Mac mini Late 2014

Mac mini Late 2014

Mac mini

Discontinued
Released: October 16, 2014Discontinued on: October 30, 2018
United States: US$699Japan: ¥74,800

Overview

The Apple Mac mini "Core i5" 2.6 (Late 2014/Aluminum Unibody) runs on a 22 nm "Haswell" 2.6 GHz Intel "Core i5" (4278U) processor, which has two independent "cores" on a single chip and a 3 MB shared L3 cache. It comes with 8 GB of onboard 1600 MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM, which could be expanded to 16 GB at the time of purchase but cannot be upgraded later. The system also includes a 1 TB hard drive and an integrated Intel Iris 5100 graphics processor that shares system memory.


Connectivity consists of two Thunderbolt 2 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi (compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, and an SDXC card slot.


Visually, this model is identical to its predecessor, but it offers a more advanced architecture, superior graphics, Thunderbolt 2 support, and faster Wi-Fi. On the downside, it features a processor with half the number of cores, lacks Firewire support, has RAM that is not user-upgradable, and no longer accommodates two 2.5" drives.


All Mac mini systems are sold by default without a display, keyboard, or mouse, but numerous Apple and third-party options can be purchased separately.

Evaluation

The mid-range 2.6GHz Mac mini from late 2014 was seen as an updated, if not necessarily upgraded, machine. While it brought welcome improvements like a Haswell processor, faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Thunderbolt 2, it took a significant step back in terms of user upgradability.[[1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGWl9Ml0_4j6jN-BW6JYqYxPVEYQZkb3bf9As871OfUTvPO8JG4Jvq07ktu1aj69onpljXPOHktiuLSinTJd18lbHgUPE67TtrwIroN-_YKHNnxa9WbnyC4SZhe-U97BQt_kd6Pu7nclQ%3D%3D)][[3](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGLzoPGVKjWfiy24QPb-dCbNr2m-KjO-pFmQJcOYURtma3A2DQKSkD270frJl4MydReQTcx86Gz7GjwqU-X7FcXzz-rntbNFoBjmfwl8PhVPasRRn4oX-aK4H-RBcorJptAf1zC_91LA7okR4tS294d83KbEvsmLiFbmtaq9OoBgtGW8w%3D%3D)] The RAM was soldered to the logic board, making post-purchase upgrades impossible, a move that disappointed enthusiasts who had previously enjoyed the easy access.[[1](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGWl9Ml0_4j6jN-BW6JYqYxPVEYQZkb3bf9As871OfUTvPO8JG4Jvq07ktu1aj69onpljXPOHktiuLSinTJd18lbHgUPE67TtrwIroN-_YKHNnxa9WbnyC4SZhe-U97BQt_kd6Pu7nclQ%3D%3D)] Furthermore, this generation dropped the quad-core processor options available in 2012, which meant that for some multi-threaded tasks, the new models could actually be slower.[[3](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGLzoPGVKjWfiy24QPb-dCbNr2m-KjO-pFmQJcOYURtma3A2DQKSkD270frJl4MydReQTcx86Gz7GjwqU-X7FcXzz-rntbNFoBjmfwl8PhVPasRRn4oX-aK4H-RBcorJptAf1zC_91LA7okR4tS294d83KbEvsmLiFbmtaq9OoBgtGW8w%3D%3D)] Despite these drawbacks, it remained an elegant and compact desktop, perfectly capable for daily productivity and internet tasks, and a solid entry point for those looking to switch to the Mac ecosystem without breaking the bank.[[3](https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fvertexaisearch.cloud.google.com%2Fgrounding-api-redirect%2FAUZIYQGLzoPGVKjWfiy24QPb-dCbNr2m-KjO-pFmQJcOYURtma3A2DQKSkD270frJl4MydReQTcx86Gz7GjwqU-X7FcXzz-rntbNFoBjmfwl8PhVPasRRn4oX-aK4H-RBcorJptAf1zC_91LA7okR4tS294d83KbEvsmLiFbmtaq9OoBgtGW8w%3D%3D)]

Product Info

Product Info Table
Model IDMacmini7,1
Apple Model NoA1347 (EMC 2840)
Apple Order NoMGEN2LL/A
Apple SubfamilyLate 2014

Price

Price Table
Original Price (US)US$699
United StatesUS$699
AustraliaA$869
Austria€699
Belgium€699
BrazilR$3.799
CanadaC$749
ChinaRMB 4,988
DenmarkDKK 5,499
Finland€719
France€699
Germany€719
Hong KongHK$5,288
IndiaRs 49,990
IndonesiaRp 8,999,000
Ireland€719
Italy€719
Japan¥74,800
KoreaKRW 870,000
Luxembourg€664,34
MalaysiaRM 2,199
MexicoMXN $11,999
Netherlands€719
New ZealandNZ$1049
NorwayNOK 5.990
Portugal€719
SingaporeS$948
Spain€699
SwedenSEK 6.895
SwitzerlandCHF 779
TaiwanNT$22,900
ThailandTHB 23,900
The PhilippinesPHP 34,990
United Kingdom£569
VietnamVND 15,999,000

Pricing Extras

Pricing Extras Table
Est. Current RetailUS$150-US$300

Body

Body Table
Form FactorMac mini Unibody
Case TypeCuboid
Dimensions1.4 x 7.7 x 7.7 in / 3.6 x 19.6 x 19.6 cm
Avg. Weight2.6 lbs / 1.2 kg

Platform

Platform Table
Processor TypeCore i5 (I5-4278U)
Processor Speed2.6 GHz
Processors1 (2 Cores)
Custom Speeds3.0 GHz (Core i7)
Turbo Boost3.1 GHz
Architecture64-Bit
System Bus Speed5 GT/s
Cache Bus Speed2.6 GHz (Built-in)
L1 Cache32k/32k x2
L2/L3 Cache256k x2, 3 MB
FPUIntegrated
ROM/Firmware TypeEFI
EFI Architecture64-Bit
Geekbench 2 (32)7484
Geekbench 2 (64)8741
Geekbench 3 (32)6051
Geekbench 3 (64)6626
Geekbench 4 (SC)3404
Geekbench 4 (MC)6477
Geekbench 5 (SC)694
Geekbench 5 (MC)1500

Memory

Memory Table
Standard RAM8 GB
Maximum RAM16 GB
RAM TypeLPDDR3 SDRAM
Min. RAM Speed1600 MHz
Motherboard RAM8 GB

Storage

Storage Table
Standard Storage1 TB HDD
Std. Storage Speed5400 RPM
Storage InterfaceSerial ATA (6 Gb/s)/PCIe
Storage Dimensions2.5" (9.5 mm)/Proprietary
Standard OpticalNone

Display

Display Table
Display SupportDual Displays
Resolution Support2560x1600
2nd Display SupportDual/Mirroring
2nd Max. Resolution2560x1600
Video CardIris 5100
Standard VRAM1.5 GB
Maximum VRAM1.5 GB
VRAM TypeIntegrated
Video (Monitor)2 (Thunderbolt 2), 1 HDMI

Audio

Audio Table
Headphone1
Sound Out1
Sound In1

Connectivity

Connectivity Table
USB4 (3.0)
USB Ports4 (3.0)
Ethernet1 (RJ-45)
Standard Ethernet10/100/1000Base-T
Expansion SlotsSD Card (SDXC)
Security (Lock)1

Wireless Connectivity

Wireless Connectivity Table
Standard AirPort802.11ac
Standard Bluetooth4.0

Power

Power Table
Power1

Software

Software Table
Pre-Installed MacOSX 10.10 (14A389)
Maximum MacOS12.x (Monterey)
Windows SupportBoot/Virtualization
Minimum Windows7 (64-Bit)
Maximum Windows10 (64-Bit)

Upgrades

Upgrades Table
Processor UpgradeSoldered