Apple just unveiled a huge update to its smallest desktop computer: The Mac Mini just got a new Apple-made processor and a new price tag.
Starting at USD 699, the new Mac Mini is USD 100 less expensive than the previous model.
Apple says the new version of the Mac Mini will be more powerful than ever before with the new M1 chip. “It makes these Macs extraordinarily faster,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a live-streamed announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
Apple says the new Mac Mini is three times faster than the prior model.
It’s capable of “dramatically accelerating demanding workloads, from compiling a million lines of code to building enormous multitrack music projects,” Apple says. The new M1 chip at the heart of the new Mac Mini combines computational processing with graphics processing and memory, and is the first in-house silicon made by Apple.
According to Apple, beyond speed increases, the M1 is said to decrease how hot the Mac Mini gets when processing complex tasks like music production.
Apple’s new Mac Mini is available now starting at Apple’s online storefront, and orders are said to begin shipping next week.
Apple on Tuesday also announced its new MacBook lineup, which will also be powered by the M1 chip. The new MacBook Air begins at USD 999 and is said to run silently because it doesn’t have a fan. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at USD 1,299 and has the longest battery life of any Mac.