Though, naturally, stranger things have happened. The ability to plug in wired headphones is just too important for those creative audio pros who rely on Apple desktops and laptops to go away soon. Fingers crossed that sticks around for good. HDMI 2.0 is present here, as well, along with a headphone jack - that once-ubiquitous port, which is hanging on for dear life on the Mac line. Of course, you can also go the wireless route or invest in the inevitable adapter. Admittedly, I utilized both immediately to hardwire a keyboard and trackpad - pretty important, so far as most desktop computing is concerned. There are two full USB 3 ports here, which is good news as far as backward compatibility with older accessories. Along with the built-in components, which bring benchmark performance levels up to somewhere around that of the last (and admittedly also overdue for an overhaul) Mac Pro, the company’s also added more user upgradability - never a given for an Apple product.Īlso notable here are the crazy number of ports available on the rear of the device. The price jump, naturally, comes with a notable spec increase, one that puts the diminutive desktop in line with a desktop ecosystem that finds Apple catering once again to its core competency of creative pros. With a $300 price bump, the latest version still represents the lowest cost path into the world of desktop Macs, but arguably removes “entry” from the equation. The $499 price tag on the 2014 model certainly highlighted this fact. The Mini has long been Apple’s entry-level desktop. In fact, the whole of the company’s desktop line has clearly gotten a rethink over the course of the last year, including the addition of the iMac Pro, and the still MIA Mac Pro. Granted, Apple continued to stock the Mini, but in the rapidly evolving world of computer components, a four-year system might as well be an artifact from some long-forgotten ancient civilization.Īmong other things, that gap gives us a good occasion to reconsider the Mac Mini’s place in the Apple ecosystem and the computing world at large.
The phrase in science is “Lazarus taxon,” the return of a grouping that had seemingly been lost to history. In the four years since its last meaningful update, the Mini had been encased in amber, seemingly a relic of Apple’s past. Like the MacBook Air, the plucky little desktop had been ostensibly abandoned. Most likely, however, it had at least a little to do with the return of an Apple line that had seemingly been forgotten.
Maybe it was the over the top space advert or the fact that the company had packed the seats of the Brooklyn opera house full of local employees. At last month’s Apple event, the Mac Mini was greeted like a returning hero.
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