Features:

  • Quad-core i3 or 6-Core i5 8th-Generation Intel Core Processor
  • Intel UHD Graphics 630
  • 8GB 2666Mhz DDR4
  • Ultrafast SSD storage
  • Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, one HDMI 2. 0 port, and two USB 3 ports
  • Gigabit Ethernet and 802. 11AC Wi-Fi
  • Marcos Mojave, inspired by pros but designed for everyone, with dark mode, stacks, easier screenshots, new built-in apps, and more
LOVE IT!!!!

For being Apple's cheapest computer it is really good. I was able to piece together one hell of a great computer with this being the main part. I added a diy 32gb ram, an external 1tb ssd thunderbolt 3 hard drive, a 34" widescreen monitor, a usb 3 hub all for around $2400 which actually is thousands less than paying apple for all of it.

Most affordable Apple Computer.

Very happy with the ability to upgrade the ram. Running 32gb for now until more options are offered. Using the HDMI port to power a 29” LG monitor. Eventually I will get an external NVME SSD so I have space for more virtual OS’s.

Great value

Needed a replacement for my MacBook Pro (mid-2010). Current MacBooks or iMac could not compare in horse power for the value. Set up was easy (recognized my almost 10 year old wireless printer/scanner immediately). Transferred my files and iTunes no problem. Already had an Apple bluetooth keypad, picked up a new Magic Mouse and paired it up with a Viewsonic monitor. I had contemplated a Mini vs iMac for a while but held out, glad I waited.

Faster than expected

Bought this because I wanted a multimedia player for my bedroom with computer capabilities. Pleasantly surprised at its speed and usability in such a small package, even with non-discrete graphics. Bought Parallels to run windows programs within the MacOS and it works really nicely. All around peppy little computer that's quiet and can be used just about anywhere.

Not an actual Apple, so you can't eat it :(

I was hungry for fruit when I ordered this Apple, but I learned it's not fruit, but a super fast i5 3GHz Mac Mini with 8GB RAM that will handle 4k MKV videos seamlessly through Kodi/Plex as well as handle resource-heavy Adobe software (Photoshop/Illustrator) painlessly. Hope others don't make the same mistake I made!

eGPU works perfectly with new Mac mini

I've been waiting for over three years for an update...and this update is a doozy. Four Thunderbolt 3 ports, OMG! I could not resist the i7-8700B CPU upgrade for an extra $200 (6 core/12 threads, 4.6 GHz turbo) - what a monster. I would recommend base RAM (8 GB SoDIMM). If you need more an upgrade is user installable for half Apple's price. Also, 256 GB SSD is adequate for the MacOS system and applications. If you work with huge files you may need an external Thunderbolt 3 SSD but it will cost a fraction of what Apple wants. What's missing? Everything else. But if you have a monitor available (as I did) an extra keyboard and mouse then you are set. The mini's built-in Intel UHD 630 Graphics is extremely good for normal use but not satisfying for extremely demanding video tasks such as playing cutting edge games, etc. For that you will need an external TB3 eGPU. I have a Sonnet 550 Breakaway Box that I bought for a 2017 Mac Book Pro. It works perfectly with the Mac mini and depending on what GPU card you use, it can do video anything. You ask - why would I want a Mac mini if I had a perfectly good Mac Book Pro? Well, the laptop was only a temporary measure till Apple updated the Mac mini. I never use a laptop as a laptop - I have a tablet for that "away from home" function. And the Mac mini was almost free by taking advantage of the Apple GiveBack program. What they gave me for the Mac Book Pro was over half of the mini's cost. I realize that not everybody is a reformed Windows system builder (like I am) that has a lot of computer stuff laying around. But if you are and you want an incredible Mac OS machine, this is the way to go. All you are purchasing is the guts of the machine...but ohhhh, what guts they are! If you need to buy a whole system, you want Mac OS, and you want something almost as good as the Mac mini i7 - will need to look at a iMac costing $1800. Nobody ever said that Apple's were cheap.

You can upgrade the memory yourself

Don't pay the ridiculous prices for memory from Apple. Buy the lowest memory model, then buy the memory separate. You'll save yourself a few hundred dollar signs. To upgrade the memory you'll need to open the Mini up (not hard) and remove the logic board. iFixit has a nice instructional video to guide you. I also picked up their Essentials Toolkit. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRNIFR6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I got this Mini for my home office. USB-C allows me to cut down on my cable clutter significantly. Apple makes a pretty decent product excluding the latest MBP models with their flakey keyboards. It's not a gaming machine, so don't buy it thinking that you're going to be doing any gaming. This is purely for productivity. You'll need to buy a keyboard and mouse separately if don't already have them.

Pretty darn awesome overall, and a better value than I initially thought

This review is for the i5 version with 256GB of storage. Before I get into my personal life story, I'll sum up the following. If you've never used a Mini before and are looking for a small, quiet, and powerful machine - I think that you'll love this. If you're considering updating from an older Mini like I was, I don't think that you'll be disappointed with the improvements (but there are some considerations). Pros: (*) A definite upgrade from older Minis in speed, ports (in general), and graphics (not hard to pull off) (*) While not an updated form factor, it's still a fantastic size and why I love Minis (*) Quiet. I love how quiet these are (*) Four Thunderbolt 3 ports, so adding on fast external storage drives is easy (*) You can once again upgrade the RAM yourself to save some serious cash, but it will void the warranty (*) Base configurations aren't unreasonably priced (more below) (*) Personal preference, but I think that the new Space Gray looks super slick, and I'm a big fan of the original aluminum look Considerations: (*) Pricing aside, the only real design drawback that I see is the integrated graphics. They could have (and should have) included a better internal graphics option, as even low-power GPUs will trounce the Intel graphics. Yes, you can add an eGPU, but that'll more than double the size and increase the noise...and cost hundreds of dollars. That said, this newer version of the Intel graphics is a noticeable step up from my late-2012 Mini (*) I hadn't thought about this before buying, but the new Mini requires an adapter (not included) to connect to Thunderbolt 1/2 devices. The cheapest that I can find right now is $50 for the Apple adapter, and reviews are mixed (*) No dedicated digital audio output (such as optical) that I use on my older Mini every day, adding one more adapter to the shopping list if you also use it MORE INFO My first Mini was a late-2012 model (MD388LL/A with the quad-core i7). I absolutely LOVE the form factor and how quiet it is. Those are the reasons that I switched back to a Mac at home after years of using Windows boxes. It still works really well, but I've been itching for an upgrade. Like many folks, I waited (and waited...and waited) for a new Mini to come out. I hated the 2014 refresh that didn't allow us to replace the RAM, so I held out. When this generation finally got revealed this Fall, I found myself initially...underwhelmed. Now there is no user-replaceable drive, difficult (but thankfully once again possible) user-replaceable RAM, still integrated graphics, and a starting price of $800. I was pretty disappointed, until I actually looked back on what I spent on and did to my Mini years ago. Back in 2012, I spent about $800 for the quad-core i7 version with 4GB of RAM. I then spent about $200 and a couple of hours to upgrade to 16GB of RAM and put in a 256GB SSD (for faster and quieter operation compared to the 1TB platter drive). So, a bit over $1000 for a system with 256GB of drive space and 16GB of RAM. Well, outside of having 8GB of RAM and not 16, I now have a much faster Mini with upgraded ports for that amount of money. That's why I no longer think that the base configurations are unreasonably priced, versus how I felt when I first saw them announced. Yes, having Apple add more drive space or RAM is (as it has always been) obnoxiously overpriced compared to third party solutions. If you're new to shopping for Macs, the gut-wrenching cost of upgrading via Apple is not new, which is why most people choose to do it themselves. Thankfully, Thunderbolt 3 drives are pretty darn fast, and this Mini has four T3 ports - so hard drive space shouldn't be a big concern for most people. Plus, the internal SSD is fast. As for RAM, while not nearly as easy as adding RAM to a late-2012 model, you can add RAM to this one (but void the warranty) with less work than it was to swap out or add a second hard drive to the late-2012 model. Transferring data and settings from my older Mini was pretty straight forward (if you do it, you'll want both hooked to a monitor and keyboard/mouse because you need to set up the older computer to do the transfer). This was my first time doing a comprehensive transfer, and I was amazed that the new Mini is set up exactly like my older one - same desktop image, same data on the desktop, same Firefox tabs opened up, same...everything. It was awesome to have such a smooth transfer over! As I expected and hoped, this new Mini is very quiet. I actually can hear the electronics making a quiet buzzing noise when I'm doing tasks, but I have to be close to it to hear that. If this is sitting on your desk in a quiet room, you might also hear that. The fan is essentially silent unless the CPU is working hard. I do wish it had some other ports (like Thunderbolt 2 and optical audio), but I can understand why Apple choose to move on to the newer connections. You can only keep legacy connectors for so long. Okay, now for the elephant in the room (at least for me) - the integrated graphics. Apple could have included better graphics in this without much more (if any) size or heat load, such as using AMD’s integrated Vega M graphics. Sure, you can use an eGPU, and it's great that you have that option on Macs now, but that significantly increases the size and noise of the system. I buy Minis for the compact size and quiet operation, so an eGPU doesn't make sense for me, but it will for some of you. It's probably an option now so I'll do more research, but if I can use a fanless graphics card for a silent (but still larger) eGPU, I might just do that. In conclusion, I wish they'd gone with better graphics, and I wish that some of the older connections were still included, but overall - I love it. If this was my first ever Mini, I'd love it even more because I wouldn't already be used to the fantastically small and quiet computer that it is. I balked at the price of these newer models given the harder to replace RAM and integrated graphics, but I don't regret my purchase at all. At all. Highly recommended now that I've actually used one.

Happy with purchase

Much faster than expected. I migrated from Windows to Apple. My Mac air is not very fast but this new Mac mini is very quick. Apple we want our security in every way. Privacy, hackers, govt snoopers. Sell your product on privacy. That is why i dumped Android and Google. If we cant protect our networks then take the lead and make Apple products secure.

Amazing

This small computer is more powerful than the imac Intel i5 Quad 3.4 Ghz. It is fantastic, soon I will do a Up - Date from Memory....

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