Apple finally announces an overhauled Mac mini

NEW YORK—For the first time in four years, Apple has announced a new Mac mini, and it's a departure from its predecessor. The new "space gray" device boasts five times the performance of its predecessor, with either four- or six-core processors and up to 64GB of RAM, making it a much more capable system for demanding users.

The 2014 refresh of the Mac mini was not well-received by users or critics. It eliminated the four-core CPU available in the previous model and was harder to upgrade. And Apple let that refresh sit for a long time without an update. Consumers and analysts began to speculate that the product line's days were numbered, but Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to an email from a customer to say, "We do plan for Mac mini to be an important part of our product line going forward" about a year ago. We didn't hear any more details after that, but a report in Bloomberg revealed that this new product was around the corner.

The new system looks like it will address many of those concerns. In addition to the significant processor upgrade, it includes a T2 security chip, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, and optional 10-gigabit Ethernet.

The better specs do come with one downside: the entry level price has gone up. The 3.6GHz i3 with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD base spec costs $799, compared to the $499 of the previous model. At the high end, you can get a 3.2GHz (4.6GHz turbo) 6-core i7 with 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, and 10gigE.

Orders open today, and the machine will ship November 7th.