Apple updated its Mac Mini desktop for the first time in four years this morning, announcing a new model at its late October product announcement event in Brooklyn, New York. It starts at $799, $300 more than the starting model for the previous-generation Mac Mini. The 2018 edition is available to order today, and Apple says it will ship to customers next week.
The new model gets new four- and six-core, eighth-gen Intel processor processors, up to 64GB of RAM and a sleek new space gray finish. Apple has also added up to 2TB of solid state storage, Gigabit Ethernet, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, and two UBA-A inputs. You can also upgrade it to a 10 GB Ethernet port. It retains the HDMI input of previous models, too.
The previous generation Mac Mini debuted in 2014 with Intel’s Haswell Core-series processors, with a starting price of $499 that positioned it as low-cost alternative for those who might consider switching to a Mac from Windows. The new $799 starting price will net you a 3.6GHz CPU, 8GB of memory and a 128GB SSD. That’s a decent configuration for basic computing, but in a new price tier that makes the Mac Mini less accessible, especially to those who don’t already own a separate monitor, mouse and keyboard.
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