If it weren’t for the sudden update on October 30 this year, many consumers might have almost concluded that the Apple Mac mini product line was likely to be discontinued, just like they were eagerly awaiting the new MacBook Air. However, at the product launch on October 30, Apple told us that some products may be late, but they will not be absent, and the Mac mini is one such product.

The Mac mini is positioned as an entry-level Mac device, allowing consumers to experience the excellence of the macOS ecosystem with minimal spending. It is lightweight, portable, and highly integrated, making it suitable for home office scenarios. You can even use it as a mobile office device between companies and homes. In short, its positioning is different from that of Windows platforms and is not DIY. Of course, such advantages of being lightweight, portable, and highly integrated mean that even as an entry-level device, the Mac mini will have a stable group of supporters. The last product in the Mac mini line was released in 2014, and four years is a long time for users who love this mini computer. So what changes have been made to this year’s Mac mini? How does it perform? Let’s take a deeper look through this review from IT Home.

Before the review, IT Home will first showcase the basic configuration of this Mac mini:

For the Mac product line, Apple has always been conservative in design changes, and the Mac mini is no exception. The latest 2018 Mac mini basically continues the design of the previous generation 2014 Mac mini. The most intuitive difference is that the color has changed from silver four years ago to space gray, making the new Mac mini look more subdued and low-key.

In terms of size, the 2018 Mac mini is also identical to its predecessor, with dimensions of 3.6cm*19.7cm*19.7cm and a weight of 1.3kg, making it quite compact for a desktop. The Mac mini has a square shape with rounded corners, a simple design, and only a polished metal Apple logo on the top, which aligns well with the minimalist and cool style of the Mac series products. The metal surface of the Mac mini has undergone a delicate sandblasting process, giving it a substantial quality feel both visually and to the touch.

Speaking of the metal surface of the body, it is worth mentioning that, like the latest MacBook Air, this year’s Mac mini is also made of 100% recycled aluminum. IT Home learned from Apple that this recycled aluminum comes not only from recycled aluminum materials from old Apple devices but also from leftover aluminum materials produced during the manufacturing of other devices. By using these two sources, Apple can avoid mining new aluminum, thus achieving a 45% reduction in carbon emissions, which is a new achievement for Apple in environmental protection. However, if recycled aluminum is used, many netizens may be curious about how Apple maintains the quality of recycled aluminum to be the same as new aluminum materials. IT Home learned that Apple has established a team of metal materials experts to solve the technical challenges of using recycled aluminum for new devices. The challenges mainly involve maintaining the appearance and uniformity of color when using recycled aluminum for new products, as well as sorting and purifying waste aluminum. By solving these issues, Apple can ensure that the recycled aluminum used in the Mac mini meets the quality requirements of new products.

The bottom of the Mac mini has a round plastic cover with a matte feel, and the surface is printed with the “Mac mini” logo. This bottom cover is removable, allowing users to add memory themselves or for DIY enthusiasts to perform more in-depth modifications, although I won’t be opening it up just yet.

As a mini computer without a monitor and mouse, the Mac mini has a wealth of ports. On the back of the unit, from left to right, there are various ports: power button, power port, Ethernet port (optional 10Gb Ethernet port), four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports (with speeds up to 40 Gbps), HDMI port, and two USB 3 ports (with speeds up to 5 Gbps), along with a 3.5mm headphone port. Below the numerous ports is a long ventilation opening, which is much larger than that of the previous generation.

Overall, this year’s Mac mini maintains a high level of craftsmanship and quality in terms of appearance. The minimalist design language is integrated into the compact body, making it visually appealing whether placed at home or on an office desk, enhancing the modern and fashionable feel of the environment.

In actual use, connecting the Mac mini is straightforward. Since it is just a host, you need at least a monitor and a keyboard/mouse set. After connecting the power, link it to the monitor via an HDMI cable, and then connect the keyboard and mouse. Once everything is set up, press the power button to start.

After some initial setup in macOS, I arrived at the macOS desktop. For this Mac mini, I was more concerned about its specific performance level. So I first used GeekBench to run some benchmarks.

From the results, the 2018 Mac mini uses an Intel Core i3-8100B CPU, with a single-core score of 4718 and a multi-core score of 14168. In comparison, the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro’s Intel Core i7-8559U processor has a single-core score of 5321 and a multi-core score of 18908. From the benchmark scores, the performance of the i3 processor in the 2018 Mac mini is satisfactory.

Next, we tested the read and write performance of the hard drive. The Mac mini I have uses a 128GB PCIe SSD. I used Blackmagic Disk Speed Test to conduct the test. The average write speed of the Mac mini’s hard drive was measured at 644.0 MB/s, and the average read speed was 2530.6 MB/s. According to user tests, the 256GB SSD version of the 2014 Mac mini had an average read speed of 718 MB/s and a write speed of 654 MB/s, showing that the new Mac mini’s hard drive read and write performance is significantly higher than that of the 2014 model.

Of course, benchmark scores are just one part of performance testing; the more important aspect is actual user experience. Among Mac mini users, a significant portion are video editors, and video rendering capability is a key concern for those planning to purchase a Mac mini. In testing, I used the video editing software Final Cut Pro to edit and render four 4K /25P ProRes RAW video streams, outputting a 4K resolution MPG4 format video lasting 21 seconds. The rendering time was approximately 3 minutes, during which the Mac mini felt noticeably warm but not hot to the touch, with the highest measured temperature reaching 38.8℃ near the Apple logo on the top. At this time, the Mac mini was very quiet, with no fan noise from the ventilation.

Next, I continued to test the hard drive read/write and GPU rendering performance of the Mac mini. I opened a 3.9GB .tif file in Photoshop and observed the opening time, then applied a Gaussian blur with a radius of 30 pixels and observed the processing time.

The test results showed that it took 50 seconds to open the 3.9GB .tif file in Photoshop on the Mac mini. In comparison, the 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro took about 38 seconds.

Applying a 30-pixel radius Gaussian blur took about 32 seconds on the Mac mini, while the 13-inch MacBook Pro took 13 seconds for the same process.

Notably, during these tasks, the Mac mini remained very quiet, with no fan noise, and the surface temperature was not hot to the touch.

Overall, the performance of the 2018 Mac mini exceeded my expectations. Whether in objective benchmark scores or in high-intensity real-world usage scenarios, it was able to handle everything stably. Of course, it still falls short compared to the MacBook Pro series, as the distinction between product lines is clear. It is worth noting that the Mac mini I have is the lowest configuration option this year, the entry-level version, which is sufficient for daily work and light video editing/rendering needs. If you are a more professional user, you can consider a higher configuration version.

At the beginning of the article, I mentioned that the Mac mini is positioned as an entry-level product for the macOS ecosystem, with usage scenarios primarily in homes or offices for everyday tasks. Of course, Apple also states that users can stack multiple Mac minis to form a cluster to collaboratively handle some ultra-high-intensity tasks, which would greatly increase performance. However, this use case is more specialized, so I won’t elaborate on it here.

The 2018 Mac mini can connect two displays with a resolution of 4096 x 2304 (60Hz) through Thunderbolt 3 ports, and simultaneously connect one display with a resolution of 4096 x 2160 (60Hz) through the HDMI 2.0 port, allowing for a total of three 4K displays.

Additionally, you can choose to connect one display with a resolution of 5120 x 2880 (60Hz) through a Thunderbolt 3 port while connecting another display with a resolution of 4096 x 2160 (60Hz) through the HDMI 2.0 port.

In actual testing, I connected a Philips monitor with a resolution of 2560*1440, which was no challenge for the Mac mini.

The 2018 Mac mini comes pre-installed with macOS Mojave 10.14. Given the inherent smoothness of the macOS system, the experience with the Mac mini was very friendly. Daily office work and entertainment felt completely fluid, and the Mac mini itself was stable and quiet. During the time I used it as my primary work device, I hardly heard any fan noise.

However, one point needs to be clarified: the Mac mini does not have a built-in microphone, so you cannot directly interact with Siri via voice. If you want to use Siri, you will need to connect an external microphone.

In one test, I opened a total of 35 web tabs across three browsers, including Safari, opened Final Cut Pro with four ProRes RAW 4K video segments, opened a 3.9GB .tif file in Photoshop, launched Apple Music to listen to music online, opened QQ, opened the built-in Numbers spreadsheet application in macOS, and opened 15 Word documents in WPS, while inputting text in one of them. During this simulation, which was heavier than my usual workload, the overall experience remained smooth. I could feel a slight stutter when switching between applications, but it did not affect the experience, and the Mac mini remained quiet as ever. It is clear that even this entry-level 2018 Mac mini can handle most daily work scenarios.

Additionally, the 2018 Mac mini only offers the option for memory upgrades, so if you have high memory demands, you can purchase a memory module and install it yourself. To replace the memory, you need to remove the plastic bottom cover of the Mac mini with a pry tool and then use a TR6 Torx security screwdriver to remove the internal metal cover. I won’t show the disassembly process here, but it is important to note that self-replacing memory carries risks, so it is advisable to go to an Apple authorized service provider for memory upgrades.

If you are a video editing professional, you may also need to equip a USB-C adapter, as this year’s Mac mini has removed the SDXC card slot, so you will need an adapter to import video materials from your camera into the Mac mini. IT Home inquired with Apple regarding this issue, and Apple stated that they considered it but ultimately believed that providing users with more flexible options and better performance was more important, hence the provision of four powerful Thunderbolt 3 ports (supporting USB-C).

The Mac mini in my hands is the entry-level version, starting at 6499 yuan. It can be said that if you want to experience the latest devices, this price is currently the lowest entry point into the macOS ecosystem. Compared to the 2014 Mac mini, which started at 3588 yuan, it is indeed more expensive, but at the same time, the new Mac mini has undergone a comprehensive performance upgrade. Therefore, if you are purchasing this year’s Mac mini just to meet daily work and commuting needs, it can fully meet your requirements. Just one point: the 128GB storage space requires you to regularly clean up the hard drive.

From Apple’s perspective, the importance of the Mac mini product line cannot be overlooked. Although Apple does not frequently update it, this actually highlights the long replacement cycle of home desktop computers. The Mac mini provides a low-threshold upgrade channel for consumers who want to try macOS, playing an important role in the further market penetration of macOS. Therefore, I am not worried that Apple will cut it off one day.

Overall, this year’s Mac mini upgrade shows sincerity. Regarding the price increase, it should be viewed in conjunction with the upgrades in overall performance experience. Additionally, with the trend of price increases across Apple’s product line, the Mac mini is no exception. If you want to try the Mac ecosystem, starting with the Mac mini is a good idea. If you are a software developer or a content creator in video, music, or other fields who frequently switches between various work scenarios, the Mac mini will be one of your excellent choices.

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