The Mac mini 2020 is now out in the wild, which is great news for fans of the smallest Mac. Since 2019 came and went without an update to the new Mac mini, this one’s a welcome release, and it comes packing with bigger SSDs than its predecessor.
Unfortunately, that’s about it. The Mac mini 2020 sadly feels more like a minor refresh to tide fans over for a bit rather than an actual necessary upgrade to the line. It has the same hardware as the Mac mini 2018, from the same 8th-generation Intel Core processors down to the same UHD Graphics 630 integrated graphics, despite 10th-generation processors and Iris Plus Graphics 645 already hitting the streets.
That makes this “new” Mac mini and its internals practically aged at this point. You’re basically paying $799 just to double your memory, if you already own one of the later models. Still, if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on a Mac mini for a while now or you’ve got a 2014 one or older, then the large amount of SSD storage available now should be a pretty big bonus.
Either way, if you’re looking to pick up the new Mac mini, you can do so today. So we went ahead and gathered up everything you need to know right here.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next Mac Mini computer
- When is it out? Out since March 18, 2020
- What will it cost? $799 (£799, AU$1,299) to start
Mac Mini 2020 release date
It took Apple four years to release the 2018 update, so it’s actually a little bit surprising that it came out with a new update as soon as it did – even if it didn’t exactly feel rapid.
The Mac mini 2020 hit the street on March 18, 2020, after more than a year of waiting. Who knows when we’ll get another one with actually new hardware, but if you are looking to pick up the new Mac mini, you can do that now.
Mac Mini 2020 price
There are two ‘base’ configurations of the Mac mini, at $799 (£799, AU$1,299) and $1,099 (£1,099, AU$1,749). The main difference between these two base configurations is that one will come with an Intel Core i3 processor by default, while the other comes with an Intel Core i5. The more expensive base model also comes with a 512GB SSD, as opposed to a 256GB SSD.
Now, of course, you can configure the Mac mini to your heart’s content, making the price go up. You can configure the Mac mini all the way up to a $2,899 (£2,899, AU$4,449) price tag by going up to an Intel Core i7 processor, 2TB of storage and 64GB of RAM.
This does maintain the Mac mini’s position as the cheapest Mac on the market, but with aged parts, it would have been nice to to see the price to come down.
Mac mini 2020 specs
For the most part, the Mac mini 2020 is nearly identical to the Mac mini 2018, down to the same 8th-generation Intel Coffee Lake processors and up to 64GB of RAM. The only difference is that SSDs are bigger this time around, starting at 256GB and going all the way up to 2TB.
This is a lot better, as the 2018 Mac mini only had a 128GB SSD to start, which is borderline unacceptable for a desktop PC these days.
The Mac mini also comes with a default of 8GB of DDR4 RAM, but you can configure that in 8GB increments all the way up to 64GB. However, for the level of performance you’re getting out of the other components, we can’t help but think that if you need a computer with that much memory, you’re going to want a more powerful desktop processor.
Which, it would be nice to see more powerful desktop components make their way to the Mac mini, as 8th-generation Coffee Lake processors are nearly three years old at this point.
We haven’t had a chance to tear the new Mac mini apart, but it doesn’t seem like it’s any more user-upgradeable than the previous model. You can still open it up and toss some more RAM in there, but the SSD still can’t be swapped out. Yes, it’s a bigger SSD this time around, but more flexibility would have been nice here.
- Check out our list of the best Macs you can buy today