Apple Mac mini (M2 or M2 Pro)

Apple · Mac mini

Mac mini (M2 or M2 Pro)

Released January 2023

The 2023 Mac mini is a 19.7 cm-square desktop with the M2 chip for everyday home and office use or the M2 Pro for developers and creative work that needs more cores, memory and ports.

Model history · 13 models, 2005–2023
  1. 2005Mac mini (2005)Compare
  2. 2006Mac mini (Early 2006)Compare
  3. 2006Mac mini (Late 2006)Compare
  4. 2007Mac mini (Mid 2007)Compare
  5. 2009Mac mini (Early 2009)Compare
  6. 2009Mac mini (Late 2009)Compare
  7. 2010Mac mini (Mid 2010)Compare
  8. 2011Mac mini (Mid 2011)Compare
  9. 2012Mac mini (Late 2012)Compare
  10. 2014Mac mini (Late 2014)Compare
  11. 2018Mac mini (2018)Compare
  12. 2020Mac mini (M1)Compare
  13. 2023Mac mini (M2 or M2 Pro)
Type
Compact
Processor
Apple M2 or M2 Pro
Memory
8 GB – 32 GB
Storage
256 GB – 8 TB
Screen
–
Weight
1.18 kg

What reviewers say

Reviewers praise the compact, quiet design, a clear speed-up over the M1 model, the new M2 Pro option and a lower starting price. The common criticism is that nothing can be upgraded or repaired by the owner; Notebookcheck found upgrades costly and missed front ports, and Trusted Reviews found high-end M2 Pro models close to the Mac Studio's price.

From notebookcheck.net, tomsguide.com, techradar.com and trustedreviews.com

Performance

Processor
Apple M2 or Apple M2 Pro
CPU cores
8, 10 or 12
Graphics
10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 19-core GPU
Memory
8 GB, 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB
Storage
256 GB to 8 TB
CPU
M2: 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores; M2 Pro: 10-core CPU with 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 12-core CPU
GPU
M2: 10-core GPU; M2 Pro: 16-core or 19-core GPU
AI engine
16-core Neural Engine
Memory bandwidth
M2: 100GB/s; M2 Pro: 200GB/s
Storage type
SSD
Media engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode engine; video encode engine; ProRes encode and decode engine

Display

Screen
None built in

Connections

Ports
2 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
1 Gb/s
External displays
Up to 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
5.3
Back ports
2 × Thunderbolt 4 (M2) or 4 × Thunderbolt 4 (M2 Pro), with DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s); 2 × USB-A (up to 5Gb/s); HDMI with multichannel audio output; Gigabit Ethernet, configurable to 10Gb Ethernet; 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
External displays
M2: up to two (one at up to 6K 60Hz over Thunderbolt, plus one at up to 5K 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K 60Hz over HDMI); M2 Pro: up to three (two at up to 6K 60Hz over Thunderbolt plus one at up to 4K 60Hz over HDMI), or one at up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz over HDMI
Speakers
Built-in speaker
Microphones
None built in

Design and power

Type
Compact
Weight
1.18 kg
Width × depth × height
197 × 197 × 35.8 mm
Operating system
macOS
Power supply
Built-in; 100–240V AC; 150W (M2) or 185W (M2 Pro) maximum continuous power
Power use
M2 with 24GB and 2TB: 7W idle, 50W CPU maximum; M2 Pro with 32GB and 8TB: 7W idle, 100W CPU maximum
Noise
5 dBA sound pressure at idle (operator position)
Colours
Silver
In the box
Mac mini, power lead

Configurations

ProcessorMemoryStorage
Apple M28 GB256 GB
Apple M224 GB2 TB
Apple M2 Pro, 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU16 GB512 GB
Apple M2 Pro32 GB8 TB

Pros and cons

Pros

  • M2 Pro version has four Thunderbolt 4 ports and drives up to three displays
  • HDMI that can drive 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz with M2 Pro
  • 10Gb Ethernet available as an option

Cons

  • The M2 version starts with 8GB of memory and tops out at 24GB
  • No ports on the front
  • Only a basic built-in speaker, and no microphone

Closest rivals

Model
TypeProcessorMemoryStorageScreenWeightReleased
CompactApple M4 or M4 Pro16 GB – 64 GB256 GB – 8 TB–0.67 kgNov 2024
All-in-oneApple M38 GB – 24 GB256 GB – 2 TB24″4.43 kgNov 2023
All-in-oneApple M416 GB – 32 GB256 GB – 2 TB24″4.42 kgNov 2024

Previous model: Mac mini (M1). Newer model: Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro).

Sources

  1. support.apple.com/en-gb/111837
  2. apple.com/uk/newsroom/2023/01/apple-introduces-new-mac-mini-with-m2-and-m2-pro-…
  3. support.apple.com/en-gb/103253

Photo: store.storeimages.cdn-apple.com

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