Mac veterans have been singing Alfred's praises for years, but some of Apple’s newer users might not have heard about the mighty app launcher. Free to all but the most serious professionals. 2 days ago Apple just announced a new version of its tiny desktop computer, the Mac Mini. The new version of the Mac Mini starts at $699, and comes with Apple's new M1 chip. Apple says the new Mac Mini is faster than ever, and the price starts at $699, $100 lower than the previous model. At WWDC 2020, Apple announced a special Mac Mini that’s powered by its own A12Z processor. The machine will help developers prepare their apps for future consumer Macs that feature in-house.
The Apple Mac mini (2018) was a long time coming, but it’s been worth the wait. This brilliantly-designed small-form factor computer packs in some impressive specs and pulls off neat tricks to. Mac mini Essentials. Search the user guide Clear Search Table of Contents. Look around your new Mac. Get a quick intro to the features of your Mac mini. Your Mac mini comes with apps for everything you want to do. Edit and share your photos. Enjoy music, books, movies, and more. Create presentations. And discover new apps in the App Store.
Apple on Tuesday unveiled three computers based on homegrown Apple Silicon processors, marking the start of a two-year transition that will replace Intel microprocessors with Cupertino-designed chips compatible with the Arm microarchitecture.
'In June, we announced that the Mac is taking another huge leap forward by transitioning to Apple Silicon,' said Apple CEO Tim Cook during a internet-streamed presentation. 'And we promised that the first Mac with Apple Silicon would arrive by the end of this year. Well, that day is here.'
The processor shift demonstrates Apple's growing estrangement from Intel, which has supplied CPU parts for Apple computers since it displaced IBM during the PowerPC transition in 2006. And it represents an inconvenient repudiation for the chip giant at a time when Intel is losing ground to competitors like TSMC and AMD.
'The transition to Apple Silicon is going to have a profound impact on the Mac,' said John Ternus, Apple VP of hardware engineering.
The M1 ... One chip to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them. Source: Apple. Click to enlarge
Apple announced it is now taking orders for three devices based on its M1 Apple Silicon chip: the 13-inch MacBook Air ($999+), the Mac mini ($699+), and the 13-inch MacBook Pro ($1,299+), all of which are scheduled to ship next week. They run macOS version 11 aka Big Sur, which will be available for download on Thursday, and there are small discounts for education markets.
Intel fumbled ten, so Apple goes five
The M1, according to Cupertino, is fabricated by TSMC using its 5nm process technology. Compared to the previous generation of Intel-based Macs, the chip supposedly delivers up to 3.5 faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning processing, while extending battery life 2x longer.
Apple did not publish benchmark data to support its claims, though it insists it used 'select industry-standard graphics benchmarks' to find that its Apple Silicon Mac mini is up to 5x faster than the best-selling Windows desktop in its price range.
'Until now a Mac needed multiple chips to deliver all of its features,' explained Johny Srouji, SVP of hardware technologies. 'It had chips for the processor, I/O, security and memory. Now with M1, these technologies are combined into a single SoC [system-on-chip] delivering a whole new level of integration for more simplicity, efficiency and amazing performance.'
M1 also features Apple's unified memory architecture, Srouji said, which merges memory into a single pool so that all the SoC components can access the same data without copying between multiple memory pools over various buses. The result is a dramatic improvement of power efficiency, he said.
What's that about Apple hardware? Pfft, says Intel as it intros magical self-healing PC
READ MOREThe M1 sports eight CPU cores, four of which are tuned for performance and four of which are tuned for efficiency, a la Arm's big.LITTLE arrangement, an eight-core GPU that can handle roughly 25,000 threads at once and offers 2.6 TFLOPS of throughput presumably at FP32, and a 16-core Neural Engine that delivers 15x faster machine learning than its predecessor, it is claimed.
It's expected to have a huge 192KB instruction cache and 128KB data cache, per CPU core, which may explain how it's able to reach decent per-core performance. That would be also far beyond the cache sizes in rival x86 and Arm processors. The chip package includes the system RAM, too, as shown above.
The SoC also includes an image signal processor, a secure enclave, a storage controller with AES encryption hardware, media encoding and decoding engines, and an Apple-designed Thunderbolt controller for USB 4 (40Gbps).
Apple's M1-powered devices support macOS apps compiled as Universal Binaries (which bundle native code for both ARM64 and x86_64 chips) or as legacy x86_64-based code via its Rosetta 2 translation technology. What's more, they can run many iOS/iPadOS apps, which have been compiled for previous A-series Apple Silicon processors.
Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi said the company has optimized all of its apps for M1, such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, iMovie, LogicPro, and Final Cut Pro.
Adobe, he said, will make a universal version of Lightroom available next month and plans to do the same for other apps like Photoshop early next year.
Other important Mac apps will need further tuning before they ship with native Apple Silicon code. Microsoft said it aims to get an experimental ARM64 build of Visual Studio to developers next month and it has a beta version of Office for Mac that supports Apple Silicon waiting in the wings. The Homebrew package manager isn't yet working on Apple Silicon. Nor is Docker.
In June, Apple engineers mentioned a new virtualization layer was being developed to run Linux VMs and Docker on Apple Silicon. No mention was made during Apple's video presentation of how that project is going. VMware filled that void by declaring it is 'committed to delivering VMware virtual machines on Apple Silicon,' though it declined to say when.
Those demanding high-end Apple systems may wish to wait for next year's 16-inch MacBook Pro revision. None of the M1 models announced today can be bought with more than 16GB of RAM; current Intel-based MacBook Pro models support up to 32GB (13-inch) or 64GB (16-inch). ®
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Are you wondering what goes on inside Apple’s Mac mini? Perhaps you’ve bought one and want to see what you can do with it?
If so, read on to discover everything you need to know about the Mac mini, from what it is, to how to set it up and tons of different things you can use it for, outside of a regular PC.
What is a Mac mini and what does it do?
The Mac mini is a small desktop computer made by Apple. What makes the Mac mini different from a regular computer is that it’s shipped without an accompanying screen, keyboard or mouse. As Apple likes to say, it’s “BYODKM” (Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse).
The reason behind the Mac mini being shipped solo, is because most of its use cases feature around using it to power up another device, as we’ll discuss in more detail below.
It also makes for more of a flexible purchase. For example, if you already have a screen, or a keyboard and mouse, you can pair these with the Mac mini rather than forking out for new ones. And if you don’t, you can easily purchase them alongside the Mac mini anyway.
The Mac mini has been around since 2005 (launched at the same time as the iPod shuffle) but its design and functionality have changed since then.
The latest 3.6 GHz Mac mini released in 2018 comes in two types of processing speed, the 3.6 GHz Mac mini Core i3 costing about $799 and the 3.0 GHz Mac mini Core i5 costing about $1099.
Specification of the Mac mini
Uses for the Mac mini
- Share presentations to screen
- Listen to music through an app like Spotify
- Share photos to a TV screen
- Access emails
- Play games
Benefits of the Mac mini
Some of the key benefits of the Mac mini include:
- The cheapest Mac Apple sells
- Built in apps such as FaceTime, iBooks, Maps, iTunes and Mail
- Multiple ports, making it more akin to a PC than a media device
- Apple quotes that with fourth-generation Intel Core processors, the device is able to “keep up with computers twice its size”
- Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth
- Easy setup for a keyboard, mouse or screen
- The perfect size to use as the centre of a “digital home”
How to set up a Mac mini
Here’s how to get your Mac mini running, from getting it out of the box to using it for a purchase such as connecting to your home TV.
Before you begin setup some of the questions you may want to consider include:
- What screen will you be connecting to? You’ll need a desktop or a TV screen to get your Mac mini up and running
- How will you connect to the screen? Depending on what screen you’re connecting to you may need a converter lead
- Do you have a Wi-Fi connection? You’ll need this to set up some of the Mac mini features
- How will you control the Mac mini? You’ll likely need either a keyboard and mouse combo or an Apple remote
Once you’ve made your decision and purchased any additional items you need, here’s how to get set up.
- Add power
Plug the power adaptor into your Mac mini and plug the other end into your power outlet. Press the power button on the back of the Mac mini.
2. Attach to your TV or monitor
Connect your Mac mini to your TV or desktop. The Mac mini comes with a HDMI-to-DVI adapter for connecting to a monitor's DVI port, which will allow you to connect to an Apple monitor.
If you want to connect to a TV screen you may need to purchase a mini-displayport-to-VGA adapter which will allow you to connect your Mac mini to a standard analog monitor, projector, or LCD that uses a VGA connector or cable.
3. Connect to Wi-Fi
Once turned on, the setup guide should take you through a few simple steps, including setting up a Wi-Fi connection.
4. Sign in with your Apple id
This will give you access to the App Store and and will link your iCloud account if you wish to connect to your Mail, Photos, Calendar and so on.
5. Begin using your Mac mini
From here, you can begin using your PC or TV screen as a computer, using the desktop to search for apps, open web pages and more.
What can you do with your Mac mini?
Essential Mac Apps 2020
Want to ensure you’re getting the most from your Mac mini device? Here are some ideas on how you can use it:
- Access apps on a TV screen
The Mac mini is a great way to take everything you’d usually do on your phone or laptop and access it on your TV screen. This could be sharing photos with a room, opening mail or accessing your documents.
- Use any screen as your computer
Mac App Store For Pc
The Mac mini is super light, which means you can take it anywhere, plug it into a desktop and you’ll have a powerful computer. This allows you to work from anywhere, or set up shop in any location where there’s a monitor and Wi-Fi available.
- Set up digital signage with the Mac mini
The Mac mini is a great way to turn any screen into a digital sign. This allows you to pre-schedule and setup content to show on your digital screen such as social media feeds, presentations, travel updates, news feeds and more. Read the full guide on setting up digital signage with the Mac mini here.
4. Create a home viewing centre
With the Mac mini and a screen, or desktop, you can create a home viewing centre that allows you to watch movies, surf the internet and listen to music. Via streaming apps such as Netflix, or even through movies you’ve bought on iTunes, you can easily set up movies to play on any screen. You can also use music apps available in the Apple App Store or use Safari to get online.
5. View and share photos
The Mac Mini includes a SDXC card slot so you can simply remove the memory card from your camera and insert it. This allows you to view photos on a monitor, or share them with the room from your TV screen.
Mac mini question buster
Can you use any monitor with a Mac mini?
The Mac mini doesn’t come with a monitor, but you can connect it to one using one of the ports on the back of the device. Using the right adapter, you can connect the Mac Mini to any computer screen with a VGA port. The Mac Mini ships with a HDMI-to-DVI adapter but it’s only really Apple monitors which use DVI, so for a regular monitor you may need a HDMI-to-VGA or mini displayport-to-VGA connector instead.
How do you turn on a Mac mini?
Simply press the power button on the Mac mini box.
Can you use any keyboard with a Mac mini?
Most keyboards and mouses can be used with the Mac mini by connecting them using the USB port. For Bluetooth devices, connect the USB dongle to the Mac mini using the USB port.
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