“The Apple Mac mini (Late 2012) may look the same — it is, after all identical to the Mac mini (Thunderbolt) — but it has been updated with Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processor, faster USB 3.0 ports, and given a performance boost with Apple’s new Fusion drive,” Brian Westover writes for PC Magazine. “It’s everything we loved about the Apple Mac mini (Thunderbolt), just faster, making it an easy pick for Editors’ Choice.”
“Like the other members of the current Mac family, the Mac mini comes preinstalled with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8.2 on our review unit), along with programs from iLife 2011, like iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand,” Westover writes. “The programs themselves are top-rated, and Mountain Lion itself was picked as one of the best tech products of 2012. It also features all of the same gesture support seen in the MacBook Pro line-up, so you might consider getting an Apple Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad to take advantage of the intuitive controls.”
Advertisement: Apple’s new Mac mini from $594 + FREE Shipping at MacMall.
Westover writes, “The seamless 1.12TB Fusion Drive is superb, and the array of display outputs and connectivity options is far larger than most compact desktops can muster. Add in the beautiful design and industry-leading operating system, and the Mac mini is an easy pick for our Editors’ Choice.”
Much more in the full review here.
Related articles:
Computer Shopper reviews Apple’s new Mac mini: ‘Impressive, impressively compact, wrapped in Apple’s excellent OS’ – November 17, 2012
Apple’s new Mac mini offers an attractive bang for the buck – November 2, 2012
Love mine!
Come on… it does even have a smartcard reader on the front!
(do I have to put the 😉 ?)
What? Connect your device which has a smart card in it via USB3 or Thunderbolt cable to the back of the Mac Mini. OR upload Card contents to iCloud then back down to Mac Mini.
If not, then use the SDXC Card reader on the back of the Mac Mini instead.
To answer your question Spark, yes, apparently you do.
I am setting one up for a client, 2.6/16GB/Fusion Drive and let me assure you, it rocks. I even have it running Guild Wars 2 and it works as well if not better than my Early 2011 maxed MBP.
I plan to get one for myself in March and we even convinced a long-time PC sufferer that she needs one. She got rid of her BB last year for an iPhone.
Trust me, this Mac mini packs a punch!
Advertise the mac mini!
(Most PC users don’t even know it exists. I keep hearing they don’t want to change to mac because they think it’s just iMac and the don’t want to ‘ditch their monitors’ )
Advertise OSX is better than Windows!
Advertise the iMac!
Mac PC guy ads stopped in 2009, no replacement.
Win 8 is being realized as a turd.
Apple, expand your 5% world marketshare now, push your great mac products!
aapl to 1000!
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/11/21/mac-sales-to-us-businesses-grow-nearly-50
Try looking at some facts.
I read the article before your comment
so what’s that go to do with not advertising macs?
Perhaps they could have grown MORE if they advertised them?
they grew 50% in business from a small base , their marketshare sales is still under 10 and that’s with turd Win 8 which a lot of people hate.
yeah I KNOW apple is growing faster pc sales than the market.
BUT Mac sales growth (last financial report) was only 1% from year ago quarter.
Why shouldn’t they advertise?
.can you tell me…
What’s wrong with MAXING out sales?
what’s wrong with advertising mac minis?
whats wrong with advertising Mac OSX is better than Windows?
they use to run a lot of generic ads (Mac PC guy) when they were selling fewer so it’s not as if they have less money now
depending too much on one product line iOS (iPhone alone makes 50% of their profit) means that any bad news like maps or b.s like supply chain means that their stock tanks.
The stock started to fall from 700 because apple missed analysts estimates by ONLY 200 million or so. that STARTED the collapse (aided by further economic news and b.s) from 700 to 520 of the stock.
I’m thinking that if they advertise macs like they used to and made an extra 200 m (a small number) and the headlines were “apple HITs targets” instead of thousands of articles saying “Apple misses estimates” maybe the collapse wouldn’t have started?
Wow! How times change. I remember through most of the 1990’s that PC Mag. had pretty much one response to every single thing that Apple brought out – Yawn…
No matter, I preferred my Macs in the 80’s, in the 90’s, and all the way into the 2000’s, including the two Mac minis I just purchased. PC Magazine – Meh…
Mac mini is getting some well-deserved attention and love from the media, while Apple would rather sell customers an iMac… 🙂
I would like to see some middle ground between the Mac mini price point and Apple TV’s price.
If Apple could make a truly low-priced computer in the style of the Mac mini ( Mac nano or Apple TV plus and sold at $199 ), but designed for less demanding computing, it would be a hugely tempting proposition as a second computer, or for potential switchers, or for businesses.
An ARM processor running full blown OS X would be an ideal processor for this product. It would be optimised for web surfing, e-mail, iWork type applications, media consumption and games. One sensibly priced device, one specification, no options, no upgrades.
Much as I love the Mac mini, it’s still priced significantly higher than many entire computers with screens and keyboards. A high quality, but relatively low spec alternative would be hugely attractive to a wide range of customers and would widen that Apple halo.
Apple’s response to people asking for a lower-priced computer (and its answer to the “experts” asking a Mac “netbook”) is already here. It’s called an iPad.
And it’s steadily killing the low-end Windows PC, just as Apple intended. Watch what happens now, with an $329 iPad in the mix (with Windows 8/RT on hand to confuse and alienate).
It’s only a matter of time until the mac mini is the size of an iPhone. By then the merge is complete.
I use my older mini as a hub on my tv with out the dvd player I would have to buy a separate dvd machine if I upgrade.
I suggest you never upgrade then. A stand alone DVD player could set you back $10-$25.