10.08.2011

Mac Mini 2011 Review

The new Mac Mini 2011 hit the shelves on the 20th of July, and is actually cheaper than the outgoing models.

As with the 2010 series, it's available in three versions to suit individual demand and budget; there's a low end model, a high end build and a server version.

The primary specifications of these three versions are as follows:

Mac Mini 2011 Low End: 

• PROCESSOR: 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 (Dual Core)
• RAM: 2GB (2 × 1 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3 
• GRAPHICS PROCESSOR: Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor with shared 288MB of DDR3 SDRAM
• HARD DRIVE: 500GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA HDD
• CACHE: 3MB on-chip L2
• PRICING (Starting From): £529 

Mac Mini 2011 High End:

• PROCESSOR: 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor (Dual Core)
• RAM: 2GB (2 × 1 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3
• GRAPHICS PROCESSOR: AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor with dedicated 256MB of GDDR5 memory
• HARD DRIVE: 500GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA HDD
• CACHE: 3MB on-chip L2
• PRICING (Starting From): £699

Mac Mini 2011 Server:

• PROCESSOR: 2.0GHz Intel Core i7-2635QM (Quad Core)
• RAM: 4GB (2 × 2 GB) 1333 MHz DDR3 memory
• GRAPHICS PROCESSOR: Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM
• HARD DRIVE: 2 × 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA HDD
• CACHE: 6MB on-chip shared L3
• PRICING (Starting From): £799

Out with the old and in with the new

The Mac Mini 2011 models boast two major step forwards from the previous series; much improved processors (in the form of the Intel Core i5( and the inclusion of Apple's new Thunderbird technology.

Both the 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz Core i5 processors offer a major improvement in performance over the previous 2010 Mac Mini's Intel Core 2 Duo. In fact, tests show that the cheaper 2.3GHz Core i5 is on average around 45% faster that the Intel Core 2 Duo when carrying out most tasks, while the 2.5GHz Core i5 performs at more than double the speed of the Core 2 Duo. As would be expected, the 2.5GHZ Core i5 delivers a little more processing power than it's 2.3GHZ counterpart.

For both models it's possible to further increase performance by upgrading to 4GB or even 8GB of RAM. Non-Apple suppliers actually offer upgrades for up to 16 GB (2 × 8 GB) for all models.

Thunderbolt Technology

The addition of the Thunderbolt port to the Mac Mini 2011 series provides support for high-resolution displays (such as the 27" Thunderbird Display monitor) and high-performance data devices through a single, compact port. It can handle resolutions up to 2,560 x 1,600 pixels.

Also, because Thunderbolt is based on DisplayPort technology, any Mini DisplayPort display can be plugged straight into the Thunderbolt port. Connecting to a DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, or VGA display can be acheived via adaptors. The HDMI port supports multi-channel audio and video of up to 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. 

The user has the option of setting up two monitors with video-mirroring or dual display, and the Radeon HD graphics processor in the High End Mac Mini 2011 can be used to drive two Thunderbird Displays whilst also providing a third display on the HDMI port.

Graphics processor Performance

In Cinebench and gaming tests, the High End Mac Mini 2011 with its AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor performs on average at almost double the speed of its 2010 predecessor on games optimised for Intel Graphics. The Low End 2011 showed a small improvement for Intel optimised games and came in about the same as the 2010 Mac Mini for the Cinebench tests.

These results show that both models of the Mac Mini 2011 are well suited for playing good quality video, but if you are planning on using your Mac Mini for anything more than very casual gaming, the high end machine would be the best option. 

Other New Features

The 500GB 5400RPM Serial ATA HDD Hard Drive offers more storage than the 320GB drives sported by the Mac Mini 2010 but the 5400RPM is unchanged, so the read and write speed from the drive is only a little faster than the 2010 series.

Wireless Connectivity on the 2011 Mac Minis is provided at 802.11a/b/g/n with an upgraded version of Bluetooth 4.0, which features a low-power mode. Also included is a built-in mono speaker and infrared receiver for the Apple Remote (N.B. remote itself not included).

When it comes to power usage, the 2011 Mac Minis are comparably efficient to the 2010s, though the high end 2011 model does need a little more juice, using 13W idle compared to 9W. This increase is more than compensated for when you consider the improved performance.

Retained Features

Many features have been carried forward from the 2010 series and the first we noticed is the design of the casing itself. The Mac Mini 2011 series looks at first glance to be a carbon copy of the 2010 machines. The dimensions are the same, with the 19.7cm squared aluminum case standing only 3.6cm high. The black plastic flap on the underside of the machine offers access to the interior, and the dark plastic panel on the rear of the casing sports the same selection of ports.

Ports include the SDXC card-reader slot, audio input and output minijacks, Gigabit Ethernet, auto-sensing analogue/optical-digital ports, one FireWire 800 port and four USB ports.

Unsurprisingly the same case structure has achieved the same performance in terms of heat and noise, with the output of both kept to a minimum even when demanding applications are running.

Optical Drive Retired

One feature that has been removed entirely from the Mac Mini 2011 series is the optical drive. As with the MacBook Air, removing what is often an unused feature in the age of USB thumb drives and constant internet access allows laptops to be more compact and less heavy (around 300g lighter than a 2010 model) and frees up interior space to be used for other hardware like Thunderbolt. 

Retiring the optical drive required the development of a new technology for dealing with system recovery. As a System Restore DVD is no longer an option, Apple have brought forth their new operating system recovery feature. The hard drive has a dedicated partition called Recovery HD. If an operating system becomes corrupted, holding down Command R at startup will boot the machine from the Recovery HD. 

Once booted in this mode it is possible to restore data from backups, and reinstall or repair the Lion operating system as required. To fully reinstall some features an internet connection will be required.

It is possible to purchase a seperate Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive (compatible with the Mac Mini 2011 series) from around £66, but if you regularly use an optical drive and don't wish to carry around extra hardware, we would advise that the Mac Mini 2011 is not the machine for you.

Upgrade Options

As mentioned ealier in this review, if you can afford the extra cost, it is possible to upgrade both the low and high end machines from their starting 2GB to 4GB or 8GB of RAM. It's also possible to replace the 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with a 750GB 7200RPM drive to increase storage and read/write speed. The 4GB RAM upgrade is certainly recommended to users who regularly run multiple memory-hungry applications.

The high end Mac Mini 2011 allows for more upgrade options, such as bringing in a 2.7GHZ Core i7 processor to replace the Core i5, and a 256GB solid-state drive can be used alongside or instead of the 750GB Hard Drive noted above.

In Conclusion

If you are not affected by the loss of the optical drive then the Mac Mini 2011 series is big step forward in terms of performance from the previous models. 

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