Apple Mac Studio just came out, but there’s good news for those waiting for an update to Apple’s cheapest Mac desktop. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith found a reference to a yet-to-be-announced “Macmini10.1″model ID in a firmware file for Studio Display, implying that Apple is internally testing the new Mac mini and that it could be released sooner than before. Then.
The presence of an unreleased Mac mini model ID in the firmware file tells us little about the machine other than the fact that the hardware physically exists somewhere within Apple. But we can say with some confidence that this should be a new generation of Mac mini, not a revision of the current design – Apple uses “Macmini9.1″for the current mini and “Macmini8.1″for the latest Intel. 2018 model.
Apple is expected to update the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro with the next-generation Apple M2 processor this year. The M1 and all its variants use the CPU architecture from the 2020 A14, codenamed “Firestorm”for performance cores and “Icestorm”for efficient cores. M2 will likely update this architecture and possibly add more GPU cores.
It remains to be seen if the M2 will support more ports and display outputs than the M1. Older Intel-based Macs supported up to three connected displays, while the 2018 Mac mini included four Thunderbolt ports, while the M1-based Mac had two Thunderbolt ports and two connected displays (including the built-in screen for laptops). Fewer ports and display outputs may not be a deal breaker for Apple’s cheapest Macs, but the M2 mini could benefit from a larger and more flexible selection of ports.
Rumor has it that Apple could unveil new Macs as early as June, when the company holds its annual developer conference. However, WWDC is usually software-focused, and new hardware announcements don’t always happen.