Apple Mac Mini: Release date, Price, Specifications, and Rumors
The Apple Mac Mini (2022) is one of our most eagerly awaited items at TechRadar, and hopefully, we won’t have to wait long. The mini-PC, which could be unveiled on March 8, 2022, at Apple’s March event, would be the successor of the fan-favorite Mac Mini (M1), which was released with the Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020) and 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro (M1, 2020).
When we tested the mini-PC in 2020, we were pleasantly surprised, and the M1 processor that powered it proved to be a capable performer in general. Still, a home PC is a large piece of equipment, so can a Mac Mini convert outside of the device’s fan base?
One of the Mac Mini’s main attractions is its small size, which is ideal for folks who require a home computer but do not require a huge PC case or an all-in-one computer like the current iMac. Others, though, maybe concerned that a mini-PC will not be powerful enough for their needs.
The upcoming launch of a new processor, the Apple M2, may allay those fears, allowing the Mac Mini (2022) to make a considerably bigger splash this year.
Apple Mac Mini (2022): release date and price
We don’t have an official release date for the Apple Mac Mini (2022) because it hasn’t been revealed yet, but we expect it to be one of several products announced during Apple’s March event on March 8, 2022. (though not all or even a majority of them to be Macs).
The latest Mac Mini (M1) was released in late 2020, so March 2022 is just around the beginning of Apple’s usual 18-to-24-month product release cycle. There have also been a number of rumors about a 13-inch MacBook Pro being announced at Apple’s March presentation, and it’s widely assumed to include the new M2 chip, so a Mac Mini upgrade makes sense as well.
Both devices’ 2020 models were introduced at the same time, and both use the M1 chip. There are also suggestions that a big revamp of the 13-inch MacBook Pro will be saved for a new MacBook Air announcement later this year.
If that’s the case, it might make sense for the Mac Mini with M2 to be introduced with the 13-inch MacBook Pro, because a Mac Mini redesign generates far less enthusiasm than a MacBook overhaul.
After all, unveiling two new M2-powered devices that don’t contain huge redesigns is preferable to announcing just one, and changing out the M1 for the M2 would make mass manufacturing much easier if the Mini simply received internal enhancements.
Apple Mac Mini (2022): specs and performance
We can’t say much about the Mac Mini’s specs without knowing the Apple CPU that powers it, but we expect it will offer the same 8GB/16GB Unified Memory configuration possibilities as the Mac Pro, with SSDs ranging from 256GB to 2TB.
We also expect the number and types of connectors to remain largely unchanged, while we’re hoping for a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 upgrade from Thunderbolt 3. Upgrades such as HDMI 2.1 and a DisplayPort 1.4 output are also possible, although, with Thunderbolt 4, those ports may be redundant, therefore they may be removed with a new Mac Mini.
That may cause some changes to our ranking of the best Mac Mini monitors, but we have a feeling Apple isn’t too concerned about it. Things could become interesting when it comes to the chips that power the new device. There is speculation that we will not only see an M2-powered Mac Mini, but also an M1 Pro and, on a rare occasion, an M1 Max-powered Mac Mini.
These two options may be more suited to professionals than home PCs, but they might give the Mac Mini a far broader appeal, especially as they could provide consumers of all hues access to the performance of the M1 Pro and M1 Max at a lower price point than a MacBook Pro.