The M1 Mac mini was the very first commercially available Apple computer with an Apple Silicon chip. A predecessor, Apple Developer Transition Kit exists based off of the A12Z Bionic chip, however, most have since been returned to Apple as per the loan agreement. The M1 Mac mini introduces a 5 nm 3.2 Ghz 8-core ARM-based CPU in the most entry-level Mac at just $699.

The new Apple Silicon Mac mini features 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, Thunderbolt 3 with USB 4 support, a brand new 16-core neural engine, and integrated 7/8-core GPU. This model also completely does away with any sort of internal upgradeability, any changes would need to be done at time of purchase.

The 2020 Mac mini was Apple’s first computer to use Apple Silicon graphics and continues the trend of “vampire video” (that’s where the video bites into system memory). The 2006 Mac mini was the first Mac in a long, long time to do this, and most Intel Macs with HD/UHD graphics do this as well. The M1 GPU shares the unified memory which the chip also uses as RAM for applications, changing the traditional views on CPU/GPU memory.

On the exterior, the M1 Mac mini looks nearly identical to the 2018 model, minus 2 USB-A style ports. This machined unibody aluminum style dates back to 2010, which originally housed an Intel Core 2 Duo and had a slot for an optical drive. There were slight iterative changes on the interior to accommodate the updates over the years, of course.

The Mac mini doesn’t include a keyboard or mouse. Apple says users can plug in their own USB keyboard, mouse, bring their own monitor, or buy Apple’s offerings. MacOS includes support for many different types of keyboard layouts, and automatically prompts to map a layout once a non-Apple keyboard is connected.

What You Need to Know

• If you’re someone who’s transitioning over from an Intel Mac, or will be using Intel Mac apps, Apple has an app called Rosetta 2 for Apple Silicon Macs. Once installed, this isn’t something you directly interact with. Rather, you may simply open an Intel app, and it’ll open. Rosetta 2 does an Intel to Arm “ahead of time” translation, using an instruction set in the M1 chip. The first time the Intel app launches it’ll be noticeably slow, as Rosetta caches and stores code. Once this process is done, the App should work just as normal.
• These minis shipped with 8 GB of RAM which is fine for basic tasks, but is increasingly impractical these days. For a serious speed boost, opt for 16 GB of RAM, and more storage. Multiple NANDs allow for parallel processing/RAID, increasing Read/Write speeds.

Details

• Announced 2020.11.10
• Model Identifier: MacMini9,1
• Model: A2348 (EMC 3569)
• Order Number: MGNR3LL/A*
• Available only in Silver

Mac OS

• Requires macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 (Build 20B29) or later

Core System

• The 2020 Mac mini bucks the trend of having user-upgradeable RAM, opting instead for a soldiered Apple Silicon “chip” at time of purchase, which cannot be removed or replaced except potentially by soldiering.
• CPU: 8 Cores, 4x 3.2 GHz “Firestorm” High Performance Cores: 768K L1i, 512K L1d, 48MB L2, 8MB System Level Cache
  • 4x 2.0 GHz “Icestorm” energy efficient cores: 512K L1, 16MB L2, 8 MB SLC
• 16-Core Neural Engine
• 8/16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR4X-4266 SDRAM (68.25 GB/s)

Video

• Integrated Apple M1 with 7/8-Core Metal 3 Hardware Accelerated GPU

Drives

• Drive Bus: 256GB PCIe SSD ~2.8 GB/s, 2x 128GB NANDs in Parallel
• Configurable to: 512GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB

Expansion

• 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Two USB-C style Thunderbolt 3 Ports
  • Support for: USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
• Two USB-A style USB 3.0 ports (Up to 10 Gb/s)
• Gigabit Ethernet
• HDMI 2.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack

Included Peripherals

• Mac Mini
• Power Cord

Physical

• Size: 1.4 x 7.7 x 7.7 in/36 x 197 x 197 mm
• Weight: 2.6 lb./1.2 kg
• Power supply: 150W internal power supply