Apple’s yearly product announcements aren’t complete without the introduction of Macbooks. This year has been a big one for several other reasons. It’s because of one of those moves that takes places once every decade or two. The Macs of the past were based on Intel hardware, but it wasn’t always like that. Apple Macs used to run Motorola hardware at one point in time. Apple took the world by surprise when they moved to Intel processors back in 2005. The announcement of their new hardware on Macbooks sets the stage for another grand migration, from Intel’s processors to Apple’s own ARM-based processors. It means several things, for users, for Apple hardware and software.
ARM processors traditionally have been seen on smartphones and tablets, including the iPhones and iPads. The newly announced MacBooks are the next in line to receive them, along with the new Mac mini. The Mac mini is one of those low-key products in Apple’s assortment. It’s a PC, but without a monitor and any accessories. It’s for people who want a Mac, a mainstream desktop and a lot of niche enthusiasts also opt for it. It offers users the user to choose the peripherals. It’s also nicely built, compact, quiet and composed. Some people run servers on their Mac minis, some people use it as their portable PC. It’s really a great product. The Apple Mac mini has been around since 2005, and it wasn’t updated from 2014 right until the last refresh in 2018. The 2020 model is now even more interesting, considering it now runs ARM hardware, specifically Apple’s new M1 processor that’s now arriving on the new Macbooks as well. The new devices aren’t some dreamy concept, they are actual products you can buy starting over the next few days in certain markets.
Apple has made several claims around its M1 processor and they are exciting. They mean as much to the Mac mini as they do to the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro 13-inch. Apple is so confident it says you can use the Mac mini for home use, for offices, for music creation, gaming or even as a base setup for public digital signages.
The M1 processor is a combination of several components that would otherwise be isolated. The M1 is an 8-core processor, based on a 5 nm fabrication process. The M1 even has the RAM built into the processor. Models can include 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, so choose wisely because there isn’t going to be any upgrading it later. It’s also one of the reasons behind Apple is claiming it to be 3 times faster than the previous generation Mac mini. Storage options span as high as 2 TB solid-state drives. That’s ample space to install all your favorite software and a lot of projects. If you want even more high-performance storage, there are Thunderbolt ports that can let you connect premium performance external drives too. The M1 is also responsible for keeping security intact onboard the Mac mini.
There is also an 8-core graphics processor built into the M1. This gives the Mac mini its graphics capability. Apple claims it’s about 6 times faster in software such as Final Cut Pro and the benefits can be seen in games as well. There is also a 16-core Neural Engine like we’ve seen on recent Apple hardware. It’s good at running AI-related activities. It’s complete in every sense. Apple claims all of this enables 3.9x faster video and 7.1x faster image processing, which are massive claims. We can’t wait to see these devices in action.
Design-wise, not a lot has changed, the Mac mini resembles the outgoing models. It is still compact, and it’s powered by a simple two-pin plug. There are two USB-A ports at the rear so you can connect storage devices and peripherals to it. The HDMI 2.0 port connects to displays, and there are also two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports that can be used for data transfer or for connecting external displays. You could in effect have a 6K display connected using it, and a second 4K display if you wish. The kind of productivity one can achieve using a device that’s as small as this, is incredible. Data transfer speeds on Thunderbolt can be as high as 40Gbps assuming you have storage devices that support those kinds of speeds. Gigabit Ethernet is part of the package so you can have stable, data transfers between devices. Wi-Fi 6 is the spec used too, so it’ll work just as well wirelessly. Apple claims theoretical wireless speeds of up to 1.2 Gbps.
The new Mac mini like the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro runs on the new macOS Big Sur update. The new changes mean Apple can bring magic to the experience. Take for example, the ability to wake up the Mac mini from complete sleep, instantly. macOS Big Sur uses something called Rosetta 2 that enables existing x86 based software to run just fine but the apps that are made for the M1’s ARM architecture will run at blazing fast speeds. Apple claims you can run iPad and iPhone apps on the Mac mini now. This is the beginning of seamless transition between mobile and desktop software. These are big changes. As time goes by, more and more native software is likely to be available on the Mac mini, and the Macbooks.
The new Apple Mac mini marks a new era of computing, and a bold move to a completely different architecture. There is a lot of work to be done and the transition period will be exciting since Apple enables you to run both, traditional x86 architecture software as well as ARM ones. If you’ve been holding back on getting yourself a new desktop, or a Mac mini, now maybe a good time to step into the future with Apple’s M1-powered setup. If you’re more a laptop user, Apple also announced their M1-powered Macbook Air and Macbook Pro. You can read all about them here.
