A new Mac mini could come as soon as next week, here’s what we know

Apple will hold its first event on March 8. Called “Peek Performance,” the company will likely unveil a third-generation iPhone SE, a new iPad Air with Center Stage support, and some new Macs. One of them could be a more powerful Mac mini. Read on as we round up everything we know about this upcoming product.

Design

Almost a year ago, YouTuber Jon Prosser claimed that the upcoming more powerful Mac mini would introduce a new generation of industrial design for Apple’s standalone Mac. Expected to replace the higher-end space gray Intel Mac mini in the lineup, this product would feature a new external chassis with a “plexiglass-like” reflective surface on the top.

Although the M1 Mac mini features fewer ports due to the limitations with the first-generation Apple Silicon design, this new product would offer a full lineup of ports including four USB4/ Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A, Ethernet, and HDMI out.

In addition, this powerful Mac mini would have the same style of magnetic power connector that Apple debuted in the M1 iMac. Prosser speculates that the glass-like top finish may mean that Apple launches a range of two-tone color options for the Mac mini, akin to the colorful iMac lineup.

Processor and storage

In May of 2021, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said the new Mac mini would feature a “next-generation Apple Silicon chip with 8 high-performance cores and 2 efficiency core.” Not only that, but it would also support up to 64GB of RAM.

In this case, the next-generation Apple Silicon chip could be the already announced M1 Pro and M1 Max processors or the upcoming M2 chip.

An exclusive report by 9to5Mac‘s Filipe Espósito shows Apple is readying a so-called Mac Studio computer. This product could be the more powerful Mac mini people are expecting for almost a year now.

Based on information seen by 9to5Mac, Apple is developing two different versions of this computer. One features the M1 Max chip and the other is a variant of the Apple Silicon chip that is even more powerful than the current M1 Max.

As of now, it’s likely that Apple could launch this more powerful Mac mini first as it just announced the M1 Max chip, and its next higher-end version is expected to be unveiled in about a year from now. Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman believes the company could use the M1 Pro chip on this new Mac mini.

When will this more powerful Mac mini be announced?

Apple will hold a special event on March 8 to announce new Macs. This could be the perfect moment for the company to introduce a more powerful Mac mini with the M1 Max chip and finally replace the higher-end Intel version.

If this turns out to be untrue, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman says that Apple is also “gearing up for another round of Mac releases around May or June.”

“Apple will want to drum up developer support for the super-powered Mac Pro chips, so I’d guess that the company wants to debut that machine as early as the WWDC event in June and ship it in the fall. A revamped MacBook Air would be a nice holiday seller, so it makes sense to release it around that time of year—even if Apple had originally planned to get it out the door at the end of 2021 or in early 2022.”

For this year, the company could launch as many as eight new Macs.

How much will this Mac mini cost?

The higher-end Intel Mac mini starts at $1,099. Whether Apple brings a new design with more powerful processor options, RAM, and storage, this could also be a sweet spot for the company to start selling this more powerful Mac mini.

Apple could also drop by a little the price of the current M1 Mac mini, which starts at $699 with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and Gigabit Ethernet compatibility.

Wrap up

Multiple signs indicate Apple could introduce a new Mac mini at next week’s “Peek Performance” event. Whether it will be the so-called Mac Studio, just a small upgrade with the M1 Pro/M1 Max chips, or a complete redesign, 9to5Mac will make sure to bring the full coverage of the keynote with all the details as soon as they’re announced.