Hands on, first impressions and initial landmarks

In the box

The Apple Mac mini has always been a sleek machine, this one still emitting only the machine itself, but with a new black power cord, matching the Space Gray case. Keyboard, mouse, screen, everything is a necessity, you will have to provide.

What you get

Our test unit features an Intel i3 quad-core processor with a base speed of 3.6 GHz, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB PCI-E flash storage. But, if you wish, there are six-core i5 and i7 versions, RAM options up to 64 GB and storage capacity of up to 2 TB in flash memory.

If you want a maximum, be prepared to pay – it will cost you over $ 4,200. Our configuration sells for $ 799.

First impressions

Initially, the Mac mini looks a lot like the same thing. He has the same body, but with a new finish. We would not mind if you confused the new mini with the old one.

Previous Mac mini (top) and 2018 Mac mini (low)

Apple pointed out that, like the MacBook Air, the Mac mini case is made from 100% recycled aluminum. The quality of the metal is still beautiful, creating a superb and minimalist look.

By turning it over, you see everything new. A 3-port Thunderbolt quartet, two USB-A ports, auxiliary audio output, Ethernet and HDMI 2.0. The cooling system has been redesigned, as is the external vent at the back of the machine, which is slightly narrower than the previous model, four years old.

Our base model came with 8GB, although it can go up to 64GB. Given Apple's costs related to memory upgrades, the fact that chips are cracked and Unwelded on the circuit is huge, but it remains to be seen how easy it is to do it, and we will examine the problem more deeply.

Thunderbolt Mac mini and Apple screen

We have opted for an association of our new Mac mini Space Gray with Space Gray Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Keyboard from Apple to complete this all-black aesthetic.

Initial milestones

We will have more benchmarks to come as we go through the steps for our full review, but our early benchmarks allow us to achieve substantial performance gains over the latest models, which should not surprise us.

Now that the mini starts with a fourth-generation Intel Core i3 processor at 3.6 GHz and quad-core, it should show a clear improvement.

We ran Geekbench 4 several times, averaging 4,769 and 14,202 for single-chip and multicore testing. This compares well to the Mac mini of late 2012 with an i7 processor running at 2.3 GHz, which shot 3300 and 11480 on mono / multicore tests. Looking at the i5 2.6GHz from the end of 2014, which scored 3534 and 6967, it still shows considerable improvements. These numbers are very promising and we look forward to continuing testing.

Stay tuned

We will continue to test this machine over the next few days. So keep an eye on AppleInsider for additional coverage of the new 2018 Mac mini.

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