With no new 'standard' MacBook Pro to borrow from, Apple's using the MacBook Pro with Retina display as a template for the Mac mini instead. The Mac mini has long borrowed heavily from the parts bins of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. With the addition of Thunderbolt 2, external connectivity on the Mac mini is faster than ever, and there are plenty of server-class Thunderbolt 2 RAID systems to choose from if you're looking for redundant storage.

But if you want OS X Server, you'll have to download it yourself from the Mac App Store - another $19.99 expense. Even without a four-core option, that'll be a nice speedy system. In its place is a $999 2.8 GHz dual-core i5 system equipped with 8 GB RAM and a 1 TB Fusion Drive. No more off-the-shelf server configurationĪpple previous offered the Mac mini with OS X Server pre-installed, equipped with a 2.3 GHz quad-core i7 processor and two 1 TB internal hard disk drives that could work separately or be striped or mirrored as a RAID array using Disk Utility. If you have legacy FireWire gear you'd still like to use, Apple and others make Thunderbolt to FireWire interface adapters that will get the job done. The Mac mini has two Thunderbolt 2 ports but it's also removed FireWire 800, which was available on the previous-generation model.

It's the same clock speed as a MacBook Air, for example, though the regular hard disk drive won't make things feel as peppy as they do on the pure-SSD Air. Some people are going to shake their head, but hear me out: That's actually good enough for most general users. To get the Mac mini in the $499 price zone, Apple has duplicated its iMac strategy: The new less-expensive model also features a slower CPU, a 1.4 GHz dual core i5.

Mac mini i7 2012 dual display