Apple Mac Mini 2023 (M2 Processor) Review | Taiwan USBHUB Group Co.,Ltd

Apple Mac products are beautifully crafted laptops and desktop PCs. Trouble is, this often means they’re expensive, too. But the Mac mini, just launched in its 2023 manifestation, is the least expensive way to buy into the world of Apple computing—especially if you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Using the Apple Mac mini (seen here with a Studio Display).

That’s because the Mac mini, also affectionately known as the headless Mac, is just a desktop unit with processing power and sockets. You need to provide the other items you’ll need to make this device usable. As someone who tested this mini PC, it’s not only one of the best mini PCs on the market, but a powerful piece of hardware that’ll save you precious desk real estate.

So, whether you’re a Mac user who wants to upgrade their system as cheaply as possible, or a PC user who just likes the glitzy look of the Mac hardware and software, read on for my full review of the all-new 2023 Mac mini.

BestBuy

The Mac mini feels as elegant and attractive as its predecessor. Unlike some computer towers or boxes, it’s the sort of thing you’d be happy to have on your desk. The rear side of the mini is black plastic that house a plethora of built-in sockets and ports. As well as the power button and socket for the power cable, there’s an Ethernet connector, HDMI, two USB-A, one headphones and two Thunderbolt 4 USB-Cs. Note that if you upgrade from the model with the M2 processor to the one with M2 Pro, you gain an extra two Thunderbolts.

Apple Mac mini 2023 with M2 processor is still as sleek as its predecessor.

What there isn’t on the Mac mini is any sign of the extra connectivity found on the front of the Mac Studio. That is, two USB-C or Thunderbolt 4 ports and an SDXC card slot.

While I fully understand that Apple wants to save the best connectivity for its premium products, it would have been just great if the company included two accessible USB-C sockets on the front.

Connectivity on the new Mac mini includes many various port options.

The absence is down to the fact that the design is identical to the last Mac mini. Maybe adding more would have required a complete redesign—in which case the $100 price drop would have gone out the window. Even so, a little more easy access connectivity would be good next time, please, Apple.

To achieve that lower price point, Apple has built the entry-level mini with the M2 processor, first seen in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13-inch models released last summer. This means that you’ll get more processing power than the M1 chip found in the last Mac mini, but it won’t be as capable as some versions of the M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.

You can choose a more powerful mini, one with the M2 Pro chip in it, but the price nearly doubles to $1,299. If it’s the most affordable Mac you’re after, then the $599 Mac mini is the one you want. There is an in-between option, by the way, at $799 which matches the specs of the cheaper model and simply upgrades the hard drive from 256GB to 512GB.

So, is it fast enough?

For most people, I’d say it really is. Unless you spend significant amounts of your time deep in power-hungry programs, the Mac mini will almost certainly be speedy enough to satisfy. That M2 Pro chip has the word pro in it for a reason: it offers amazingly fast and responsive performance which, frankly, would be overkill for most of us.

If your current computer feels in any way slow or laggy, and this is likely the reason for you considering a new machine, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the sheer fast-and-furious performance here. Some PCs only provide fast responses if you’re running just one program. The Mac mini can handle multiple applications running at the same time with no visible slowdown. Not only is the M2 faster than the M1 that preceded it but the GPU has two extra cores (10 instead of eight), which contributes to the smoothness of 4K video playback, playing games or editing high-resolution images or videos.

The Mac mini has a fan inside and in the M2 Pro configurations. If you’re running demanding programs for a long time, it can boost the fan power up to cool things down to optimize performance.

It’s the presence of a fan that means you can not only run those programs but run them for longer than a machine without a fan. On the M2 version, it runs gently in the background, but remains so quiet I have to remind myself it’s tucked under the hood.

Apple usually keeps its prices roughly stable when it announces a new model, so it’s sometimes the case that the comparison of new and old just comes down to better performance at the same price.

Apple Mac mini 2023 packs the powerful M2 chip under the hood for speedy performance.

However, the $100 price drop on the Mac mini means that argument doesn’t play. With the Mac mini, you’re looking at noticeably improved performance but for a lower price.

While the leap forward here isn’t the sea of change that came when Apple switched from Intel silicon to its own M1 chip, it still showcases a decent improvement. And if you’re swapping from an Intel-powered machine, you’ll really see a huge difference.

If you have a monitor, mouse and keyboard available, you’ll find sensational value in the 2023 Mac mini. Even if you have to buy those accessories, you can still keep the price highly competitive, though if you upgrade to the Studio Display, your overall spending will significantly (it costs $1,599 compared to the $599 Mac mini).

If you’re coming from a Windows or ChromeOS world, the macOS interface is a little different, but highly attractive and, to my mind, the most intuitive. This is the best-value way to move into the world of Apple computing, offering blazing-fast performance for a great price.

I’ve been writing about technology for over two decades. Over that time, I’ve been writing for the Daily Telegraph, Time Out Magazine, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, the Sun, Metro, Stuff, T3, Pocket-lint, Wareable.com and Wired. Right now most of my work away from Forbes appears in the Independent, the London Evening Standard and Monocle Magazine. My experience, while encompassing all tech, focuses on Apple products, and in the past, I’ve written extensively on iPhones, MacBooks and more.

I spent time testing out the Apple Mac mini, from seeing how simple or complicated set-up was and how long it took. I took into account its design, including build quality and its susceptibility to scratches as I endlessly plugged and unplugged accessories.

With a computer, you need to know how fast it is, and not just for a moment but over sustained periods. I checked it across a variety of programs, asking myself whether the new processor enhanced my computer work. In my testing, I checked to see whether the supplied memory kept everything slick and responsive, even when multiple intense programs were running at the same time, too.

I also investigated to see whether it ran quietly. And, under heavy applications and working conditions, I also tested to see whether the Mac mini overheated and tested its experience, seeing if it kept its smooth and fast computing under these conditions.

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