The Kashmir Monitor
Apart from unveiling new iPad Pro models, an all-new MacBook Air, Apple used its New York event on Tuesday to also launch an all-new Mac mini. As was the case with the case with the MacBook Air, the Mac mini hadn’t seen a design refresh in years — since 2014 to be precise. Apple says the all-new Mac mini offers five times the performance as previous generations, up to 6-core processors, apart from more memory capacity (up to 64GB of RAM in certain countries), and all-flash storage. Like the new MacBook Air, it comes with the Apple T2 Security Chip which provides on-the-fly data encryption, amongst other features.
Mac mini price in India
The all-new Mac mini starts at $799 (roughly Rs. 58,800), and is up for pre-orders today in the US. It will go on sale on November 7 – which is the same date the all-new MacBook Air. The Mac mini will be available in India the same day with a starting price of Rs. 75,900.
The Mac mini — like the new MacBook Air — is also the first in its series to be made out of 100 percent recycled aluminium that gives it a smaller carbon footprint — nearly 50 percent less than the previous generation. It also brings a brand new air flow cooling system.
Mac mini specifications
The 2018 Mac mini will be powered by a choice of quad-core or 6-core 8th-Generation Intel Core processors, with Turbo Boost clock speeds up to 4.6GHz. Users can choose up to 64GB of RAM, clocked up to 2666MHz, though in India only 8GB RAM options will be available. Buyers also have SSD storage options up to 2TB, though in India the only options available are 128GB/ 256GB.
As for the Apple T2 Security Chip, it features an SSD controller that provides on-the-fly data encryption, and HEVC video transcoding (30 times faster than previous generations), apart from a Secure Enclave that ensures the “software loaded in the boot process is not tampered with.”
Apple has put several I/O ports on the all-new Mac mini, with four Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C (v3.1) ports (twice as many as the previous generation), one HDMI 2.0 port, two USB Type-A (v3.0) ports, an audio jack, and Gigabit Ethernet, with a 10Gb Ethernet option in certain countries. With the ports, the Mac mini supports up to 4K and 5K Thunderbolt displays.
Let’s detail the two SKUs offered by Apple in India — both of which will come in Space Gray colour variant. The Rs. 75,900 base model sports a 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of 2666MHz RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The more expensive Mac mini model (which costs $1,099 in the US, India price unknown as of now) sports a 3.0GHz six-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz), 8GB of 2666MHz RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage.
All of the new Mac mini models come with Intel UHD Graphics 630, and support up to 3 displays. Wireless connectivity options include 802.11ac and Bluetooth v5.0. It weighs 1.3kg, and measures 197x197x36mm.
