This is an era where smart electronic products are overflowing. We already use a lot of electronic devices in our lives, but tomorrow, next month, and next year we will meet new products again. ‘Boni Hani’ is a hands-on experience that aims to share the experience of using electronic devices as much as possible from the general consumer’s point of view. I would like to convey to the readers the newness I felt through seeing, hearing, and touching, without adding or subtracting.
Desktops are gradually declining in the PC (personal computer) market. Demand increased for a while as work from home and online classes increased due to the variable Corona 19, but it seems to be slowing down again as it enters endemic. According to market researcher IDC, worldwide PC shipments this year are expected to decrease by 11.2% from last year to 403.1 million units. This is lower than in 2019, before demand increased due to Corona 19.
In the midst of this, Apple introduced a small desktop ‘Mac mini’ equipped with a new chipset M2 Pro early this year. The adjective that Apple, equipped with an expensive premium image, has attached to the Mac mini is ‘reasonable price’. Even this new product is cheaper than the previous one with the M1 chip. It is a strategy to target the difficult PC market with price competitiveness at the forefront. I borrowed various PC accessories such as a studio display along with the PC body Mac mini from Apple and tried them for two weeks.
Mac mini powered by M2
The new Mac mini released this year is divided into products equipped with the M2 released last year and the M2 Pro released this year. Apple’s explanation is that the product equipped with the M2 Pro “implements pro-level performance in the Mac mini for the first time in history.” In other words, it is a ‘professional’ product.
In comparison, the Mac mini with M2 is suitable for users who perform everyday tasks. Equipped with an 8-core CPU (central processing unit) and 10-core GPU (graphics processing unit), it processes commonly used functions such as app execution and multitasking at high speed.
So is the price. Among the M2 Mac minis, the price of the lowest-spec model with 8GB integrated memory and 256GB SSD is in the mid-800,000 won range. Considering that the price of the previous work was in the late 800,000 won range, it was rather cheap.
However, this does not mean that performance has deteriorated. The image editing speed of the M2 Mac mini has increased by up to 50% compared to the previous generation, and video editing can be performed more than twice as fast. Compared to the Windows desktop, Apple explains that it is up to five times faster.
In fact, there was no stuttering even when multiple functions such as web surfing, video editing, and games were executed at the same time using the M2 Mac mini. I edited a 4K high-definition video using iMovie, Apple’s free video editing program, but the 1-minute video moved quickly and there was no buffering within the program.
Compared to the M1 MacBook Air released at the same time as the M1 Mac mini, the performance was also improved. When I ran Geekbench 5, a benchmark program, the M1 MacBook Air scored 2320 single-core and 7638 multi-core points, and the Mac mini with M2 scored 2592 points and 9193 points, respectively. Compared to the M1 MacBook Air, the M2 Macmini multi-core performance has improved by about 20%. Geekbench is a test program that measures CPU performance. Single-core measures the ability of one CPU core to execute tasks, while multi-core measures all CPU cores.
If M2 is not enough, M2 Pro
The M2 Mac mini has two Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A ports, and one HDMI port on the back of the product. This is no different from its predecessor. The display that can be connected through this is also the same as the previous two units. You can connect one display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz (Hertz) through the Thunderbolt port, and one display with resolution up to 4K resolution at 60Hz by connecting to HDMI. If both units are connected via Thunderbolt, resolutions of up to 6K and 5K can be achieved, respectively.
Since up to two displays can be connected, if you want to connect three displays on the M2 Mac mini, you will need to purchase an additional splitter.
To address this inconvenience, Apple has offered another option through the Pro model. The M2 Pro Mac mini is equipped with 4 Thunderbolt ports and can connect up to 3 displays. In addition, the HDMI port allows connection of up to 8K displays. The M2 Pro Mac mini is the first to support 8K in Mac mini.
Even if there are limits… If you want to try Apple
If the M2 Pro Mac mini is an option for professionals, the target of the M2 Mac mini is clear. I am a Windows user who wants to experience the Mac ecosystem. For those who have experienced the M1, the difference in performance that will actually be felt will not be large.
However, if you are a Windows user, you may notice a difference in processing speed. Of course, it takes time to get used to other operating systems. To this end, Apple is continuing its efforts to eliminate the sense of difference between iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, and macOS, the PC product. It is a way to make the PC program icon the same as the mobile icon. As an iPhone user, if you are familiar with iOS, the strategy is to help you quickly adapt to the Mac ecosystem.
The width and length of the product are only 20 cm, that is, about a span, so it is suitable for consumers who do not have enough space. It was not difficult to place it on a narrow desk at the level of a reading room. If you are using an iPhone or AirPods, compatibility is also a reason why you cannot ignore it.
However, it is a homework for Apple that ‘gaming’ still accounts for a large portion of the reasons for purchasing a desktop. Apple is expanding its subscription game service with ‘Apple Arcade’, but the formula of ‘game is for Windows’ is still solid. This is evidenced by the fact that ‘Sudoku’ is the second most popular free game in the App Store on the MacBook, and ‘Mine Sweeper’ is the third.
Since the PC body is the entire product configuration, the fact that other components such as the display and keyboard must be purchased separately is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Accessories are also compatible with third-party products, so if you have existing accessories, you can purchase them with minimal expenditure, but if there are none, the burden increases.
The combined price of the studio display, keyboard, magic trackpad, and magic mouse that were rented together for a proper experience of the actual Mac mini reached about 2.6 million won. If you’re not careful, your belly button may become bigger than your stomach. If you don’t have any PC accessories at all, it is also a good idea to wait for the all-in-one computer iMac, which is expected to be released at WWDC (World Developers Conference) on June 5th.
