The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Our test of the Mac mini doped with the Apple M1 processor: a small supercharged template

2020-11-18T19:15:11.222Z


Thanks to its in-house processor, the most compact of Macs develops a power that allows it to compete with the Mac Pro.


The smallest Mac is quickly becoming the most powerful Mac.

This is what we noticed after several days of testing the Mac Mini in its version doped with the M1 processor.

This is also confirmed by studies carried out by the specialized site Geekbench, which gives this model the highest score for current calculations (using a single core), surpassing the old Mac Mini, iMacs and even the Mac. Pro, the latter only managing to catch up (but largely) in multicore operations.

A declined component of the iPhone

How did we get here ?

In fact, Apple realized that the processor it was developing for the iPhone and iPad was steadily gaining in computing power, to the point of outperforming processors designed for high-end computers.

Hence the idea of ​​declining it in a version specifically intended for computers.

The M1, which equips the Mac Mini and two other models (MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13 inches) is none other than an advanced version of the A14 Bionic processor of the latest iPhones.

Let's go over its internal structure to note that this component is distinguished by its 5 nm etching, which allows it to accommodate more components (16 billion transistors) on a small surface.

In particular, it contains several computing units, coprocessors specialized in display, image processing and audio, a neural engine for operations linked to artificial intelligence, controllers for memory and interfaces as well as a chip responsible for the security of the system.

High speed V

And all this small world is activated in accelerated to provide unprecedented performances.

During our tests, we noticed the incredible responsiveness of the applications installed as standard.

After an initial optimization, Safari, Pages, Keynote, iMovie, GarageBand and the others launch at full speed and expedite the day-to-day operations in the blink of an eye.

Special mention for Safari, which instantly displays Web pages, and for iMovie which is illustrated by the speed of scrolling sequences in 4K.

It's easy to imagine that professional applications should benefit greatly from this performance, but already, with basic software, everyone will feel this speed which gives an incredible boost to everything you can do on a Mac.

A high performance emulator

For now, Apple's software is the first to be optimized for the new processor.

Others are starting to be available gradually (Twitter, Affinity Photo, GraphicConverter, Cinema 4D, etc.).

But Apple did it right.

Any application can, in fact, run on a Mac equipped with the M1 thanks to an emulator called Rosetta 2. This utility converts on the fly instructions intended for Intel processors into instructions for the Apple chip.

And it works perfectly.

We launched games, office software, editing tools in this mode without noticing any malfunctions or slowing down.

We were even surprised with better performance on some games, which featured more detail and smoother animations than when launched on an Intel-based Mac.

IPad apps on the Mac

Thanks to its new processor, the Mac Mini can run apps for iPhone and iPad.

Here again, we were pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the process.

Games, educational apps, cooking recipes: any tablet app will appear on the Mac screen just like on an iPad.

What makes this small model the champion of software since in addition to the hundreds of thousands of software available for Mac, it is also enriched by millions of apps for iPhone and iPad.

Improvements and restrictions

More efficient than the old model, the Mac mini with M1 processor is also distinguished by other improvements, such as the possibility of simultaneously connecting two screens (one by Thunderbolt and the other by the HDMI 2.0 output) or the compatibility with the high-speed wireless network Wi-Fi 6 standard.

We appreciate that it retains an analog audio output and especially the RJ45 Ethernet socket which allows it to be used in a wired network.

It loses two USB-C sockets, however, limiting its connections to two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports and two USB-A ports.

Pity.

Balance sheet

Since its launch in 2005, the Mac Mini has remained the best value for money of Apple computers.

Its new version with M1 processor further amplifies this characteristic since this small case becomes one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful of the Macs sold to date, and that it is sold at a lower price than the previous model: 799 euros instead of 1259 euros.

Its performance makes it a great tool for work and entertainment, whatever the field, and its small size makes it even easier to integrate into the office or at home.

And even if it is necessary to add a keyboard, a mouse and a screen (which can be recovered from a station used previously), the game is well worth the candle.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-11-18

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-20T13:52:15.669Z
News/Politics 2024-02-07T14:02:43.507Z
News/Politics 2024-02-01T15:20:52.430Z
News/Politics 2024-02-23T11:43:47.085Z
News/Politics 2024-02-27T08:03:32.994Z
Life/Entertain 2024-02-27T18:34:57.873Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.