Apple unveils more affordable Mac mini for $799 and orders are open now (PHOTOS)

Say goodbye to your bulky desktop computer tower forever.

On Monday, Apple announced a much-hyped, lower-priced iteration of its popular Mac mini. It’s essentially a mini desktop that connects to your keyboard, mouse and monitor, yet delivers up to a 50% performance boost and improved connectivity.

In short, it’s a smaller footprint for a desktop computer but comes with much bigger power and bang for your buck.

“With incredible capabilities and a wide array of connectivity in its compact design, Mac mini is used in so many places, in so many different ways. We’re excited to take it even further with M2 and M2 Pro,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a release.

“Bringing even more performance and a lower starting price, Mac mini with M2 is a tremendous value.”

Here’s everything to know about the new Mac mini supercharged by the M2 and all-new M2 Pro chips.

2023 availability and pricing

The new Mac mini models are available to order as of Monday, with availability beginning Tuesday, January 24.

Apple has dropped the price point on this newest iteration. Starting at $799 in Canada, the Mac mini is $100 cheaper than its predecessor.

Mac mini with M2 Pro starts at $1,699 and $1,569 for education.

The M2 and new M2 Pro chips

The new M2 Pro chip brings pro-level performance to Mac mini for the first time, which the tech giant heralds as revolutionary for a device with such a compact size.

As for what users should expect when it comes to performance, the newest version of the Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro promises a much higher memory bandwidth and a more powerful media engine.

That increase in performance is noticeable when streaming and editing 4k video for instance, which will surely make it best in class for users who rely on their desktops for editing 8K ProRes videos or photos with massive image sizes.

The unit offers up to 24GB of unified memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth, so image editing in Adobe Photoshop will be up to 50% faster than the previous generation.

Connectivity and ports 

The M2 model features two Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to two displays, while the M2 Pro model has four Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to three displays.

The M2 Pro model also has a Mac first, supporting one 8K display. Both models feature two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet port with a 10GB option, and an upgraded headphone jack to support noise-cancelling or gaming headphones.

How to order  

Ordering is now open on Apple’s website and in Apple Store locations. It will start arriving to customers, and in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, beginning January 24.

Additional technical specifications are available here.