Apple Gives Mac Mini More Storage Without Price Change
It appears Apple is keeping itself busy updating some of its products, among them the iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and now its diminutive desktop computer, the Mac Mini. It's a modest storage expansion -- from 128GB to 256GB -- but that's a big enough deal considering the absence of a price bump.
The updated Mac Mini keeps its $799 starting price and the next model costs $1,099, which now has a 512GB SSD. Before the update, the 256GB variant sold for $2,000.
Apart from the storage update, the Mac Mini's features and specs remain the same. It still has eighth-gen Intel processors (six- and quad-core options available) with integrated graphics, up to 64GB of 2,666MHz DDR4 memory, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, HDMI 2.0, 10GB Ethernet, and SSD storage options up to 2TB.
While these specs aren't exactly the best of the best, things were quite different two years ago. Back then, these specs were enough to deliver amazing performance.
Just to compare, you can get an XPS desktop that comes with a ninth-gen six-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1TB SATA HDD plus more ports, connections, and expansion slots for $750. Although if you already own a Mac Mini and want to expand its storage, you can always buy an affordable USB-C drive to add an extra terabyte for around $60 or so.
Meanwhile, Apple's updated MacBook Air, its least expensive laptop, was announced Wednesday, which is now available for $999, its original pre-2019 starting price. The tech giant has finally decided to give it the Magic Keyboard, first introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, 10th-gen Intel processors, a new Force Touch trackpad, and 256GB of storage for the entry-level configuration.
While the addition of the Magic Keyboard is definitely good news, what's disappointing is that the MacBook Air still has the same 720p webcam. A lot of us, whether to our liking or not, are pretty much stuck at home and could use a really good webcam. So having a 720p webcam is pretty low-res especially now that 4K video is the trend.
That being said, the updated MacBook Air's features and specs are still a thumbs up. It's got a better starting price, an updated trackpad, more storage on the baseline model, and a better keyboard.
The new MacBook Air and the updated Mac Mini is now available for preorder and will start shipping next week. Announcements on retail availability will be given once available.