With the new Mac mini M2, Apple is probably giving the competition a big headache. Because the chic aluminum dwarf offers a lot of performance for comparatively little money and makes other mini PCs look pretty old.
For many users, mini PCs seem to be an attractive alternative to large desktop computers under the floor or notebooks on the table. This shows, among other things, the great reader interest in the test report on the Geekom Mini IT11. The small Windows computer proved in the test that it can easily replace a large office PC.
Compared to the new Mac mini M2 that was introduced shortly thereafter, the Geekom Mini looks pretty old. Because for a little more money, the Apple dwarf offers so much performance that it can easily handle even very demanding graphical work. It hardly matters that with a square base of 19.7 centimeters it is not quite as mini as the Geekom competitor.
Apple has temporarily made its flagship with the strongest M2 Pro chip available to ntv.de. The central processing unit (CPU) has twelve cores and the graphics processor has ten. In this configuration, the Mac mini with 16 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage costs a whopping 1894 euros. But it also effortlessly edits huge image files or 8K films in real time. It never gets loud, the fan is whisper-quiet even at maximum output.
To get an impression of the performance, you can run a benchmark test. ntv.de has opted for the popular Geekbench 5. One computing core achieved 1951 points, with all twelve cores the Mac Mini M2 Pro scored an enormous 15,050 points.
This makes it twice as powerful as its predecessor with the M1 chip and almost three times more powerful than the Mac mini with an Intel Core i/-8700B chip. It also outperforms a Mac Studio with an M1 chip or the currently most powerful MacBook Pro.
Seen in this way, 1550 euros is comparatively cheap, because with this equipment, the little powerhouse can also be used in professional image or video editing. Apple even showed the M2 Pro in a demo during real-time processing of a complex 3D game.
For professionals, the computer also has four USB-C/Thunderbolt sockets, the standard version only has two. There is also an Ethernet gigabit port (optionally up to 10 Gbit), an HDMI input, two USB-A ports (USB 3.2) and a headphone jack. Three displays can be operated simultaneously with up to 6K resolution on the Pro-Mini, with a single screen 8K is supported.
Users who do not have such high demands on a work computer can get a Mac mini with a “normal” M2 for significantly less money, to which two screens with a maximum resolution of 6K can be connected. The simplest configuration with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD is already available for around 700 euros.
With this equipment, Geekbench still leads the Mac mini M2 with around 8800 points in the multi-core rating. While that doesn’t look stunning compared to the flagship value, the small Mac is on par with a MacBook Pro with an M2 chip and outperforms a 2020 iMac with an Intel Core i/-10700K, among others.
The Geekom Mini IT11 scores 1566 in Geekbench 5 with one core, which is very decent. Equipped with only four cores, its Intel Core i7-1195G7 only achieves a total of 4566 points. In addition, its graphics unit is hopelessly inferior to that of the Apple M2.
The cheapest Mac Mini M2 is just under 160 euros more expensive than the Geekom competitor, which means that the computer has a surprisingly strong price-performance ratio by Apple standards. If you do without expensive original accessories and buy a cheaper keyboard or mouse from third-party providers, you get a small, very powerful Mac computer for relatively little money.
