The Mac mini has always been Apple’s most affordable computer, and its lack of bells and whistles, coupled with its small size, has made it ideal for home use, educational institutions, and even as a server in niche applications. While it lacks the visual impact of an iMac or the portability of a MacBook, it has steadily gained popularity, as it’s the only Mac that’s budget-friendly for many people. Apple has now updated the Mac mini with its latest M2-generation processors, and for the first time, you can choose between the standard M2 and the more powerful M2 Pro. With the release of this new Mac mini, there’s a lot to talk about, including its affordability, impressive performance, and whether it’s worth considering as an alternative to the more expensive Mac Studio or the soon-to-be-released Mac Pro.
Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) Price in India
The new Mac mini starts at $599 in the US, a welcome $100 reduction compared to the previous generation’s starting price. Due to fluctuating exchange rates, the difference in India isn’t as significant, but the Rs. 59,900 starting price is still a step up from the Rs. 64,900 starting price of the M1 Mac mini back in 2020. With this price, you get the M2 SoC with eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
The M2 Pro-based variants offer either 10 CPU cores with 16 GPU cores for Rs. 1,29,900 or 12 CPU cores with 19 GPU cores for Rs. 1,59,900. All Mac minis offer an optional Gigabit Ethernet connection for an additional Rs. 10,000. M2 Pro configurations come equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports, compared to two on the M2 model.
Unfortunately, one major drawback of Apple Silicon-based Macs is the impossibility of upgrading the RAM or storage, which are integrated into the SoC and soldered onto the motherboard respectively. This means you need to choose your ideal specifications at the time of purchase, and any upgrades are exorbitantly expensive. Upgrading from 8GB to 16GB of RAM will cost you Rs. 20,000. There’s a new 24GB option priced at Rs. 40,000 above the base price for M2 models, and curiously, upgrading from 16GB to 32GB on the M2 Pro option costs the same.
Going from a 256GB SSD to a 512GB SSD will cost you an additional Rs. 20,000. A 1TB SSD will set you back Rs. 40,000 more, and the 2TB option comes with an astronomical price increase of Rs. 80,000, which is significantly higher than the typical cost of retail SSDs with those capacities. It’s important to note that Apple uses slightly slower SSDs for their base 256GB configurations, which isn’t explicitly stated in the specifications.
With all these upgrade costs, you could potentially spend Rs. 4,49,900 to max out the specifications – and that doesn’t even include a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Besides the Mac mini itself, the box contains only a power cord, some leaflets, and the customary Apple logo sticker. This review focuses on the Mac mini with an M2 Pro SoC, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, bringing its price to Rs. 1,79,900.
The 27-inch Apple Studio Display, which accompanies this review, will set you back another Rs. 1,59,900. You can choose a “nano-texture” matte panel finish for an additional Rs. 30,000 and swap out the standard stand for a height-adjustable one for another Rs. 40,000. To complete the setup, Apple’s Magic Mouse costs Rs. 9,500, the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad is a whopping Rs. 19,500, and the Magic Trackpad comes in at another Rs. 14,500.
Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) Design
Surprisingly, the design of the Mac mini has remained unchanged since optical drives were removed in 2011. Apple’s decision to maintain the design in 2020 was a clever move, diverting all attention to the significant shift towards their in-house processors and minimizing any sense of disruption. However, the iMac, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro have all undergone major design updates, and it would have been nice to see Apple try something new with the Mac mini.
The Mac mini is still remarkably portable, weighing in at 1.28kg, and it has an understated appearance on a table. It measures just under 200mm square and is 358mm tall. There’s no easy way to mount it to the back of a monitor, which is a feature many other mini PCs offer. The front is entirely blank except for a tiny white power LED, and the top showcases the black Apple logo. The base is slightly raised on a plastic disc, allowing ventilation for the various antennas.
The power button is tucked away on the rear. The Mac mini continues to boast a built-in power supply, eliminating the need for an external brick and simplifying the power connection. You’ll find a large air vent on the back, along with the ports: Ethernet, two or four Thunderbolt ports (depending on your configuration), an HDMI 2.0 video output, two USB Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The inclusion of legacy ports is a positive aspect, but I would have preferred some on the front for convenience, similar to the Mac Studio.
Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) Specifications and Software
Having already covered the CPU, RAM, and storage options, as well as the ports, let’s delve into the rest of the hardware. The Mac mini features Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, along with a built-in speaker (although sound quality is quite basic). The most notable aspects are the introduction of the M2 CPU family and the inclusion of a beefier Pro option for the first time.
The M2 family benefits from generational improvements in clock speed, thanks to a refined 5nm TSMC manufacturing process. Apple claims that CPU performance is 18 percent better, graphics performance has seen a 35 percent increase, and the dedicated “Neural Engine” logic for AI workloads is 40 percent faster. According to Apple, the M2 also offers more GPU cores and higher memory bandwidth. Video decode has seen some enhancements, and there’s now native acceleration for ProRes video encoding. While battery life isn’t a concern for the Mac mini, the M2 should contribute to improved power efficiency in the recently refreshed MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models.
The base M2 is an improvement over the original M1, and the M2 Pro surpasses the M1 Pro. However, the base M2 falls short of the M1 Max or M1 Ultra. The generational leap doesn’t outweigh the impact of the increased core counts. Ultimately, your choice should be based on your workload. For instance, only the M2 generation can accelerate ProRes and ProRes RAW decode, allowing playback of multiple 4K or 8K video streams in these formats.
Another factor to consider when deciding between the M2 and M2 Pro-based Mac mini is external display support. The entry-level CPU only provides enough bandwidth to drive one 6K and one 5K monitor, both at 60Hz. The M2 Pro can drive up to either one 8K display at 60Hz, one 4K display at 240Hz, or two 6K plus one 4K panel at 60Hz simultaneously.
Software-wise, the 2023 Mac mini ships with macOS 13, also known as Ventura. My review unit triggered an update to version 13.2.1 upon first boot, requiring a 3.25GB download. Most of the changes and improvements in this version focus on built-in apps such as Safari, Mail, Photos, and Messages.
The new macOS version also introduces Stage Manager, a multitasking view I found to be not particularly useful. There’s a completely revamped Settings app that aligns better with iOS, more helpful Spotlight search results, text recognition within videos, and various other additions. People using multiple Apple devices will appreciate features like AirDrop for easy file sharing, Continuity to pick up where you left off on another device, synchronized Focus modes, and convenient access to iMessage, FaceTime, and your photo collection.
Apple Studio Display Features and Specifications
For this review, Apple provided a 27-inch Studio Display alongside the Mac mini and a full set of input devices. Given its price, it’s unlikely that anyone would buy this monitor alongside an entry-level Mac mini for basic home or office use. It’s also somewhat large for most desks. However, it’s designed for creative professionals and those seeking the complete Apple aesthetic. It’s surprising that Apple hasn’t released a smaller, entry-level monitor to match the Mac mini, especially considering its image-consciousness and the fact that many users wind up resorting to cheap commodity monitors from other brands.
The Studio Display uses a hard-wired power cable with a 16A plug, which not many people will have the right socket for on their home or office desks. While the monitor itself has fairly moderate power consumption ratings – 30.3W in use and 0.36W in standby, up to 96W can be delivered through Thunderbolt to the connected source device. This allows for charging a 16-inch MacBook Pro while simultaneously providing full video and connectivity for downstream devices through a single cable. Apple’s only explanation for this choice is that it aligns with local regulations.
On the rear, there are four Type-C ports. However, it’s crucial to pay attention because only one is marked with a Thunderbolt icon, and this is the only video input. Unfortunately, there’s only one video input, requiring you to physically unplug the source device’s cable if you need to multitask. The other three ports use the 10Gbps USB 3.1 standard for downstream peripherals, turning the monitor into a docking station.
The Studio Display also boasts six built-in speakers with Dolby Atmos support, a “studio quality” three-mic array, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide webcam.
There are no physical buttons or controls on the Studio Display. All adjustments must be made through software on your connected Mac. Technically, it should be possible to use it as a monitor for a non-Mac PC, but you might encounter difficulties setting it up and won’t be able to fully utilize all the integrated hardware or update its embedded software.
With a resolution of 5120×2880 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio, full DCI-P3 colour gamut support, and a 60Hz maximum refresh rate, the Studio Display is suitable for creative professionals and more than sufficient for everyday productivity. It supports multiple industry-standard colour reference modes, as well as Apple’s True Tone white balance adjustment feature, but only reaches 600nit peak brightness and lacks any HDR standards. I would have also liked a higher refresh rate.
Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) Performance
Setting up the Mac mini was a breeze. The only connections required were plugging in the power cable and a single Thunderbolt connection to the Studio Display. However, Apple’s wireless keyboard, mouse, and trackpad were not immediately detected and needed to be toggled on and off. I found the keyboard comfortable enough, with its full-sized layout.
Touch ID is incredibly convenient, but it’s disappointing that it comes with a steep price tag. The Magic Mouse has its dedicated fanbase, but it’s not exactly comfortable, it still can’t be used while charging, and FPS gaming is nearly impossible due to the required deliberate action for right-clicking and the absence of a middle button. The trackpad supports all the familiar gestures from laptops and feels quite comfortable.
Upon booting up, macOS initiated a 3.25GB download to update to version 13.2.1. The Studio Display also required a firmware update to version 15.5, which was a 487MB download, but this one wasn’t mandatory.
Existing macOS users will feel right at home with this Apple product combination. Simple things like adjusting the Studio Display’s brightness using the keyboard work flawlessly. The monitor delivers a crisp display, and the Mac mini packs enough power to drive it effortlessly. Night Shift, designed to reduce eye strain, and True Tone, which adjusts color temperature to match ambient lighting, are both supported. You can switch color profiles on the fly using a dropdown in the macOS status bar.
The Studio Display’s built-in speakers produce clear and deep sound, even at high volumes. However, the downward-firing design means that music lacks immersiveness. Nevertheless, you can easily fill a small room with sound and clearly follow dialogue in movies. The integrated webcam performed well in a dimly lit room. The Centre Stage feature automatically reframes your video chat or capture feed when you move around or if multiple people are in the frame, and there’s Portrait mode for background blurring, both controlled through macOS.
I conducted numerous tests and benchmarks to evaluate various usage scenarios. The general-purpose Geekbench 6 revealed a single-core score of 2,654 and a multi-core score of 14,208 points. For comparison, the same test run on a MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) powered by the M1 Pro SoC yielded 2,377 and 10,458 points, respectively, while the 2022 MacBook Air with its M2 SoC scored 2,422 and 8,871 points, respectively. The built-in CPU compute test results showed 49,686 points on the Mac mini (M2 Pro) compared to 36,062 on the MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) and 27,822 on the MacBook Air (M2).
Cinebench R23’s single-core and multi-core scores on the new Mac mini came out to 1,646 and 14,776, respectively, indicating that the M2 Pro is roughly on par with the 11th Gen Intel Core i9-11900K in this benchmark. The browser-based WebXPRT test delivered a score of 245, while Basemark Web 3.0 managed 1,872 points, and the Jetstream 2 test posted 238.006 points. The M2’s lead is evident, even if not always substantial. It’s important to remember that we are comparing a laptop with a desktop PC.
I attempted to transcode a 5.52GB 60-second ProRES video file recorded at 4K 30fps using Final Cut Pro. Using the H.264 ‘Faster Encode’ Apple Device preset defaults, I managed to export it at 4K in 31.81 seconds and 1080p in just 10.68 seconds. Blender, which now runs natively on Apple Silicon, completed the standard BMW render in 2 minutes, 30 seconds and the Classroom scene in 5 minutes, 53 seconds, roughly half the time the M1 Pro-based MacBook Pro took for the same tests during its review.
Keeping in mind that the base variant’s 256GB SSD is known to have weaker performance, my review unit with its 1TB SSD achieved sequential read and write scores of 6,477.90MBps and 7,193.02MBps in AmorphousDiskMark, a macOS-native version of CrystalDiskMark.
Considering the additional GPU resources available with the M2 Pro, could the higher-end Mac mini be a decent gaming machine? As it turns out, the answer is yes, provided you’re content with the games available for the Mac platform. Unsurprisingly, almost all casual games run smoothly, even on the high-resolution Studio Display. The Steam and Epic Game Stores now offer numerous simple titles, and Apple also has its Arcade subscription service.
The Unigine Valley benchmark posted an average of 78.7fps running at 1920×1080 using the Ultra quality preset with 4XAA enabled. This represents a significant jump over the 26.5fps average achieved by the previous-gen Mac mini with the lower-tier M1 SoC in the same test. GFXBench is optimized for Apple’s Metal API on Macs. It managed 47.65fps in the Aztec Ruins scene on screen and 87.99fps offscreen when not bound to the Studio Display’s native resolution.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran surprisingly well, achieving an average of 70fps and exceeding 100fps in certain spots using its built-in benchmark at the High preset and 1080p resolution. This dropped to 41fps at 2K with visible tearing during pans and just 22fps at 4K. A Total War Saga: Troy, a slightly older game, also runs smoothly on Macs. The built-in Battle benchmark displayed an average of 67.6fps at 1080p using the High preset, with minimal tearing. At 4K, the average was 32.6fps, which isn’t bad. I also played through a portion of Metro: Exodus, and it ran smoothly.
Throughout testing, the Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) remained remarkably quiet. The fan only emitted a faint hum, even during demanding tests. However, the metal outer body did become somewhat warm, so be cautious about what you leave on top of it.
Verdict
The new Mac mini is a powerful and versatile computer suitable for home and office use, along with other niche applications.
While the base version is relatively affordable, the M2 Pro option excels for creative professionals. This computer offers ample power for most users and even delivers a capable gaming experience.
The configuration I tested, equipped with the M2 Pro, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD, costs Rs. 1,79,900, not including a monitor or accessories. It represents a substantial investment but still presents a compelling value proposition for budget-conscious content creators.
If you don’t need the full processing power of a Mac Studio or Mac Pro, this Mac mini offers a viable alternative. It makes for a worthwhile upgrade option for those with Intel-based Mac minis, iMacs, or even older Mac Pros. Whether it’s worth replacing an M1-powered Mac mini depends on how much you value rapid video or 3D model rendering times.
The inability to upgrade RAM and storage is a disappointing feature for a computer that can and should be capable of performing well for at least five years. Additionally, Apple’s pricing for upgrades at the time of purchase remains excessively high. At least it provides excellent external connectivity.
Design-wise, Apple could significantly improve the Mac mini. It’s baffling why the company has consistently chosen not to sell a matching monitor of a reasonable size and affordable price. The Studio Display is massive overkill and too expensive for basic desktop productivity and home use. The vast majority of Mac mini users rely on commodity black plastic PC monitors, missing out on the sleek Apple aesthetic and associated ecosystem perks. For a company known for its image, this remains an unanswered question.
Now that Apple Silicon is firmly established, my preference would have been for a complete reimagining of the Mac mini – a redesign not only of its design but also its purpose. The highly integrated SoC and relatively low cooling needs should have allowed for a significantly smaller or modular enclosure. We might have to wait another generation, but the 2023 Mac mini represents progress nonetheless and is certainly worth considering for new users and those seeking an upgrade.
Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Price: Rs. 1,79,900 (as reviewed)
Pros:
- Excellent performance
- macOS and iCloud ecosystem
- Compact and quiet
- Built-in power supply
- Powerful M2 Pro CPU option
Cons:
- RAM and storage not upgradeable
- Expensive configuration options
- Some functionality requires expensive accessories
Ratings (out of 5):
Design: 3.5
Performance: 4.5
Software: 4.5
Value for Money: 4
Overall: 4
