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At best, it means only very modest improvements for some models, certainly less than most would expect from a system as old as the Mac mini. At worst, it means a dramatic decrease in performance, with some configurations absolutely destroying their counterparts in multi-core workflows.

Apple elected to use an underpowered class of Haswell chips in the new models, and there seems to be absolutely no reason for it.

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According to Primate Labs , makers of the popular cross-platform Geekbench tool, single-core performance for the Mac mini is up to about 11 percent better than the model in some configurations, but a staggering 40 percent worse in comparisons of the top-end models for each year. No wonder Apple hides the Mac mini on the second page of its online store listing.

Single-core performance is indeed better, but not by much, with only the high end configuration enjoying a modest 11 percent improvement. Of course, there are occasions when a reduction in performance from one model to the next is not necessarily a bad thing, and the trade-off between performance and battery life is a perfect example.

But the Mac mini is a desktop, and power consumption is nowhere near the same level of importance compared to a portable device. Is such a drastic loss of performance worth saving just a few watts at idle? It's easy to feel sorry for the Mac Mini.

Apple quickly announced a new Mini at its media event in October, two years after the Mac Mini was introduced. Desktops and laptops haven't advanced a whole lot in the last year, so for the most part the Mini is just getting 's upgrades a year late. If that was all that was happening, the Mac Mini would be a welcome-if-overdue update to the desktop. The Mac Mini is more interesting than that but unfortunately for people who have been waiting for this refresh, it's more notable for the stuff it's missing than its upgrades.

Visually, the Mac Mini looks the same as it has since Apple stopped shipping SuperDrive-equipped models back in It's an unadorned, flattened aluminum box with sharp edges and rounded corners.

The front face is broken up by a small white power LED and an IR receiver, and the sides are perfectly smooth. A separate piece of black plastic on the back of the unit houses the fan vent and a reasonably impressive complement of ports, which has changed only a little from last year. The FireWire port has finally been jettisoned the Mini was the last of the Macs to include the aging interface, though Thunderbolt-to-FireWire dongles still exist , and there's a second Thunderbolt 2 port in its place.

It's still annoying that Apple insists on placing all of the ports for its desktops on the back of the computers. It's no surprise at all for longtime Mac users, but PC switchers a group the Mini specifically targets may need to change their behavior. If you were hoping for some kind of reduction here, keep hoping.

Further Reading Review: We've said quite a bit about Fusion Drive on Ars, culminating with our big hands-on post , but the mini is worth looking at by itself, too. The mid-tier version comes with a punchy Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7 processor, which makes it one of the fastest computers in my house right now; it's quiet, quick, and it's at least vaguely affordable. Well, kind of.

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2. Apple Updates Mac Mini Models with New Intel 'Ivy Bridge' Processors.
3. List of Macintosh models grouped by CPU type.
4. Review: The Mac mini takes the Ivy Bridge to Fusion Town | Ars Technica.
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The mini comes in three flavors: Out of these three, only the mid-tier model can be ordered with Fusion Drive, though the server variety can optionally be configured with one or two GB SSDs. Because we wanted to both evaluate the mini itself and Fusion Drive, went with the mid-tier version.

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Aside from adding the Fusion Drive, it is otherwise exactly as listed on Apple's website. The current low-profile form factor was introduced in July of and brought with it support for Apple and Intel's then-new Thunderbolt technology formerly known as Lightpeak. Apple apologists opined that the inclusion of the high-speed Thunderbolt port on the mini obviated the need for USB 3, though in the year since the Thunderbolt-equipped mini launched, Thunderbolt devices haven't really gained much in popularity and the ecosystem is looking a little bland.

USB 3, on the other hand, is popping up in devices everywhere. The new mini rectifies the oversight and comes with an entire slew of USB 3 ports on the back, enabling it to attach to the entire broad set of fast peripherals which use the standard.