ORICO introduces the Mac Mini Upgrade Series, a suite of innovative solutions tailored to maximize the potential of Apple's Mac Mini M4. Loved for its powerful performance, compact design, and seamless macOS integration, the Mac Mini's capabilities are often limited by high storage and port expansion costs. ORICO's latest lineup offers stylish, cost-effective solutions designed for graphic designers, HD video editors, content creators, and professionals seeking enhanced productivity.

MiniMate provides a cost-effective external storage solution that enhances capacity while seamlessly blending with the Mac mini's sleek design, enabling users to work efficiently and unleash their creativity with ease, now on sale.

• Massive Storage Options: Up to 4 TB of solid-state storage, with flexible choices ranging from 512 GB to 4 TB.
• Sleek Design: Perfectly complements your Mac mini with identical dimensions for a seamless fit.
• Blazing Fast Transmission: Supports up to 40 Gbps for smooth external editing and ultra-fast file transfers.

Just a few days ago, we reported on a leaked teaser for GEEKOM's upcoming QS1 Pro mini PC. The system is set to mark GEEKOM's foray into the world of Arm-based PCs, likely in a bid to take on Apple's Mac mini. However, if a recent leak is to be believed, the QS1 Pro may have a tough time pulling that off.

The leaked specifications, courtesy of a Spanish publication, reveal that the QS1 Pro will feature the Snapdragon X1E-80-100 SoC - the second-fastest member of the X Elite family, slotting in below the 84-100 SKU. The X1E-80-100 boasts 12 Oryon cores, along with a 3.8 TFLOPs Adreno GPU. Interestingly, the leaked specs claim GPU performance of up to 4.6 TFLOPs, which is either a typo, or an indication that an X1E-84-100 variant will be available.

ORICO, an industry-leading brand in data storage solutions, proudly announced MiniMate, an external SSD for Mac mini 2024. It is set to revolutionize the storage
experience for Mac mini users, especially for graphic designers, video editors, creators and influencers.

Easy-to-Get Storage Expansion Solution
MiniMate offers many nice capacity options ranging from 512 GB to 8 TB. This is an optimal choice for those who prefer Mac mini's base model at a premium price, and desire a flexible and scalable storage expansion for lots of inspiration. As creative professionals, content creators, and businesses continue to generate more data, MiniMate dramatically overcomes capacity limitations and enhances their productivity.

Both pictures and videos of a partial teardown of Apple's recently launched Mac mini with the M4 SoC have appeared online courtesy of various Chinese sources. There are at least two interesting parts to these partial teardowns and they're related to storage and WiFi. On the storage front, Apple has moved away from having soldered NAND chips straight on the main PCB of the Mac mini, to instead having them on a custom PCB which is similar to M.2, but a custom Apple design. The PCB pictured contained a pair of 128 GB NAND chips and with the source of the teardown being from China, there's also a video showing a repair shop desoldering the two chips and replacing them with two 1 TB chips, or in other words, the SSD was upgraded from 256 GB to 2 TB.

The upgrade brought with it some extra performance as well, even if the write speed remained at a comparatively slow 2900 MB/s, the read speed went up from 2000 MB/s to 3300 MB/s which is a significant gain in performance. This is obviously not a consumer friendly upgrade path, but we'd expect to see third party upgrade options at some point in the future, assuming there's no black listing of third party storage modules. The NAND controller is still likely to be integrated into Apple's SoC, but the PCB that the NAND flash chips are mounted onto appears to have some kind of SPI flash on it as well, which might make third party upgrades a lot harder.

Other World Computing (OWC), a trusted leader in delivering high-performance, secure, and sustainable technology solutions that enhance and extend the life of Macs and PCs, today announced the full compatibility of its OWC Thunderbolt 5 innovations—including its OWC Envoy Ultra SSD and OWC Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) Cables—with the latest Mac mini powered by the new M4 Pro chip and MacBook Pro powered by the M4 Pro and M4 Max family of chips. With these cutting-edge OWC solutions, Apple users are empowered to unlock the full potential of Thunderbolt 5, and enjoy a new era of speed, reliability, and connectivity.

"Thunderbolt 5 unlocks a new world of possibilities for users, and OWC is proud to be at the forefront of this exciting evolution," said Larry O'Connor, CEO and Founder, Other World Computing (OWC). "With the Envoy Ultra SSD and our Thunderbolt 5 cables, we're giving Mac Mini and MacBook Pro users the speed, reliability, and power they need to push their workflows further than ever before - whether they're editing 8K video, managing massive data sets, or just staying connected on the go." He continued, "And, don't blink - because OWC is set to roll out even more Thunderbolt 5 innovations, including the powerful OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub, set for release in November."

CD PROJEKT RED today announced Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will be arriving natively on Macs with Apple silicon, including the new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro, powered by the M4 family of chips. The game is optimized to take full advantage of Apple silicon and Metal to bring the immersive world of Night City - and the deadly district of Dogtown - to Mac gamers for the very first time.

The game will include advanced features like path tracing, frame generation, and built-in Spatial Audio for even more immersive gameplay and stunning visuals. Coming to Mac early next year, it will be available to purchase via both the Mac App Store and Steam, and existing Steam PC purchases will carry over to the Mac. More details and a release date for early next year will be announced at a later time.

Apple's much awaited M4-based Mac Mini is finally here. As previously indicated by analysts, the Mac mini has received a massive redesign - its first in over a decade. With an amazingly compact chassis that is significantly smaller than before, the Mac mini boasts impressive computing horsepower thanks to the M4 and M4 Pro chipsets, now starting with 16 GB of unified memory.

We are already quite familiar with the M4, which made its debut in the OLED iPad Pro last May. However, the M4 Pro is all-new, boasting up to a 14-core CPU with 10 P-cores and 4 E-cores along with up to a 20-core GPU. The standard M4 packs only 4 P-cores by comparison, and manages to quash Intel's Core Ultra 9 288V in synthetic benchmarks by as much as 60% while trading blows with AMD's Strix Point APUs. The M4 Pro features more than twice the number of P-cores, making it a suitable competitor for Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake-H lineup as well as AMD's Strix Halo.

Apple's M4-equipped MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and 24" iMac lineups are set to debut next week. The M4 family of desktop-class SoCs, which will soon be joined by the M4 Pro and M4 Max, is likely to bring substantial performance improvements to the aforementioned Mac models. If the recently leaked benchmarks are anything to go by, the M4-powered lineup appears poised to outperform Intel's "Lunar Lake" rather comfortably, while bringing the heat to AMD's "Strix Halo" as well as Intel's upcoming "Arrow Lake-H"-powered notebooks.

For those interested in the thin-and-light segment, the MacBook Air has always presented itself as a very decent option. According to recent reports by Mark Gurman, the M4-equipped MacBook Air is scheduled for launch sometime during January to March of 2025, with mass production set to start soon. The Mac Studio, which was supposedly slated to launch alongside the MacBook Air, is now delayed by a few months and will possibly see the light of day during the second quarter of 2025.

Apple today unveiled the new Mac mini, supercharged by M2 and the all-new M2 Pro. With the M2 chip, Mac mini is even more powerful, capable, and affordable with a new starting price of just $599. The new M2 Pro chip delivers pro-level performance to Mac mini for the first time, enabling users to run high-performance workflows that were previously unimaginable in such a compact design. Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro delivers faster performance, even more unified memory, and advanced connectivity, including support for up to two displays on the M2 model, and up to three displays on the M2 Pro model. Paired with Studio Display and Magic accessories, along with the power and ease of macOS Ventura, Mac mini provides a phenomenal desktop experience that will take users' productivity and creativity to the next level. Customers can order the new Mac mini models today, with availability beginning Tuesday, January 24.

"With incredible capabilities and a wide array of connectivity in its compact design, Mac mini is used in so many places, in so many different ways. Today, we're excited to take it even further with M2 and M2 Pro," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Bringing even more performance and a lower starting price, Mac mini with M2 is a tremendous value. And for users who need powerful pro performance, Mac mini with M2 Pro is unlike any other desktop in its class."

Apple today introduced an all-new iMac featuring a much more compact and remarkably thin design, enabled by the M1 chip. The new iMac offers powerful performance in a design that's just 11.5 millimeters thin, with a striking side profile that practically disappears. Available in an array of vibrant colors to match a user's personal style and brighten any space, iMac features a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness, and over a billion colors, delivering a brilliant and vivid viewing experience.

The new iMac also includes a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, studio-quality mics, and a six-speaker sound system—the best camera and audio ever in a Mac. Also, Touch ID comes to iMac for the first time, making it easier than ever to securely log in, make purchases with Apple Pay, or switch user profiles with the touch of a finger. Combining the power and performance of M1 and macOS Big Sur, apps launch with blazing speed, everyday tasks feel incredibly fast and fluid, and demanding workloads like editing 4K video and working with huge images are faster than ever. The new iMac joins the incredible family of Mac models powered by M1, including MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, marking another step forward in Apple's transition to Apple silicon. iMac is the most personal, powerful, capable, and fun it has ever been, and customers can order it beginning Friday, April 30. iMac will be available in the second half of May.

In a historic day for the Mac, Apple today announced it will transition the Mac to its world-class custom silicon to deliver industry-leading performance and powerful new technologies. Developers can now get started updating their apps to take advantage of the advanced capabilities of Apple silicon in the Mac. This transition will also establish a common architecture across all Apple products, making it far easier for developers to write and optimize their apps for the entire ecosystem.

Apple today also introduced macOS Big Sur, the next major release of macOS, which delivers its biggest update in more than a decade and includes technologies that will ensure a smooth and seamless transition to Apple silicon. Developers can easily convert their existing apps to run on Apple silicon, taking advantage of its powerful technologies and performance. And for the first time, developers can make their iOS and iPadOS apps available on the Mac without any modifications.

Apple today updated MacBook Air, the world's most loved notebook, with faster performance, the new Magic Keyboard, twice the storage and a new lower price of $999, and $899 for education. The new MacBook Air delivers up to two times faster CPU performance and up to 80 percent faster graphics performance, letting customers breeze through daily activities and play more games. Now starting with 256 GB of storage, MacBook Air allows customers to store even more movies, photos and files. With its brilliant 13-inch Retina display for vivid images and sharp text, Touch ID for easy login and secure online purchases, spacious trackpad, and all-day battery life combined with the power of macOS Catalina, it's the best MacBook Air ever made.

"From students and consumers buying their first computer to customers looking to upgrade, everyone loves the Mac, and they especially love MacBook Air. Today we're giving it a huge update, with two times faster performance, the new Magic Keyboard, double the storage, a new lower price of $999 and an even lower price of $899 for education," said Tom Boger, Apple's senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing. "With its stunning, thin and light design, brilliant Retina display, all-day battery life and the power and ease-of-use of macOS, MacBook Air is the world's best consumer notebook."

The new MacBook Air with Retina display is overall a nice upgrade from the old versions of these laptops. There's one caveat, though: the new T2 chip that manages Touch ID's Secure Enclave, APFS storage encryption or UEFI Secure Boot validation will make it impossible to boot with a Linux distribution. Apple's T2 documentation (PDF) explicitly covers how the support for booting Linux is not available: the Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011 certificate used also by Linux distributions isn't trusted at this moment, so the T2 chip will make it impossible to boot from Linux distributions. Only Windows is allowed to boot via Boot Camp at the moment.

Apple's Secure Boot support page shows how the new 'Startup Security Utility' can be used to disable Secure Boot, but some people have tried to boot Linux through this method and even with that change it's impossible to boot Linux. The problem extends to the rest of machines including the T2 Security Chip, like the Mac mini, the iMac Pro or the MacBook Pro 2018, for example. Apple hasn't made any comments on the issue.

We've been seeing rumors for months about the new iPad Pro and especially the successors to the MacBook Air, and we'll soon be able to confirm whether those rumors were true. Apple has issued media invites for an October 30 event in New York with the tagline "There's more in the making". The company is expected to announce the new iPad Pro, which could be based on a processor more powerful than the Apple A12 Bionic used on the new iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. This new tablet would have both 10.5 and a 12.9 inches models with slim bezels and Face ID. The rumors suggest the new iPad Pro will ditch the Lighting connector and replace it with a USB-C port.

Even more promising is that theoretical successor to MacBook Air (not necessarily called this way) that has been talked about for months. In August Bloomberg pointed out that this machine would have a Retina display whose size is not entirely clear: while DigiTimes talked about a 13-inch screen, Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst at TF International Securities, spoke of a replacement for the current MacBook that would therefore have a 12-inch screen. There is no info around its CPU/GPU, but the recent launch of 8th Gen U-Series and Y-Series processors makes guessing a fun exercise.

OWC, a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today introduced the OWC miniStack, a powerful external hard drive with USB 3.1 Gen 1 connectivity designed to stack perfectly with Mac mini. The new OWC miniStack offers exceptional performance, with transfer speeds up to 208 MB/s, capacities up to 6 TB, and an ultra-quiet MagLev cooling fan-all in a low-profile aluminum enclosure with a glossy black top designed to complement the look and feel of Mac computers. For virtually any Mac user, but especially those with a Mac mini desktop, home media library, or server, the OWC miniStack is an ideal solution to expand their computer's storage for documents, movies, photos, music, and to perform Time Machine backups.

"The OWC miniStack is an exciting new addition to our external storage lineup. Its footprint is identical to 2010 and later Mac mini, so it's a perfect external drive and Time Machine backup for our customers who use a Mac mini as a home computer, or with their home entertainment system," said Jen Soulé, President of OWC. "We designed the miniStack to be our most convenient, stackable external storage solution-and we think our customers who use a Mac at home are going to love its compact and stylish design."

Sonnet today announced the Echo Express SE I, the latest addition to the award-winning Echo Express line of Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe expansion systems. Like the other members of the Echo Express family, the SE I enables the use of a wide variety of high-performance PCI Express (PCIe) cards - originally designed for use in desktop computers - with any Mac or Windows computer with a Thunderbolt port. The new single-slot model supports nearly every Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card on the market, including double-width cards (PCIe card plus daughter card).

The Echo Express SE I features Thunderbolt 2 technology, which provides ample bandwidth for many of the most demanding, highest performance PCIe cards, and incorporates support for the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol, which enables video streaming to a 4K video monitor. The new expansion chassis is ideally suited for use with a wide variety of pro video capture, audio interface, SAS or SATA HBA, 16Gb or 8Gb Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and RAID controller PCIe cards, allowing them to connect with Thunderbolt-enabled iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro computers, as well as Mac Pro computers that lack PCIe expansion slots. Plus, the Echo Express SE I's dual Thunderbolt 2 ports not only support full-bandwidth connectivity with 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2-equipped host computers, but provide full backward compatibility with 10Gbps Thunderbolt-equipped computers and devices, and support daisy-chaining of other Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt devices.

Apple today updated Mac mini with the latest technologies and a new lower starting price, making Apple's most affordable Mac an even better value. Mac mini now features fourth generation Intel Core processors, integrated graphics that are up to 90 percent faster, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Thunderbolt 2 and is still the world's most energy efficient desktop.

"People love Mac mini. It's a great first Mac or addition to your home network, and the new Mac mini is a nice upgrade packed into an incredibly compact design," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With the latest CPU and graphics, faster Wi-Fi, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, OS X Yosemite, and starting at just $499, the new Mac mini is the best value ever."

HighPoint Technologies has launched the newest member of its comprehensive RocketStor 6300 Thunderbolt 2 Adapter series - the RocketStor 6361A Single-PCIe slot Thunderbolt 2 Expansion Chassis. The RocketStor 6361A is a ruggedly constructed, ultra-slim PCIe Expansion solution designed for Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 capable Mac platforms, and delivers dedicated 20Gb/s bandwidth for PCIe interface cards such as Media Capture, 10Gb/s Ethernet, Fibre Channel, or external Storage/RAID controllers. The RocketStor 6361A is ideal for customers that need to maximize Thunderbolt 2 transfer bandwidth for high-performance workflows.

The RocketStor 6361A may be the industry's most compact and lightweight PCIe expansion solution. The unit is only 2.3" wide, stands less than 7 inches tall, and weighs less than 4 lbs, yet is capable of supporting full-sized PCIe cards; an ideal solution for high-performance, compact and portable Mac platforms such as the Mac mini, MacBook and MacBook Air.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today introduced the OWC Mercury Helios+E2 Thunderbolt SSD Solution. The bootable 'all-in-one' storage performance and expansion solution offers owners of Thunderbolt technology enabled Macs and PCs sustained read/write data throughput up to 617MB/s from up to 960GB of OWC Mercury SSD capacity; two Thunderbolt interfaces for connecting multiple Thunderbolt devices; and two eSATA 6Gb/s expansion ports for connecting up to an additional 32TB or more of external storage/backup capacity.

Matrox today announced the worldwide availability of Matrox MXO2 Dock, an accessory that allows users of Matrox MXO2 I/O devices and MacBook Pro or MacBook Air to easily create an ideal ergonomic workspace for video editing and content creation. From a single Thunderbolt cable, users can connect an MXO2 I/O device plus add multiple peripherals including a large HDMI display, a full-size keyboard, and a mouse. A gigabit Ethernet port provides connectivity to a wired network, enabling data transfers 18 times faster than Wi-Fi. One SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port and two USB 2.0 ports are also provided.

"Many Matrox MXO2 users enjoy the portability of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air for field work, but would prefer a more comfortable work environment when they are spending the day in the edit suite," said Wayne Andrews, product manager at Matrox. "The new Matrox MXO2 Dock increases productivity by adding screen real estate and brings much-needed expandability for USB 3.0 storage, control surfaces, optical drives, and other peripherals."

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today confirmed its OWC Data Doubler Kit is compatible with the new 2012 Mac mini announced by Apple earlier this week. The 'do-it-yourself' kit enables mini owners to add a second internal 2.5" SATA hard drive up to 1.0TB or a high-performance Solid State Drive to complement the existing internal factory drive. Fully supported with all required parts, tools, and a step-by-step 'how-to' video, users can add an OWC Mercury 6G SSD up to 480GB in capacity starting from $83.99. With this kit, users can enjoy near instantaneous booting and application launches along with an incredible boost to overall system and application performance thanks to real-world sustained data rates of up to 559MB/s. While OWC highly recommends its Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSDs for the 6.0Gb/s data bus equipped 2011-2012 Apple mini, this DIY kit is fully compatible with all 9.5mm or smaller 2.5" Serial ATA SSDs, including the largest capacity in the 3G speed class OWC Mercury Electra 960GB SSD.

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced of 8GB and 16GB DDR3 memory upgrade kits for Apple Mac desktop and laptop systems.

Mac systems with two memory slots have traditionally been limited to only 8GB of memory. By increasing the individual module capacity to 8GB, Corsair's latest memory upgrade kits allow Mac owners to upgrade to 10GB, 12GB, or even 16GB of memory.

Apple released the latest version of its Mac mini desktop. Mac mini serves as an entry-level product to let consumers into the world of the Mac. Connected to any HDMI display, USB keyboard and mouse, the user is good to go. Its new specifications include Core 2 Duo CPU running at 2.40 GHz, 2 GB of memory, NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, 320 GB hard drive, slot-in DVD-writer, and connectivity which includes FireWire 800, USB 2.0, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n wireless network, and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR. It comes with Apple OSX Snow Leopard and iLife pre-installed. The new Mac Mini goes for US $699. A higher variant which goes for $999 includes OSX Snow Leopard Server, 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of memory, and 500 GB hard drive.

Apple today updated its Mac mini as well. Starting at $599, the new Mac mini is an innovative, tiny desktop that measures just 6.5 by 6.5 by 2 inches. Now it features a 2.0 GHz or 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M all-in-one platform with up to 256 MB shared for the video unit, up to 4 GB of DDR3 SO-DIMM memory (2x slots), and up to 320 GB of storage using 5400 rpm SATA hard drive. Drawing less than 13 watts of power in idle, the new Mac mini is also the world's most energy efficient desktop. You can find it in stores now.