting reports as to whether the iPad mini will see an update at the event, or if that’ll come early next year, but we do know that the iPad Air will get an update that will make it lighter, slimmer, and more powerful.

Vietnamese leak site Tinhte.vn has already showed what’s purported to be the iPad Air 2 frame, which is thinner and sees the volume buttons recessed into the frame, and the inclusion of a Touch ID sensor, bringing the iPhone feature over to the Apple tablet family.

Meanwhile, fans of Apple’s desktop hardware have been waiting for a couple of years for the Retina display technology to make the jump from iOS devices and Apple notebooks over to the iMac. It appears that a 27-inch model that sports a 5K resolution may be prepped for Thursday as well, alongside a possible Mac mini refresh. OS X Yosemite may also launch on Thursday, as Apple has released three Golden Master candidates to developers so far.

We’ll have all the news here on Gear Live as it happens, and Apple will also have a live stream of the event as well.

Ask Andru: Which Macs can run OS X Yosemite?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Editorial, Features, PC / Laptop, Software,

OS X 10.10, better known as Yosemite, represents the next-generation in Apple's desktop operating system. Yosemite brings a new look to the desktop experience, and also ties OS X and iOS together through a feature called Continuity that I bet will make work a lot easier for Apple users. With any big change, customers will wonder if their older hardware will be supported. We recently received this question from a reader named Steve:

Q: I'm excited to check out OS X Yosemite once it launches, the redesigned interface looks great! My MacBook Air is from 2010, and I was curious if you knew if it would run Yosemite without any issues, or if I have to upgrade my computer?

A: I agree--I think the look and feel of OS X Yosemite is a breath of fresh air. I've been using the Developer Preview since it was made available at WWDC 2014, and when I use a Mac that is running Mavericks or earlier, it already feels like a big step backwards from a design perspective. Now, on to system requirements! The nice thing about Yosemite is that Apple hasn't changed any of the system requirements from what was required to run Mavericks. In other words, all Macintosh products capable of running OS X Mavericks will be supported by Yosemite; as with Mavericks, 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB of available storage, and OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) or later are required to upgrade. To make it easier to figure out if you're specific Mac is compatible, here is a listing of all the Apple hardware that is Yosemite-capable:

iMac Mid-2007 or newer
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)

As you can see, anyone who has bought a Mac within the past five years is covered and will be able to run OS X Yosemite. Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook aluminum buyers as far back as 2008 are also good. In fact, some MacBook Pro and iMac buyers from back in 2007 can even get in on the Yosemite action, and those computers are now 7 years old! This is a pretty large blanket of Mac users that will be able to enjoy the next generation of OS X, and I comment Apple for including as many Macs as it did.

OS X 10.10 Yosemite is set to launch later this fall, and will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store. At WWDC, Apple announced that it will be made available completely free to its users. Can't beat that!

Ask Andru: Will OS X Mavericks be compatible with my Mac?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, PC / Laptop, Software,

OS X Mavericks

Apple announced OS X Mavericks a few days ago during the WWDC 2013 keynote, and we've been getting a bunch of questions about which Macs will work with the new operating system, like this one from Anette:

Q: OS X Mavericks looks cool, despite the silly name. However, it seems that when new software is introduced, a bunch of hardware is left out of the mix. Apple didn't make it clear which Macs will be able to run Mavericks. Do you know? Here's hoping my 2010 MacBook Air isn't left out in the cold!

A: Thankfully, it appears that Mavericks will be pretty forgiving, and won't need super-new hardware in order to run. In fact, it will run on some Macs that are as much as 6-years old. Here's the list:

iMac (Mid-2007 or later)
MacBook (13-inch Aluminum, Late 2008), (13-inch, Early 2009 or later)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2009 or later), (15-inch, Mid/Late 2007 or later), (17-inch, Late 2007 or later)
MacBook Air (Late 2008 or later)
Mac Mini (Early 2009 or later)
Mac Pro (Early 2008 or later)
Xserve (Early 2009)

As you can see, anyone who has bought a Mac within the past four years is covered and will be able to run OS X Mavericks. Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook aluminum buyers as far back as 2008 are also good. In fact, some MacBook Pro and iMac buyers from back in 2007 can even get in on the Mavericks action. We'd say that this is a pretty large blanket of Mac users that will be able to enjoy the next generation of OS X.

OS X 10.9 Mavericks is set to launch later this fall, and will be available exclusively on the Mac App Store. No pricing has been announced just yet, but if history is any indication, it will cost between $19.99 and $29.99.

MacMall 60-hour Black Friday 2012 sale offers the best Apple deals

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop,

If Apple merchandise is on your holiday buying list this year, you're gonna wanna be sure to check out MacMall's 60-hour Black Friday sale, which features up to $350 off of Mac computers. The sale includes all Macs, so you can even get a nice discount on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display for example. They've got other items as well, including discounts on the iPod touch, Apple TV, and major discounts on a bunch of consumer electronics like digital cameras, Blu-ray players, and more. Definitely a sale to check out to get the jump on your shopping--whether it's for someone else, or yourself. Here's the quick list:

MacMall has plenty more where that came from, so head on over and check out their full 60-hour Black Friday 2012 sale for all the deals.

Read More | MacMall 60-hour Black Friday sale

Late 2012 Mac mini scores high in benchmark testing

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop,

Late 2012 mac Mini Geek Bench

Macminicolo gotten ahold of the newly refreshed Mac mini and has found that it scores nicely with Geekbench. Some good take aways: the Mac Mini line is now on the same level as a Mac Pro and Xserve from 2010, assuming in stock configuration. Ram is now DDR3 at 1600MHZ, has Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors and it clearly shows in the chart. The Mac Mini server includes the Fusion drive, which should make things that much more snappy.

"We’ve now been able to benchmark the Mac minis with the great Geekbench. Keep in mind these are the standard build minis, with the stock hard drives and RAM. We’ll load some up with 16GB of RAM and SSDs to see their top performances. But for now, here are the three new minis compared to minis past."

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