Apple introduced new Mac Minis earlier this week, which run on the company’s new M2 and M2 Pro processors. Along with the new chips, which replace the M1 processors in the previous models, comes a lower starting price. The M2 Mac Mini starts at $599, which is $100 less than the baseline M1 Mac Mini. The step-up M2 Mac Mini with a 512GB SSD costs $799 — also $100 less than its M1 equivalent. And for the first time, Apple is offering a Pro-level chip for the Mac Mini with the M2 Pro. The M2 Pro Mac Mini starts at $1,299.

The new Mac Minis are available now, and orders will start shipping on Jan. 24. We’ll update this story as soon as we see the first price break for the new M2 and M2 Pro models. Apple no longer sells the M1 versions (or the older Intel-based Mac Mini), and there are no online discounts on the older Mac Minis that would make them a better buy than the new machines at their lower starting prices.

One benefit of paying full price and buying the Mac Mini from Apple is you can customize the machine and add more RAM or a higher-capacity SSD. The models sold on Amazon and other retailers are fixed configurations. And unlike in most other desktops, the Mac Mini’s RAM is not user-upgradable. Apple’s M2 system-on-a-chip integrates the CPU, GPU, RAM and other components for greater power and efficiency, but the downside of this integration is the lack of DIMM slots that would allow you to add additional RAM after purchase.

Apple’s student discounts and refurbs

It’s worth noting that the Apple Store offers students an educational discount, where you can save $100 on the price of a new Mac Mini. Some upgrades are discounted, too. For example, doubling the RAM to 16GB costs $180 with the student discount instead of the usual charge of $200. 

Also at Apple, you might find a refurbished Mac Mini on the Certified Refurbished Mac page, but it’s too early to find an M2 refurb, and we’d caution against buying an older Intel-based Mac Mini. And an M1 refurb would need to be priced substantially less than the new M2 models at their lower starting prices. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye out, however, because you can lock in substantial savings. Apple refurbs are a great way to save some cash, and are often just as good as new.

Keep reading to see the best US prices currently available for Apple’s Mac Mini. We update this page regularly and give prices that are accurate at time of publication, but note that they fluctuate.

Note that “all-time” means the best price that we’ve seen at an Apple-authorized retailer in the product’s lifetime.

Amazon

M2 Mac Mini with 256GB SSD: $599

Available now; starts shipping Jan. 24

The baseline Mac Mini features Apple’s new M2 chip, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It supplies two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a headphone jack. Its $599 starting price is $100 less than the M1 version.

$599 at Apple

Dan Ackerman/CNET

M2 Mac Mini with 512GB SSD: $799

Available now; starts shipping Jan. 24

The step-up Mac Mini bumps the storage up to 512GB, an increased capacity that most people will benefit from, as 512GB is about the smallest SSD we’d recommend for any desktop. It’s also $100 less than its M1 predecessor.

$799 at Apple

Apple

M2 Pro Mac Mini: $1,299

Available now; starts shipping Jan. 24

For the first time, the Mac Mini offers a Pro chip from Apple’s lineup. The baseline Mac Mini with the M2 Pro costs $1,299 and features 16GB of RAM — double that of the M2 models — and a 512GB SSD. The M2 Pro chip has 10 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores compared with the eight-CPU core, 10-GPU core M2 chip. The M2 Pro model also doubles the number of Thunderbolt 4 ports to four.

$1,299 at Apple