Mac mini (2020): Release date, price, and everything you need to know

Mac Mini M1 Lifestyle (Image credit: iMore / Zackery Cuevas)

Apple has announced a new Mac mini at the 'One More Thing' event at Apple Park on November 10, 2020. This new Mac mini features Apple's brand new silicon, the M1 system-on-chip, but retains the same design as previous generations. Here's everything you need to know about the new Mac mini.

What is the Mac mini?

The Mac mini is the desktop solution from Apple for those who don't want an all-in-one machine like an iMac. The Mac mini is simply a Mac, but you will need to provide your own peripherals like displays, keyboard, and mouse.

The Mac mini now features M1

Mac Mini Feature Tiles (Image credit: iMore)

Now that the Mac mini has Apple's M1 chip, which has Apple's GPU, T2, RAM, and CPU all in one chip. With the M1, there are 16 billion transistors, which is the most on any Apple chip. It also has an 8-core CPU, with four of the cores being for high performance, and the others are for power efficiency. With the power efficiency improvements in the M1, that means they use a tenth of the power as before.

Thanks to the M1, the Mac mini delivers performance up to 5x faster than a comparable PC at the same price point. The M1 also means that the new Neural Engine and Machine Learning can perform up to 15x faster than previous models. Graphics will be up to 6x faster.

Despite the MacBook Air with M1 removing the fan because of the efficiency of M1, the Mac mini seems to retain a fan inside. Compared to previous generations of the Mac mini, the new Mac mini delivers 3x CPU performance.

Can you upgrade the RAM and storage?

All of the new Macs, including Mac mini, will give you the option to choose from either 8GB or 16GB of RAM. You are not able to upgrade the RAM yourself. Storage options start at 256GB, and you can configure it to 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB.

What ports does the Mac mini have?

Mac Mini Connections (Image credit: iMore)

The Mac mini with M1 comes equipped with two Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, two USB-A ports, as well as an HDMI port. There is also an Ethernet port and 3.5mm headphone jack.

How much is the Mac mini with M1?

The Mac mini with M1 will start at $699, which is $100 less than the previous Mac mini.

When will the Mac mini with M1 be available?

The new Mac mini, along with the new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, will be available to order starting November 10, 2020. All of the machines will be available November 17, 2020.

While there may be some Black Friday MacBook deals coming up, we do not expect a price drop on these new Macs with M1 until much later.

Christine Romero-Chan was formerly a Senior Editor for iMore. She has been writing about technology, specifically Apple, for over a decade at a variety of websites. She is currently part of the Digital Trends team, and has been using Apple’s smartphone since the original iPhone back in 2007. While her main speciality is the iPhone, she also covers Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac when needed.

When she isn’t writing about Apple, Christine can often be found at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, as she is a passholder and obsessed with all things Disney, especially Star Wars. Christine also enjoys coffee, food, photography, mechanical keyboards, and spending as much time with her new daughter as possible.