Key Specs
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo2GB DDR3
320GB hard drive
DVD±RW
None
Integrated Nvidia GeForce 320M
Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Just when we thought the folks at Apple had dedicated every last designer in the company's arsenal to the stellar Apple iPad and iPhone, from out of left field comes a beautifully redesigned version of Apple's compact desktop computer, the Mac Mini. You won't find a whole lot of changes inside this new, prettier version—the 2010 Mini is seeing just a slight upgrade in the processor, and a more substantial upgrade in the graphics. A lot is new on the outside, however. But while the Mac Mini performs respectably for its class, you can find more powerful—and less expensive—Windows-based systems out there. The other major caveat to keep in mind is that the Mac Mini doesn't ship with a mouse, keyboard, or monitor. This means that if you need to purchase all of these necessary peripherals, the cost of your Mac Mini can start to enter the territory of the Apple iMac, a significantly better space-saving Apple desktop that has a built-in monitor and ships with a keyboard and mouse.
The Mac Mini's new, all-aluminum design features a shallower, wider body.
In 2010, the Mac Mini comes in only one basic configuration, and you can upgrade (only at the time of purchase) a few of its components. (Compare that with last year; then, the Mac Mini came in two discrete configurations, at $599 and $799.) The base-model 2010 machine, at $699, fits in between the 2009 models in both price and components. (We tested the high-end model last year; see our review.) Our standard test configuration came with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and a rather paltry 320GB hard drive. Those three specifications are the possible upgrades. For an additional $150, you can step up to a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Memory is upgradable to 4GB ($100) or 8GB (a disconcertingly pricey $500). You can also beef up your hard drive to 500GB for an extra $100. There is also a server version of the Mac Mini, which comes standard with the 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, and dual 500GB hard drives for $999. (To accommodate the second hard drive, the server Mac Mini lacks an optical drive.)
The Mac Mini features the same Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chipset that the 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop does; the graphics chip doesn't have dedicated memory but instead shares 256MB of the main system memory for video acceleration. This chipset suffices for viewing high-definition content and doing some light gaming, but hard-core gaming on this machine at high resolutions is definitely out. On the flip side, it should suffice for the moderate media-crunching tasks for which we can see many Mac users using this machine; we tried editing a home movie in Apple's iMovie program, for example, and found this system's graphics support to be nicely responsive. The Mac Mini also features Apple’s built-in AirPort Extreme connectivity, which provides support for 802.11n wireless networking. (Bluetooth wireless also comes standard.) Keep in mind while evaluating these specifications that you can't upgrade the Mini's internals after purchase, other than the memory; you have to commit to your components upon purchase and stick with them.
Like with all of Apple's products, the design is extremely minimal. On the top is just a black Apple logo.
On the outside, though, the Mac Mini jumps into the new decade with a super-sleek new design. While the shell of previous models had aluminum sides and plastic on the top and bottom, the new Mac Mini features an aluminum, unibody case. (There is no seam to be found on the body.) Although the actual cubic volume of the Mini stays the same, the updated version is squatter and wider at 1.4x7.7x7.7 inches, resembling the Apple TV unit in size and shape. On the top, you'll find a black Apple logo, and on the front is the slot-loading optical drive. No ports or other features mar the smooth right or left sides.
New to the Mac Mini in 2010: an HDMI port, and an SD-card slot. On the rear of the body, you'll also find the power button; Ethernet, FireWire 800, and mini-DisplayPort connectors; four USB 2.0 ports; and audio jacks.
On the back and bottom, though, is where you'll find some significant improvements on the Mac Mini. First, the power supply is now built into the body, so there's no awkward brick to find room for on your desktop. More important, though, are the new ports and slots you'll find on the Mac Mini: an HDMI port, and a memory-card reader, supporting the SDXC-card format. (To which we say: It's about time!) Considering the small dimensions and easy portability of the Mac Mini, it only makes sense that some users may want to connect it to a television. The now-included HDMI port makes the process of streaming high-definition content from your Mac Mini to your HDTV a cinch. Also on the rear, you'll find the power button; Ethernet, FireWire 800, and mini-DisplayPort ports; four USB 2.0 ports; and audio inputs and outputs. Included in the box is an HDMI-to-DVI adapter for connecting a DVI-interface LCD monitor. (If you want to use a VGA-interface monitor, you’ll have to buy a different adapter, which costs $29.) It's also possible to attach two LCDs to the Mac Mini, using the HDMI and mini-DisplayPort interfaces. We expect, however, that you'll need a handful of adapters to make this work, depending on the monitors you own; Apple also offers adapters for the mini-DisplayPort connector.
Somehow, Apple also squeezed a speaker into this very crowded chassis. It's serviceable, though you definitely won’t want to use it to fill a room with sound.
This twist-off plastic cover lets you access the interior of the Mac Mini. (Once inside, though, all you can upgrade is the memory.)
On the bottom is where you'll find the other significant upgrade to the Mac Mini. By simply twisting a removable plastic panel on the bottom (no tools are required), you can see some of the internals of the computer (mostly, the CPU cooler) and get access to the memory banks, which are filled with laptop-style, compact SO-DIMMs. The RAM is upgradable to 8GB; on our test model, the two slots were filled with a pair of 1GB memory modules. This ease of access is a big shift for Apple, a company notorious for not making hardware upgrades overly convenient. Although memory is the only upgradable-from-home feature here, we still applaud the company for making strides in this regard.
The SO-DIMM slots are easily accessible once you twist the plastic cover off.
As we noted earlier, though, the main problem with the Mac Mini is that, once you spend a few hundred dollars on the keyboard, mouse, and monitor required to use this computer, you've pretty much negated the price difference between the Mac Mini and the Apple iMac—especially if you opt for Apple's matching peripherals. Let’s say, for instance, you were going to trick out the Mini with the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display ($899), the Apple Magic Mouse ($69), and Apple's wireless keyboard ($69). Your total cost for the Mac Mini is now $1,736. You can pick up the high-end 27-inch iMac for $1,599. Of course, if you already own a monitor and/or input devices that you're happy with (or you're willing to settle for less-pricey peripherals than Apple's), the equation changes somewhat. But we believe that many folks who are taken with the Mac Mini's minimalist aesthetic will want to opt for an all-Apple setup. (And it'll cost.) And you'll probably want to invest in the Apple input devices regardless, because the Mac Mini has only four USB ports. You may be able to use your current keyboard and mouse, but if they're USB-interface and each require a USB port, you'll be left with a scant two here. Apple's Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard both connect via Bluetooth wireless technology, which comes standard in the Mac Mini. Using Bluetooth for your input devices will free up a pair of crucial ports.
A second issue is how the Mac Mini performs compared with the iMac, as well as against certain small-form-factor PCs using Windows. In our testing, the Mac Mini fell behind the 21.5-inch version of the iMac. In our CPU-centric Cinebench test, which stresses all of a computer's processing cores to measure raw CPU performance, the Mac Mini came in with a score of 5,072. That's about 1,500 points shy of the 21.5-inch iMac’s score of 6,518. (That iMac features a faster 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor.) The Mac Mini also lagged behind the iMac in our iTunes encoding test, as well, converting 11 MP3 music tracks to AAC format in 3 minutes and 52 seconds, or 48 seconds slower than the iMac. On larger media-crunching tasks, that will likely translate into an even longer wait.
Still, the performance difference here isn’t enormous, so if the Mac Mini came with all of the add-ons that the iMac does, we would recommend it in a heartbeat. But, like we said, when you start factoring in everything you will need to purchase to get up and running with the Mac Mini, it's hard to argue for the Mini.
We also considered how the Mac Mini stands up against comparable Windows PCs. A similar Windows-based small-form-factor PC we tested recently, the Gateway SX2840-01, sold for $559 in our test configuration and packed in a 2.93GHz Intel Core i3-530 processor, 6GB of memory, and a 1TB hard drive. With its much more powerful CPU, it’s no surprise that it blew the Mac Mini out of the water in our testing. Its Cinebench score of 9,341 beats the Mini by more than 4,000 points, and it finished our iTunes test about a minute faster than the Mac Mini. Another comparable small-form-factor PC, the $529 Acer Aspire AX1301-B1812 (which features a 2.7GHz AMD Athlon II X2 215 processor, 3GB of memory, and a 640GB hard drive), performed more on par with the Mac Mini, beating its Cinebench score by 500 points, but completing our iTunes test within just a few seconds of the Mini's result. The Acer system's killer feature, however, is that it also comes with a 20-inch LCD monitor for its $529 asking price, making it a much better value for those who aren't married to the idea of OSX and the Apple aesthetic.
Still, both the Acer and Gateway, while smaller than most desktop PCs, are still significantly larger than the Mac Mini, and neither comes with robust productivity software. (The Mini comes with iLife ‘09; more on that later.) Plus, design-wise, the Gateway and Acer simply pale in comparison.
On the other hand, let’s say you’re a PC user who already has the monitor, keyboard, and mouse you’ll need to hit the ground running with the Mac Mini. This means you’ll be getting a decent-performing, space-saving desktop with nice specs for a price that's a relative bargain by Apple's standards. This makes it a reasonable deal for a PC user who is looking to expand his or her horizons into Mac OS X without spending more than a grand. Given Apple's current computer lineup, that's hard to do in any other way.
There's also the tangible factor of space saving, which might mean everything or nothing to you, depending on your workspace and budget. If space is a concern, you won't find many computers this small and this potent right out of the box. But space-wise, you'll still have to account for the monitor and peripherals. Again, it all comes down to whether you have a monitor you want to use with your Mac. If you don't have one, buying an iMac is about as viable a space-saving alternative as the Mac Mini. The iMac isn't exactly a desktop-space hog; it measures 18x21x7.5 inches, and, being an all-in-one computer, the design eliminates lots of unnecessary clutter.
Energy efficiency is another matter. Apple is heavily pushing the Mac Mini as a power miser, and our initial tests bear this out. Apple claims that at idle, the Mac Mini should consume less than 10 watts of power. We were able to confirm this in anecdotal observation. Monitoring the Mac Mini's power usage using a Kill-A-Watt power meter, we saw the readout fluctuate between 7 and 8 watts when the system was sitting at idle. When running our CPU-intensive Cinebench test, the power consumption was pegged at 26 or 27 watts.
The Mac Mini comes with the Mac OS X Snow Leopard operating system (version 10.6), accompanied by the iLife ’09 software suite (comprising the superb iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand applications). iLife '09, as we noted when we reviewed the software last year, is a decidedly useful and superior general-purpose suite for media consumption and creation, and it outclasses anything typically bundled with a PC. The MacBook also comes with a one-year limited warranty and 90 days of toll-free telephone support. An extended AppleCare warranty will cover your system for two more years; it costs $149 extra and was not factored into the cost of our test unit.
We're genuinely impressed with the sleek new design of the Mac Mini, and we're glad to see that Apple gave the 2010 model some nice new features, notably the HDMI port and memory-card reader, as well as the removable bottom. We only question its value proposition when we consider that the better-performing and more-tricked-out iMac is just a few hundred dollars more. For those who want to dip a toe into the Mac OS X waters, though, the Mac Mini isn't a bad way to go, especially if you already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor ready to go.
* Editors’ Note: Parts of this review are excerpts from our review of the Apple Mac Mini (2.53GHz Core 2 Duo).
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