When I popped off the bottom, I noted that the perforated panel was held in place by star-headed security screws. That said, a couple of Apple reps we spoke to suggested usual-suspect memory retailers (I'm thinking folks like Crucial and OWC) might be able to produce memory upgrade kits with instructions. The company doesn't deem this a user-accessible upgrade, though it says authorized service centers and Apple Stores will be able to perform memory upgrades. Apple has implemented the memory in the new Mac mini as laptop-style SO-DIMMs. Underneath is a perforated panel that goes to the internals, of which, according to the company, the only serviceable element is the RAM. Rotating the disk does nothing prying it up with a thin tool, though, pops it off. Turn the Mac mini over to view the underside, and you'll see a plastic disk of a base that elevates the metal of the chassis from the desk surface. (Opens in a new window) Read Our Apple MacBook Air (2018) Review You'll pay a premium for the trim dimensions, and expandability is all external, but rest assured: The Mac mini is the same dynamo as ever, now with 2018 trimmings that do justice to a classic design.

What tips it into our Editors' Choice zone is Apple's deep included software set, which lets you do a tremendous amount right out of the box: office work, presentations, music dabbling, movie editing. Despite the price bump, with a move to 8th Generation Core desktop CPUs, PCI Express SSDs, and a new roster of connectivity, the Mac mini remains a compelling (if, mind you, the only) desktop space-saver for macOS users looking for a home theater PC, a desktop workstation, or a music- and video-editing sprinter. The 2018 reboot ($799 as tested, which is the entry-level model) rethinks the Mac mini's innards but also lays a new, ritzier price floor. Since its last major rework in 2014, it came in configurations priced as low as $499 that scaled up from there. No option for a 2.5-inch hard drive as internal mass storage.įor four years, the Apple Mac mini had been the last true, egalitarian entry-level Mac.

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Photos of back of 2017 mac mini