FA Dev Tools

Mac mini Models

Every Mac mini from the 2005 PowerPC original to the M4 redesign — year, launch price, the size of the box, what goes inside it and which ports it has. Newest first.

The Mac you supply everything else for

The mini has always been sold as a bare computer — no display, no keyboard, no mouse. That has made it three different products over twenty years: the cheap way to switch from Windows, the machine people racked by the dozen as build servers, and now a desktop with workstation silicon in a 12.7 cm square.

11 of 11 models
ModelYear & priceSizeSpecsKey features
Mac mini (M4 / M4 Pro, 2024)
Apple silicon
Latest
2024
from $599
12.7 × 12.7 cm, 5 cm tall, 0.67 kg
Chip
Apple M4 or M4 Pro
Memory
16 – 64 GB unified
Storage
256 GB – 8 TB flash
Ports
3× Thunderbolt 4 (Thunderbolt 5 on M4 Pro), 2× front USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, front headphone
  • Shrunk to a 12.7 cm square — barely larger than an Apple TV, and half the footprint of the old one
  • Ports on the front for the first time: two USB-C and a headphone jack
  • Base memory doubled to 16 GB, and Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Pro
  • Apple's first carbon-neutral Mac
  • The power button moved to the underside, which was the one thing everybody complained about
Mac mini (M2 / M2 Pro, 2023)
Apple silicon
2023
from $599
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.18 kg
Chip
Apple M2 or M2 Pro
Memory
8 – 32 GB unified
Storage
256 GB – 8 TB flash
Ports
2× Thunderbolt 4 (4 on M2 Pro), 2× USB-A, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet
  • Price cut to $599, the cheapest Mac in years
  • An M2 Pro option gave the mini workstation-class performance for the first time
  • HDMI 2.1 for 8K, Wi-Fi 6E, and up to three displays on the M2 Pro
  • Replaced the Intel mini outright, ending the Intel Mac desktop line
Mac mini (M1, 2020)
Apple silicon
2020
from $699
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.2 kg
Chip
Apple M1
Memory
8 – 16 GB unified
Storage
256 GB – 2 TB flash
Ports
2× Thunderbolt / USB 4, 2× USB-A, HDMI 2.0, Ethernet
  • One of the first three Apple silicon Macs, with the M1 Air and 13-inch Pro
  • $100 cheaper than the Intel model and several times faster
  • Silver only, and down to two Thunderbolt ports from four
  • Ran nearly silent — the fan rarely spins up under normal work
Mac mini (2018)
Intel
2018
from $799
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.3 kg
Chip
Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7, 4- or 6-core (Coffee Lake)
Memory
8 – 64 GB, two user-accessible slots
Storage
128 GB – 2 TB flash
Ports
4× Thunderbolt 3, 2× USB-A, HDMI 2.0, Ethernet (10 Gb option)
  • Space grey, and the first mini aimed at professionals rather than switchers
  • Six-core CPUs, up to 64 GB of memory and all-flash storage
  • T2 security chip, and an optional 10 Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Memory upgradeable again, though not by the owner without dismantling it
Mac mini (Late 2014)
Intel
2014
from $499
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.19 kg
Chip
Intel Core i5 / i7 (Haswell), dual-core only
Memory
4 – 16 GB, soldered
Storage
500 GB – 1 TB hard drive, Fusion or SSD option
Ports
4× USB 3, 2× Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, SDXC, Ethernet
  • Cheaper, but slower than the 2012 model it replaced — the quad-core option was dropped
  • Memory soldered to the board, ending the mini's upgradeability
  • Then left untouched for four years, the longest gap in the line's history
Mac mini (Late 2012)
Intel
2012
from $599
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.22 kg
Chip
Intel Core i5 / i7 (Ivy Bridge), dual- or quad-core
Memory
4 – 16 GB, two user-accessible slots
Storage
500 GB – 1 TB hard drive, Fusion Drive option
Ports
4× USB 3, FireWire 800, Thunderbolt, HDMI, SDXC, Ethernet
  • A quad-core i7 in a $799 box — the enthusiasts' favourite mini for a decade
  • Memory upgradeable by anyone with a coin to twist the base off
  • USB 3, and Fusion Drive as an option
  • Widely used in racks as a build machine long after it was discontinued
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
Intel
2011
from $599
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.22 kg
Chip
Intel Core i5 / i7 (Sandy Bridge)
Memory
2 – 8 GB
Storage
500 GB – 750 GB hard drive, SSD option
Ports
4× USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Thunderbolt, HDMI, SDXC, Ethernet
  • Dropped the optical drive, which is where the extra performance fitted
  • Thunderbolt arrived, and a discrete AMD Radeon option on the mid model
  • Quad-core in the server configuration for the first time
Mac mini (Mid 2010)
Intel
2010
from $699
19.7 × 19.7 cm, 3.6 cm tall, 1.37 kg
Chip
Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4 – 2.66 GHz
Memory
2 – 8 GB
Storage
320 – 500 GB hard drive
Ports
4× USB 2.0, FireWire 800, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, SDXC, Ethernet
  • Unibody aluminium redesign — wider, flatter, and opened with a twist-off base
  • First Mac with HDMI, which made it the obvious machine under a television
  • Built-in power supply, so the external brick was gone
  • A Mac mini Server variant swapped the optical drive for a second hard disk
Mac mini (Early 2009)
Intel
2009
from $599
16.5 × 16.5 cm, 5.08 cm tall, 1.31 kg
Chip
Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.0 – 2.26 GHz
Memory
1 – 4 GB, two user-accessible slots
Storage
120 – 320 GB hard drive
Ports
5× USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Mini DisplayPort, DVI, Ethernet
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics — a large jump over the Intel integrated part
  • Two video outputs, so it could drive two displays at once
  • The last mini you opened with a putty knife; the 2010 model has a twist-off base
Mac mini (Early 2006)
Intel
2006
from $599
16.5 × 16.5 cm, 5.08 cm tall, 1.31 kg
Chip
Intel Core Solo or Core Duo
Memory
512 MB – 2 GB
Storage
60 – 120 GB hard drive
Ports
4× USB 2.0, FireWire 400, DVI, Ethernet, optical audio
  • The Intel transition reached the mini five weeks after the MacBook Pro
  • Four USB ports and optical audio in and out, aimed at the living room
  • Front Row and an Apple Remote made it a media machine
  • Integrated graphics shared system memory, which was a step down from the G4
Mac mini (G4, 2005)
PowerPC
2005
from $499
16.5 × 16.5 cm, 5.08 cm tall, 1.32 kg
Chip
PowerPC G4, 1.25 – 1.42 GHz
Memory
256 – 512 MB
Storage
40 – 80 GB hard drive
Ports
2× USB 2.0, FireWire 400, DVI, Ethernet, modem
  • The first Mac sold without a display, keyboard or mouse — "BYODKM"
  • Aimed squarely at Windows switchers who already owned a monitor
  • A slot-loading optical drive in a box smaller than most external ones
  • The cheapest Mac Apple had ever sold

Reading the table

Price is the US launch price of the cheapest configuration on the day, not adjusted for inflation and not what it sold for later.

The box has had three sizes: 16.5 cm square and 5 cm tall for the 2005–2009 models, 19.7 cm square and 3.6 cm tall for 2010–2023, and 12.7 cm square and 5 cm tall since the M4.

Upgradeable memory came and went. Two accessible slots through 2012, soldered from Late 2014, back on the board (though not owner-serviceable) in 2018, and unified into the chip from the M1 onwards — so the memory you buy is the memory it has.

Instructions

Every Mac mini in one table — year, launch price, the size of the box, chip, memory, storage, ports and what each model changed, newest first.

  1. Start with The Mac you supply everything else for if you want the shape of the line — clicking a card filters the table to that era of silicon.
  2. Type in the search box to match on chip (M2 Pro), year (2012), a port (FireWire), a price ($599) or any feature.
  3. The counter beside the buttons shows how many models matched. Rows run newest first, and the current model is tagged Latest wherever the filter leaves it.

Tips

  • The Ports row is the quickest way to place a model: FireWire means 2009 or earlier, HDMI means 2010 or later, and front ports mean the M4.
  • The Late 2012 model is the one second-hand buyers still ask for — the last with a quad-core option and memory you can replace with a coin and a screwdriver.
  • Configurations, not models: an entry covers every build Apple sold that year, so the memory and storage columns are ranges rather than one machine's specification.
  • Your search text and era filter are kept in local storage on this device only — nothing about this page is sent anywhere.
  • Hit Example and click the search box to run a sample lookup.