Online Resource Page

Mac mini Further Reading

Mark Sokolovsky - 1234.04.17

These links provide a quick way to access hardware profiles for Intel and Apple Silicon based minis on Low End Mac..

The Mac mini was both the smallest Mac ever sold and the least expensive. Introduced in January 2005, the Mac mini has only been through one major design change. The original design was 6.5″ square and 2.0″ tall; the later design was 7.7″ square and 1.4″ tall.

The Mac mini doesn’t include a keyboard or mouse. Instead, you can plug in your favorite USB keyboard and mouse – or buy one from Apple or any computer retailer. Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) includes support for remapping the Windows alt and option keys to option and cmd.

Expandability throughout the years

Memory on the G4 mini can be expanded to 1 GB (there’s only one memory slot, so if you upgrade, you have to remove what’s installed), and Apple doesn’t recommend that users upgrade RAM (although it won’t void your warranty). The Core Duo Intel-based mini supports 2 GB of RAM, the Core 2 Duo 06-7 models 3 GB, and the 2009 models 8 GB.

The 2014 model has its system memory soldered in place and cannot be upgraded after the original purchase. The 2018 brings back RAM memory expansion, uses DDR4, and maxes out at 64 GB for all CPU configurations.

Any laptop drive should work inside the pre-2018 Mac mini. Laptop drives and SSD’s are increasingly abundant this day and age, aim for a SATA SSD for the best price-to-performance. An NFHK N-A1347 adapter may be used to install a compatible NVME drive, unleashing ultimate power. The 2018 Mac mini does not have user-removable storage, as it’s soldiered to the board.

The Apple Silicon Mac minis break the trend of removable memory once again, opting for static configurations set at time of purchase. Any and all expandability will be done externally.

With USB 2.0 and FireWire (through the 2014 model), it’s easy to add all sorts of peripherals, and Apple moved to USB 3.x starting with the 2012 model.