Apple Mac mini (2018) Review: The little Mac that could Review

Apple's latest Mac mini update dates back to October 2014. In the last four years, both users and experts have speculated whether the Mini was left behind and whether Apple decided it was It was time to move from the little box to the place. resources on other Mac products.

In many ways, it's the same story as the MacBook Air, another Apple computer that has remained without significant update for several years.

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Then rumors began to surface that Apple was actually going to update the Mac mini, and this time it would have features that business users would appreciate.

Indeed, during the event organized in October by Apple, during which the company has not only refreshed the iPad Pro, but also the MacBook Air, a new Mac mini was unveiled. The sleek package contains the latest and most powerful components, and the update indicates that Apple listens to some of its more virulent users and that the Mac mini has a place in its product line.

These days, I'm using the Mac mini and I'm pretty impressed by this little Mac.

Design

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The Mac mini looks like a bigger version of the Apple TV. The square case measures 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches and weighs 2.9 pounds. So, it's bigger than an Apple TV, but the resemblance is definitely there.

The hull is 100% recycled aluminum and is one of the first two Apple products to carry this claim. The other product is the new MacBook Air.

Beyond the Apple logo on the top and a light indicator at the front of the case, the Mini is a rather indescribable gray case. On the back, however, things are starting to get busy. From left to right you will find the power button, the power port, an Ethernet port, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI 2.0, two USB 3.1 ports and a headphone jack. Just below all the ports is a vent for the new cooling system.

In addition: No, Apple has not yet activated any destructive Mac repair switch.

The bottom of the Mac mini has a circular foot that keeps the unit of the table or desk a little bit.

For those who do not know, the Mac mini is sold as a stand-alone product. Inside the box are the Mini itself and the power cable. that's all. You will need to provide your own keyboard, mouse, touchpad and screen. Apple has included a Magic Keyboard keypad, a Magic Trackpad 2 and a LG UltraFine 4K display.

But you can connect all the accessories you want. Do you prefer a Razer mechanical keyboard, an Amazon Basics mouse and a 1080p screen? No problem.

This is part of the call to the Mac mini. This can be as expensive as you want, as far as accessories are concerned. Or it may be too simple, and it's fine too.

Characteristics

You can buy different configurations, ranging from $ 799 to $ 4,199 for a fully loaded Mini. Here is the $ 799 configuration that I have been sent and that I use:

• CPU: Intel Core i3-8100B 3.6 GHz (4-core cache, 6 MB)
• Graphic: Intel UHD Graphics 630
• RAM: 8 GB DDR4 (2666 MHz)
• Storage room: 128GB PCIe SSD
• The ports: 2 x USB 3.1, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, 4 Thunderbolt 3, 1 x Ethernet
• connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5
• Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Cut: 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches

The Mini now accepts up to 64GB of memory and up to a 2TB SSD for storage. Users can upgrade to an Intel Core i7 3-core processor at 6.6 GHz with a TurboBoost up to 4.6 GHz.

Performance

I've used the Geekbench 4 benchmarking software a few times. The Mac mini averaged a score of 4,756 for a single kernel and 14,426 for a multiple kernel. I've also run Cinebench R15, and the Mac mini has recorded an average of 41 fps in the OpenGL test and 588 in the CPU test.

What do these numbers mean? These results place the base model on par with a 2017 iMac equipped with an Intel Core i5-7500 processor. As for the multi-core, the Mac mini is as fast as a MacBook Pro 2015 with an Intel Core i7-4980HQ processor.

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Yet these numbers do not mean much without sitting down and actually using it.

After plugging in a monitor and connecting the Apple keyboard and trackpad included in my evaluation kit, I use the Mini as the main computer for about four days. I asked him to write this review, edit photos, stream music and edit some video (see below). I used it for all the things for which one would normally use a computer, especially for work and for personal use.

While the Mini passed easily from one task to another, without any hitch or problem, I was still waiting for the fan to fire. Even as I was exporting, watching a streaming video on YouTube, and reading my Twitter timeline, I realized I was not going to hear the fans yet.

I felt the top of the Mini and it was hot. Then turned off all the audio, and leaned very close to the speaker. Only then can I hear the humming fans. They are incredibly quiet, a goal sought by society. Often, the Mini is used in music studios or on movie sets where loud music fans are not welcome.

Let me tell you otherwise: the external hard drive that I used for Time Machine on my iMac is stronger than the Mac mini's cooling system.

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The internal speakers of the Mac mini are not very noisy. If you plan to use this device to stream music or watch a lot of videos, I would recommend getting external speakers or headphones. The internal speakers are designed for minimal use. Think about system alerts and the occasional song.

Ideally, the base model would give up 128GB of storage. Most users can get away with half that amount on phones and tablets, but on a computer, 128 GB is not enough. I have not installed everything I have on my iMac because eventually the Mini has to go back to Apple and because I currently have about 500GB of storage. The Mac mini should start at 256 GB of storage and allow the user to upgrade from this location.

The Mac mini uses Apple's new T2 security chip for secure boot, encrypted storage and tasks such as system management controller, audio controller and SSD controller.

Pro users

Although I test the basic model Mini for a few days, I am a little fascinated by the device. In the past, when buying a Mac, I had never considered that a MacBook or an iMac. I've always considered the Mac mini as a device better designed to be used as a home server or as a very powerful Raspberry Pi.

Since my job task was to edit and render videos or spend a lot of time retouching photos in Photoshop, I assumed that the Mac mini simply was not able to follow it. . And many years ago, I was probably right. The Mini was a solid computer, but not intended for resource-intensive tasks.

With this year's update and my own rudimentary tests, I have no doubt that the Mac mini is more than capable of coping with my workload and more intense workloads.

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I've uploaded a handful of videos, imported them into an iMovie project where I spliced, added effects, transitions and even slow motion magic, and then exported my quick creation. The first video was about two minutes long and was exported in 1080p with better rendering in 1 minute and 20 seconds. I then lengthened the clip to more than 17 minutes and exported with the highest possible settings. The process was done in just over 10 minutes, with a file size of 17.5 GB.

I then took this file and used QuickTime Player to convert it to HEVC format, reducing it to 1.75 GB. This process took five minutes.

Indeed, using more detailed programs such as Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro would push the system much harder than me, but my experience left me impressed.

With four Thunderbolt 3 ports, with which you can connect monitors, external GPUs, external hard drives and a host of other devices that take advantage of a broadband connection, and the ability to switch to a 10GB Ethernet connection, which can be used to share the workload between several Mac minis, it is hard to imagine that a professional photographer, a video editor or a developer would be overwhelmed by the Mac mini.

Any criticism of the new price – about $ 200 more than the price at which the Mac mini was launched before – must take into account the amount of modern technology built into the Mini. This is not only built for the moment, but built for future use.

Business users often appreciate the ability to upgrade computers, whether adding memory or storage. The Mac mini can accept up to 64GB of RAM and, technically, it can be upgraded by the user. Although the process to enter the Mini and do it yourself is not easy. When I asked Apple about user upgrades, I was told that the company considered the Mini as a device that could be upgraded, which means that users should use a certified technician ( or Apple itself) for any upgrade. That said, I would suggest waiting to see how much the upgrade will be difficult once iFixit has released its disassembly and then decide which path you want to take.

Nevertheless, the option is technically there. It all depends on your ease with removing the base, the cooling box and the dig into the bowels of the Mini.

Conclusion

Between the number of ports, the types of accessories that these ports allow and the customization options, the Mac mini is a computer that no longer serves a niche market. It is designed for all types of users, whether you want to use it as a server at home and configure more than one Mini as a set of servers to unload the video encoding and code compilation.

Also: Mac Mini 2018: TechRepublic cheat sheet

In the past four years, Mac mini users have been demanding more laptops. And with the 2018 model, Apple has delivered. Even the basic model is something that I could see myself using daily and, when I look at my usage in a realistic way, I am not a "Pro" user. I am an average user who is immersed in the professional features.

If I needed a new desktop computer at that time, my search would start with – and it's quite possible that it would end with – the Mac mini as opposed to an iMac. The versatility it offers, coupled with performance, is simply too convincing.

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