Apple’s Mac Mini was one of the first in Apple’s repertoire to get the upgrade to Apple’s M1 silicon in November 2020, and the performance was impressive – especially at the Mac Mini’s tempting £699/$699 price tag.
But despite its popularity, it seems Apple may have something even bigger planned for the Mac Mini, with rumours suggesting the 2022 model could offer even more power and, interestingly, a redesigned chassis for the first time in years.
Here’s all you need to know about the new Mac Mini, from release date and pricing speculation to the latest leaks and rumours.
When will the new Mac Mini be released?
The most popular rumours suggested Apple was going to reveal the new Mac Mini at WWDC 2021, but that didn’t happen.
It was then expected that the new Mac Mini would be unveiled alongside the new MacBook Pro range at Apple’s October event, but that didn’t happen either.
The most recent rumbings, this time from notorious Apple leaker @Dylandkt, suggest we might not be waiting for much longer.
In a spate of late January 2022 tweets full of predictions for Apple’s 2022 hardware, the leaker teased that “we will be receiving the Mac Mini with M1 Pro and M1 Max” at Apple’s Spring event, currently rumoured to take place sometime between March and May 2022.
How much will the new Mac Mini cost?
This one’s a little tougher to predict. Apple could go one of two ways; it could replace the entire Mac Mini line-up with the redesigned model, or it could continue to offer the older M1-enabled Mac Mini and introduce the new model at a higher price. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests it’ll be the latter.
Given the fact that the Mac Mini is positioned as the entry-level Mac, it’d be hard for Apple to justify too much of a price hike.
If the new Mac Mini doesn’t replace the entire range and match the price of its predecessors – something Apple aims for with most new releases – it could replace the top-end £1,099/$1,099 Intel-based model, completing Apple’s transition from Intel to Apple Silicon on the Mac Mini range.
What should I expect from the new Mac Mini?
Rumours currently suggest the new Mac Mini could offer key upgrades and an all-new design when it eventually makes an appearance.
Redesigned form factor
Apple that the Mac Mini design hasn’t changed for a few years not because it isn’t possible, but because there are a number of server farms and organisations that use Mac Minis based on the existing form factor.
However, that looks to change with the release of the new Mac Mini, with rumours suggesting an all-new form factor that’s significantly thinner than its predecessor, and it could sport new “plexiglass-like” top too.
That’s from well-known tipster Jon Prosser, who worked with concept artist Ian Zelbo to create renders based on the information provided to the leaker. He detailed the redesign in a recent episode of , suggesting the new model will come in both silver and white – but not the colourful options of the 24in iMac.
It’s certainly not confirmation given Prosser’s hit-and-miss track record when it comes to Apple leaks – gives him an accuracy rating of 78.1% – but he’s not the only source suggesting a redesign is on the way.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also suggests that a slight redesign is on the way, with a plexiglass top, but that it’ll be limited to the top-end Mac Mini only.
Upgraded internals
Per Bloomberg’s May 2021 report, the new model is a “more powerful version of the Mac Mini” that’ll offer the same chipset as the new MacBook Pro range. In a follow-up report in , the publication suggests it’ll appear as the new top-end option for its line, rather than being a feature of the entire Mac Mini range.
If this is true, we now know these to be the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, which feature in the 2021 MacBook Pro range.
The former offers 10-core CPU with eight performance cores and two efficiency cores, as well as a 16-core GPU with 2,048 execution units. This chip can support up to 32GB RAM, an improvement from the maximum 16GB available on the M1 model.
The even more powerful M1 Max offers the same CPU setup, but features double the RAM support (64GB) and a 32-core GPU with 4,096 execution units and four times the GPU performance seen on the original M1.
Leaker @Dylandkt also suggests a Mac Mini with both M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets are on the way, lending more credence to the rumour.
More ports
One of the main drawbacks of the M1-based Mac Mini compared to its Intel predecessor was the lack of ports; while Apple’s Intel-based Mac Mini offered four Thunderbolt 3 ports, the newer model sports two.
Jon Prosser suggests that the new Mac Mini port selection will mirror that of the Intel-based Mac Mini, with an increased four Thunderbolt 3 ports, a 10Gb Ethernet port, a HDMI 2.0 port and more.
It’s alleged that the new Thunderbolt 3 ports will be connected to an enhanced Neural Engine in some way, which could enable the ability to run more 4K displays – the M1 Mac Mini can only power one, while the Intel-based model can power three.
It’s a sentiment backed up by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, claiming that the new model will have “more ports than the current model”, but no specifics were provided.
