Apple Changes Mind in Redesigning Mac Mini, Shares Plans for Future Releases

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 04 May 2022, 03:05 pm

Apple has reportedly abandoned its plans to redesign the Mac Mini despite the circulating rumors that the next-generation version of the machine will feature the same design as the current model.

Apple Abandons Redesigning Plans

According to the claim from Apple's analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next-generation Mac Mini is likely to retain the same form factor as the current model.

This means that Apple will keep the aluminum unibody design that it has been using for every new Mac Mini since 2010.

However, Kuo's claim is different from Jon Prosser, a known Apple leaker. In 2021, he said that the tech giant was working on a complete redesign for the small desktop computer, moving to a smaller chassis with a top that is made of plexiglass.

The tech giant has been believed to be working on a new Mac Mini for some time now. It updated the entry-level Mac Mini with the M1 chip in November 2020, but the high-end offering is still the Space Gray model with an Intel processor that was launched in 2018, according to MacRumors.

Also Read: Apple to Release M2 Chips on 4 New Macs including MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac mini

The potential of replacing the older high-end model with an Apple silicon machine was previously at the center of rumors connected to the new Mac Minis, but now it seems like both the entry-level and the high-end mode may be refreshed at the same time.

A recent report from 9to5Mac claimed that Apple had plans to introduce the high-end versions of the Mac Mini with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, but these plans were probably scrapped in favor of the all-new Mac Studio.

Now, the tech giant is believed to be working on two versions of the Mac Mini, one with the standard M2 chip and a second higher-end model with the M2 Pro chip.

M2 Chip Specifications

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the M2 chip will feature the same eight-core CPU as the M1, but it will benefit from the speed and efficiency improvements, together with a new nine or ten core GPU, up from seven or eight cores in the M1.

Following the M1 Pro, it is possible that the M2 Pro will offer the same 10-core CPU, but the feature improved efficiency and more GPU cores compared to the current 14- and 16-core options, just like the M2.

Testing on the M2 chip is already underway, as shown by the references to the chip in the latest beta of macOS Monterey.

At the Peek Performance event in March, Apple senior vice president of Hardware Engineering John Ternus said that the silicon transition of the Apple products has just one more product to go, and that is Mac Pro.

Ternus also hinted that a new high-end Mac Mini is off the cards for 2022. In line with rumors about the cancelation of the 2022 Mac Mini refresh, Kuo has also said that the new Mac Mini will not be available until 2023.

Kuo revealed his predictions for Apple's Mac lineup in 2022 and 2023. He claimed that the tech giant plans to release a new high-end Mac Mini and a 27-inch external display without mini-LED in 2022, while an Apple silicon Mac Pro and iMac Pro will not be available until 2023.