Mac Mini

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What Does Mac Mini Mean?

The Mac Mini is a consumer-oriented Apple computer. It was launched in 2005 and as of 2012, Apple continues to support it with upgraded models. It was created as an inexpensive and consumer-friendly way to attract a larger audience, which is why it lacks its own display and has lower specs than other Mac models produced around the same time. It is meant to be connected to an HDTV set and function as a server for movies, Web surfing and light productivity tasks.

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Techopedia Explains Mac Mini

The Mac Mini provides a much more affordable option for a second PC or Mac at home. Apple is said to have originally targeted Windows PC users with the Mac Mini in order to draw them into Mac OS X and Apple products. The Mini’s design can be compared to the Apple TV in that it is compact, light, rectangular and geometrically aligned. It doesn’t come with an optical drive (as of 2012), but does offer DVD or CD sharing with other Macs and PCs.

Specs include:

  • HDMI output support
  • A Thunderbolt port supporting resolutions of 2560×1600
  • Dual display and video mirroring
  • An SDXC card slot
  • 2 GB to 4 GB RAM depending on the model
  • Either an Intel 2.3 GHz or an Intel 2.5 GHz dual-core CPU
  • Intel HD Graphics 3000 or AMD Radeon HD 6630M
  • Further hardware upgrades are also configurable with additional costs from Apple’s online store.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.