Apple’s new Mac Mini with M2 chip is faster, more capable, and somehow cheaper

Apple today unveiled its newest line of Mac computers, including the Mac Mini and MacBook Pros, all of which are now equipped with the company’s snappier M2 and M2 Pro chipsets. 

Hot off the press, the M2-equipped Mac Mini is said to offer up to 50 percent faster speeds in services like Adobe Photoshop compared to its two-year-old M1 predecessor, and up to 35 percent faster gameplay in titles like Resident Evil Village. Basically, you’re getting a more capable compact desktop PC this time around — and for a starting price of $599. 

More: Apple’s M2 MacBook Air is ZDNET’s Product of the Year

That’s right, the M2 Mac Mini, though clearly faster and more performant than its $699 predecessor, is being sold for $100 less right off the gate. Starting today you can preorder from the following configurations:

• Mac Mini with M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports for $599
• Mac Mini with M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports for $799
• Mac Mini with M2 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD, and four Thunderbolt 4 ports for $1,299

Should you be adventurous and opt for the fully specced-out Mac Mini, it’ll come with the M2 Pro chip with 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 8TB of SSD, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and set you back $4,099.

No matter which model you buy, the Mac Mini will come with two additional USB-A ports, an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet support, a headphone jack, and in Silver. There’s no Space Gray this time around. And thanks to the new M2 chip, the Macs can support up to two displays at a time, with the M2 Pro capable of extending to a full-on 8K monitor, a first for any Mac computer.

The new Mac Mini is available for preorder today, with open sales starting on Tuesday, January 24.