our opinion on this excellent price/performance ratio

With the Mac mini M2, Apple goes against the rest of its innovation and price policy. The firm announces a much more powerful machine than the previous generation thanks to the choice between the M2 chip or the M2 Pro chip, while integrating a price drop.

The Mac mini M2 is trading at 699 euros, a floor price for a Mac at Apple. Enough to make it on paper an ideal machine for many uses. We had the chance to test both versions.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023Technical sheet

The Apple Mac mini M2 Pro was lent to us by the brand. The Mac mini M2 was purchased by the editorial staff.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023Our video review

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Apple Mac Mini M2 2023Compact and controlled design

It’s hard to be more compact than a Mac mini. The Apple machine occupies only a square of 19.7 cm x 19.7 cm for 3.58 cm in height and a weight of 1.18 kg (1.28 kg for the M2 Pro version). The aluminum object can therefore slide extremely easily on a desk, under the screen or even on the back of a monitor. The finishes are impeccable, as you would expect from Apple.

Apple always makes the curious choice to place the device’s power button on the back, at the connector level. For the rest, it is a machine with an appearance as simple as its use. Turnkey, without the possibility of repairing the product yourself, but that is not the objective here.

Connectors

The contemporary Apple no longer relies solely on all USB-C. The Mac mini illustrates this rather well since we will find at the back of the device two USB-A ports (up to 5 Gbit / s), an HDMI port, an Ethernet RJ45 port and a jack 3 port .5mm.

We are also entitled to two or four Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, depending on whether we take the M2 or M2 Pro version respectively.

Finally, there is also the fairly standard two-pin power socket in the sector.

Our only complaint is the lack of a port on the front that could make it easier to transfer data from a device like a thumb drive or external hard drive. However, since the device is compact and light, it is not very complicated to connect the device to the back.

No accessories provided

As for the Mac Studio and unlike its iMac, Apple does not provide any accessory with its Mac mini, except the power cable.

It will therefore be necessary to add an external monitor, a keyboard and a mouse of your choice to be able to use the machine.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023The loudspeaker to troubleshoot

The Mac mini M2 incorporates a small speaker. Let’s say it right away, it’s basically there to troubleshoot and send notification sounds rather than actually providing a good sound experience. If you want to watch movies or listen to music on this machine, the purchase of speakers will quickly be imposed on you.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023macOS and its ready-to-use applications

The Mac mini obviously runs under macOS, more precisely under macOS Ventura 13.3, the latest version at the time of writing this test.

We have written at length about macOS through our various Mac tests. The system has now largely integrated its transition to Apple Silicon chips (M1/M2).

Today, the system is fairly easy to learn and well integrated into Apple’s ecosystem. It still offers some somewhat dated elements and may seem heavy at first sight with the many applications pre-installed by Apple and highlighted. The good news is that no third-party apps are installed by default.

The philosophy is of course different from that of Windows. If you come from the Microsoft system, count a few weeks before finding your favorite shortcuts perfectly. It will also be necessary to take the part of adapting.

We recommend that you take a look at our must-have apps for Mac to get you started on the right foot.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023Performance for all

The Mac mini is offered in two different configurations: with an M2 chip or an M2 Pro chip. Note that this is the M2 Pro chip with a 10-core GPU, that is to say a faster version than that of the basic MacBook Air M2.

In both cases, the machine is actively ventilated to better dissipate heat. The chip is supported by 8 to 32 GB of unified memory and 256 GB to 8 TB of SSD storage.

The choice between M2 and M2 Pro also has an impact on the external display. In the former case, you’re limited to two displays, 6K 60Hz via the Thunderbolt 4 and 4K 60Hz via the HDMI port. In the second case, you are entitled to three screens: two screens at 6K 60 Hz via Thunderbolt and the third at 4K 60 Hz via HDMI.

Benchmarks

We already know the Apple M2 chip that we tested in the MacBook Air M2. We still wanted to perform some benchmarks on the Mac mini to note its behavior.

Unsurprisingly, on Cinebench, the M2 chip illustrates well the low gain offered in single-core, but the greater gain on multi-core applications. It should also be noted that the M2 Pro chip is able to catch up with the performance of the previous generation M1 Max. In other words, the Mac mini is more powerful than the first model of Mac Studio. That’s a pretty impressive result in just one generation change.

Note that this level of performance is achieved in near absolute silence. The Mac mini incorporates an active ventilation system, but it rarely activates.

Regarding storage, Apple has chosen as on the MacBook Air M2 to save on performance on the most accessible version. Not only are you limited to 256 GB of storage, but Apple only integrates a single NAND flash memory chip, which limits speed.

In fact, there is no reason to panic: Apple’s 256 GB SSD is still efficient with 1.4 GB / s in sequential reading or writing. If you need this machine for heavy-duty tasks, look for versions of the Mac mini with more storage to boost performance. On these versions, the top speed rises to 6 GB/s in writing and 5 GB/s in reading.

Still, for most users, the basic SSD is good enough.

The machine for everyone

Beyond the benchmarks that can be run on this Mac, there is the user experience. The Mac mini M2 is very suitable for the most common uses of a PC. Whether office automation, web browsing, photo editing, programming or even video editing: the M2 chip is largely at the level to perform all these tasks with the greatest fluidity.

Only the video game will be an obstacle to use, and especially for a lack of availability of games on macOS rather than for a lack of power. If you use your PC to play, you will have to turn to an alternative like the cloud gaming to really enjoy it on this Mac.

Note all the same that playing remains possible, we were able to test games like Stardew Valley, Final Fantasy XIV Or Registration without problems. Apple’s system also makes it easy to manage gamepads. Still, the catalog is very limited, too today to really recommend the machine for this use.

Finally, if you have high-level professional use, requiring, for example, video editing on 8K files or 3D creation, the M2 Pro version of the machine should be preferred.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023Consumption is minimal

Chip developed for laptop requires, the M2 consumes very little energy. On its site, Apple indicates a maximum consumption of 150 to 185 W, respectively for the M2 or the M2 Pro.

In fact, we had a hard time getting the machine up very high. Even during benchmarks, the consumption rarely amounted to more than 50 W.

The purchase of a Mac mini should therefore result in significant energy savings compared to any Windows PC.

Apple Mac Mini M2 2023Price and availability

The Mac mini M2 is marketed by Apple from 699 euros. The M2 Pro version is sold from 1,549 euros.