Apple Mac Mini M2 Review: A Small Wonder
Apple has recently updated its Mac mini line with the new M2 and M2 Pro chips, which offer significant performance improvements over the previous M1 models. The Mac mini is a compact and versatile desktop computer that can handle a variety of tasks, from productivity to gaming. In this review, we will take a closer look at the Mac mini M2 with M2 Pro, which is the most powerful configuration available.
Design and Ports
The Mac mini M2 has the same design as the previous generation, with a sleek silver aluminum enclosure that measures 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches and weighs 2.8 pounds. It is small enough to fit on any desk or shelf, and can be easily moved around if needed.
The Mac mini M2 has a generous selection of ports on the back, including four Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port (configurable to 10Gb), and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Thunderbolt 4 ports support up to three displays, one with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI, and two with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt 4 ports also support data transfer speeds of up to 40Gb/s, as well as charging and connecting external devices such as hard drives, monitors, and eGPUs.
The Mac mini M2 also has a built-in speaker, a power button, and a power cord on the back. There is no fan inside the Mac mini M2, which means it runs silently and coolly even under heavy workloads.
Performance and Features
The Mac mini M2 with M2 Pro features a 12-core CPU with six performance cores and four efficiency cores, a 19-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, and 16GB of unified memory running at 200GB/s. This configuration delivers impressive performance across various applications and benchmarks, as shown in the table below.
| Application/Benchmark | Mac mini M2 Pro | Mac mini M1 | Mac mini Intel Core i7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 CPU Single-Core | 2648 | 2348 | 1427 |
| Geekbench 6 CPU Multi-Core | 14235 | 7442 | 6019 |
| Geekbench 6 GPU OpenCL | 49786 | 19606 | N/A |
| Geekbench 6 GPU Metal | 80529 | 21837 | N/A |
| Cinebench R23 CPU Single-Core | 1590 | 1499 | N/A |
| Cinebench R23 CPU Multi-Core | 13362 | 7783 | N/A |
| Cinebench R23 GPU | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Blender BMW Render Time (lower is better) | 1:36 min | 3:02 min | N/A |
| Handbrake H.264 Video Transcode Time (lower is better) | 5:12 min | 7:45 min | N/A |
| Photoshop Filter and Function Performance (higher is better) | 4.7x faster than baseline (Mac mini Intel Core i7) | 3.5x faster than baseline (Mac mini Intel Core i7) | Baseline |
As you can see, the Mac mini M2 Pro outperforms the Mac mini M1 and the Mac mini Intel Core i7 in almost every category, especially in graphics-intensive tasks such as rendering and video transcoding. The Mac mini M2 Pro also handles media formats such as HEVC, H.264, ProRes, and ProRes RAW with ease, thanks to its dedicated hardware-accelerated media engine.
The Mac mini M2 Pro also supports features such as Touch ID authentication via compatible wireless keyboards 2, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity for faster and more reliable wireless networking, and macOS Ventura, the latest version of Apple’s operating system that offers new features such as Universal Control, AirPlay to Mac, Focus mode, Quick Note, Safari redesign, FaceTime enhancements, and more.
Conclusion
The Mac mini M2 with M2 Pro is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a powerful and versatile desktop computer that can handle anything from productivity to gaming. It offers outstanding performance, features, and value in a compact and elegant design. The Mac mini M2 with M2 Pro starts at $1,299 for the base model with a 512GB SSD, which is $100 cheaper than the previous generation. You can also customize it with up to a whopping 8TB SSD, 32GB of memory, and 10Gb Ethernet for an additional cost. The Mac mini M2 with M2 Pro is available now from Apple’s website and authorized resellers.
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