Today at the Apple Special Event from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York on October 30, 2018, Apple announced a new Mac mini with a more pro feature set, as predicted by us in a recent article.

The new 2018 MacBook mini, described by Apple as the biggest update ever. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing explains…

“Mac mini is loved by customers for its ability to be used in incredibly diverse environments — from casual desktop use, to live professional performances, to multiple Mac mini computers powering through video renderings and compiling software code, to racks of thousands in giant app build farms — anywhere a small-but-mighty Mac is needed to get the job done. Mac mini customers are going to flip over the new Mac mini. It has more than five times the performance, up to 6-core desktop-class processors, an Apple T2 Security Chip, faster memory up to 64GB, high-performance all-flash storage, and is packed with advanced ports including four Thunderbolt 3, two USB-A, HDMI video, audio and Ethernet up to 10Gbps. All of this power is packed into the same size enclosure as before, perfect for customers updating or creating all-new installations where Mac mini is the ideal solution.”

Features at a glance

• 4 cores and 6 cores processors, high powered 8th generation CPUs, not mobile processors, which Apple claims can be up to 5 times faster than previous Mac mini.

• Up to 64gb of RAM memory - 2666 MHz SO-Dimms

• All flash storage with capacities of up to 2TB

• Includes Apple T2 chip for security

• New thermal system for improved airflow

• 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports

• 2 x USB A ports

• Ethernet

• HDMI

• Same size as previous Mac Mini

• Now in Space Gray

• Case made with recycled aluminium and 60% of the plastics are recycled.

Apple T2 Security Chip Comes to Mac Mini 

The Apple T2 Security Chip features an SSD controller with on-the-fly data encryption so everything stored on the SSD is automatically and fully encrypted. The Secure Enclave in T2 has been designed to ensure that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with.

Video Transcoding Up To 30 Times Faster

The Apple T2 chip also features HEVC video transcoding that’s up to 30 times faster, enabling pro users to work more quickly with higher resolution video throughout their workflow based on testing conducted by Apple in October 2018 using pre-production 3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7-based Mac mini systems with 64GB of RAM and 2TB SSD, and shipping 3.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7-based Mac mini systems with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of Mac Mini.

Mac Mini 2018 Base Specification

• 8Gb memory

• 3.6GHz quad-Core i3

• 128GB SSD

• $799

• Can be ordered today and available on November 7th

The base model will include a quad-core Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage.

You can configure the new Mac mini 2018 to have up to 64GB of RAM, 4.2GHz six-core i7 processor, 2TB SSD, and 10Gb Ethernet port.

Pricing Examples For A Powerful Mac Mini 2018

• 3.0GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz)

  • 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 (Crucial 3rd party) @$439.99/£266

  • Intel UHD Graphics 630

  • 512TB SSD storage

  • Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)

  • £1,545 including UK VAT

  • $1739 US Dollars

    
    

• 3.2GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz)

  • 32GB 2666MHz DDR4

  • Intel UHD Graphics 630

  • 1TB SSD storage

  • Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)

  • £2,329 including UK VAT

  • $2,499 US Dollars

Option Pricing

Based on the base i5 machine here are the option price breakdowns…

• Processor

  • 3.0GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz) - Included

  • 3.2GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz) - add $200.00

• Memory

  • 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 - Included

  • 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 - add $200.00

  • 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 - add $600.00

  • 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 - add $1,400.00

• Storage

  • 256GB SSD storage - Included

  • 512GB SSD storage - add $200.00

  • 1TB SSD storage - add $600.00

  • 2TB SSD storage - add $1,400.00

• Ethernet

  • Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet using RJ-45 connector) - Included

  • 10 Gigabit Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb, and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ‑45 connector) - add $100.00