Apple’s Mac Mini design has been with us for over 15 years now. Even though it’s considered iconic by many of its fans, the Mac Mini still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. That’s the case even though it influenced its rivals just as much as the MacBook Air. 

The fact is that the Mac Mini inspired lots of other mini PCs and even influenced the TV streaming box market. We only have to take a look at some Apple TV models to conclude where the design elements were borrowed from.  

Smartphones may be getting more powerful, but they’re still a long way off from replacing a proper desktop PC. The Mac Mini is one of the best Apple Mini PCs on the market. It’s still powerful enough to hold its own in the market, not to mention it’s one of the cheapest Apple computers. However, that’s assuming you already have a keyboard, monitor, and mouse.

Specifications

Design

Like the previous models, this Mac Mini gives you the complete OS X experience in a small, square box. It’s got an all-aluminium body with curved edges. The design exudes Apple’s trademark minimalism as you’ll only notice a power indicator and an Apple logo from the front. 

The mini PC doesn’t take up much space as its only 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches and 2.6 pounds. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a smaller desktop for your table.

Performance

The Mac Mini has long been a popular office machine, and it’s easy to see why. Not only is it small but it also uses very low power. Apple says that the mini PC will consume just 6 watts of power in idle mode, making it one of the most affordable, energy-efficient PC on the market. Its near-silent operation indicates that as well.  

Apple didn’t hold back this time as the premium mini PC is packing a fast Intel Core -5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and 1 TB Fusion Drive. We experienced short boot times - around 12-15 seconds - and instantaneous response from apps. Our review unit was able to handle basic entertainment and productivity tasks without a hitch. We played around with all kinds of apps while simultaneously streaming HD videos, and saw no noticeable delay or lag.

The graphics are handled by Intel Iris. It does a fairly good job, for the most part, but you shouldn’t expect it to run graphically demanding games at decent FPS. We were able to run Dead Island at only 19FPS on a low 1024 x 768 resolution. Team Fortress 2, based on a less-demanding engine, produced much better results and was able to run at 60FPS.

You can easily run Steam games and such, but anything more demanding would just be asking your graphics to bite off more than it can chew. 

Connectivity

The Mac Mini may be small but that doesn’t stop it from having great connectivity. You’ll find an HDMI, SDXC card slot, four USB 3.0 ports, and audio-in and headphone jacks. But the most exciting additions are the two Thunderbolt 2 ports, which will let you experience fast data transfers and are ideal for 4K monitors. 

The mini PC also has 802.11ac Wi-Fi support, as well as Bluetooth 4.0. Then there’s a rare Ethernet port to finish things off.

Software

The Mac Mini comes with the reliable OS X Yosemite. There are some useful tweaks made to the OS, but the device still works well with iOS devices.

Now you can answer calls and text from your desktop as long as your Mac and iPhone/iPad are connected to the same Wi-Fi network and logged in to the same iCloud account. Its Handoff feature will let you start writing an email, document, or text on an iOS device and finish it on a Mac. Or vice versa. 

Yosemite resembles a cleaner, flatter, iOS 8. Its Calendar, Notification Center, and Safari have been revamped to look more like their mobile counterparts. 

There are lots of built-in apps packed in the Mac. These include the usual suspects like GarageBand, Keynotes and Numbers, iMovie, Pages, etc. If these don’t tick all of your boxes then you can always download more apps from the Mac App Store. 

Verdict

This Apple Mac Mini is one of the most powerful compact computers made by Apple. It saves energy, has a very compact design, and is a lot cheaper than the 21.5-inch low-end iMac. All things considered, it’s a pretty good deal.