Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Is Apple’s Mac Mini M2 any good? Here’s what reviews say

By

Apple’s Mac Mini M2 looks like a welcome upgrade to the aging M1 model, but is it any good? After Apple’s disappointing debut of the M2 chip, this update to the Mac Mini seemed doomed for failure. But reviews say otherwise.

TechCrunch’s Matt Burns wrote the Mac Mini has “never looked better than it does now with the M2 and M2 Pro,” specifically pointing to the value the machine introduces to Apple’s lineup. The desktop starts at just $600 for the base model, which is a $100 price cut compared to the M1 model.

A Mac Mini M2 being used for video editing.
Apple

Pointing out the value is great, but the Mac Mini M2 reviews published today focus on the more expensive M2 Pro model, which starts at a cool $1,300. That price paints Apple’s new mini PC in a much different light. As Burns points out: “The differences between the M2 and M2 Pro are minor but consequential.”

Recommended Videos

MacWorld’s Jason Cross focused more on the M2 Pro model, boldly declaring that “the price isn’t right” at the top of his review. Although the lower-tier M2 model starts at a reasonable $600, the M2 Pro model represents a $200 price hike for the Intel-based Mac Mini it’s replacing. The latest model shows a significant increase in performance through reviews, but the previous generation is several years out of date. As Cross writes, “…that system was so old that we don’t even use the same tools to benchmark it anymore.”

Performance is a big advantage, though. Cross showed the M2 Pro model reaching nearly 15,000 in Cinebench R23’s multi-core benchmark, outpacing the M1 Max Mac Studio by close to 20%. That supercharged desktop starts at $2,000, as well, making the price of the M2 Pro model look far more reasonable.

Writing for ArsTechnica, Andrew Cunningham broke out of the Apple shell and compared the M2 Pro to modern desktop CPUs, and Apple doesn’t fare as well. The Intel Core i5-13600K shows around 21% faster single-core performance and 22% faster multi-core performance. Remove the power limit of Intel’s chip, and it scores a lead of nearly 65% in the multi-core test. Yikes.

That’s not the point of Apple’s desktop according to Cunningham. The review reads: “But where AMD and Intel opt to maximize performance, Apple prioritizes power efficiency … The M2 Pro might encode our test video a bit slower than either of those x86 processors, but it also uses around half as much energy to finish the job.”

The Mac Mini M2 sitting on a desk.
Apple / Apple

Outside of performance, Brian Westover from PCMag praised the Mac Mini M2 for its connectivity. For ports, the big upgrade is the two additional Thunderbolt 4 connections, bringing the total to four on the M2 Pro model. The base M2 model only comes with two. Westover says that the wireless connectivity stands out more, with the Mac Mini M2 sporting Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

The Mac Mini M2 Pro is a welcome upgrade, with performance often outpacing the M1 Max Mac Studio at a lower price. It also brings some necessary upgrades to connectivity that the Mac Mini has lacked for several years. But a critical question remains.

The first batch of reviews has focused solely on the M2 Pro model. The value-focused M2 is still a big question mark, and we’ll have to wait to see how it performs when the machine launches on January 24. As we saw with the MacBook Air M2, that chip doesn’t look nearly as impressive, and it comes with some limitations that could have a huge impact on performance.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
I’m a laptop reviewer. Here’s why I still use a laptop from 2021
Apple MacBook Pro 14 front view showing display and keyboard deck.

I'm pretty much always using a new laptop as my daily driver -- whichever one that I'm testing for review. And in 2023 alone, I've reviewed almost 40 machines, ranging from near-budget machines with solid performance and impressive features all the way up to innovative devices like the HP Spectre Foldable PC.

But occasionally, there's a lull in new releases, which gives me a chance to do a gut check. Which laptop do I return to as my primary work machine? To my own surprise, it's none of the flashy new releases from 2023. It's a laptop from way back in 2021 that remains my favorite. Not coincidentally, it's the only laptop I've purchased myself in years. That laptop is the first-gen Apple MacBook Pro 14, and it's held up so well against the competition that I still haven't felt compelled to replace it. Here's why.
The display continues to blow me away

Read more
These are the best games to play on your new M3 Mac
Lies of P being played on an iMac.

It’s an exciting time to be a Mac gamer. The latest MacBooks are genuine gaming machines thanks to the addition of ray tracing, mesh shading, and some impressive GPU performance. Even more, Apple is courting more developers to port their games to Apple’s computers with features like Game Mode and the Game Porting Toolkit.

In short, Mac gaming has never been in a better place. If you’ve bought a new Mac loaded with a chip from the M3 family, you might want to test out its power with a few demanding games to see what it can do. There’s no need to stick to mild indie games that won’t cause your Mac to break a sweat -- we’re talking AAA titles that will run natively on Apple hardware. And, of course, you can always use an app like CrossOver to run any Windows games you can imagine. But here are the best games that run natively on an M3 Mac to try out, ranging from incredibly deep fantasy RPGs to exhilarating battle royales.
Baldur's Gate 3

Read more
Here’s why people are raising concerns about the M3 Pro MacBook Pro
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Max chip seen from behind.

I published my review of the M3 Max MacBook Pro earlier this week, and suffice it to say, I was pretty impressed. I'm fond of the Space Black color, and the GPU performance in particular blew me away.

But one configuration of the new MacBook Pro went a bit more under the radar -- the M3 Pro model. Apple wasn't keen on sending this exact unit out to reviewers, instead leading with its much stronger foot, the M3 Max. And while the M3 Max and Pro were a bit closer in performance in the M2 generation, this time around, it seems as if there's more of a disparity.

Read more