New Mac mini: Operation "Sandy Bridge"

Apple announced brand new Mac minis today, with notable changes.

Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors have been added to Apple’s new line of Mac minis in the form of Intel Core i5s. Now, what is “Sandy Bridge,” you ask? Specifically, that’s the name of the processor that is the successor to the Nehalem processor. Sandy Bridge processors are touted to be “up to 2x faster” per Apple’s claims.

The new Mac minis sport faster graphics (with a discrete AMD Radeon HD graphics processor) and also include support for Thunderbolt connectivity. The Thunderbolt port gives access for the new Apple Thunderbolt Display and also supports Mini DisplayPort peripherals. Mac mini features an HDMI and built-in SDXC card slot.

What’s more (or should I say “what’s less) is that these new models have eliminated optical drives, taking a cue from the MacBook Air line. A separate SuperDrive is available for purchase.

My favorite part so far? NO MORE POWER BRICK. Mac mini now has a built-in power brick, so all you see is a single cord.

Standard configurations:

• 2.3GHz Intel Core i5, 500 GB hard drive, 2GB RAM: $599.99
• 2.5GHz Intel Core i5, 500 GB hard drive, 4GB RAM: $799.99

Server configuration:

• 2.0GHz, dual 500GB hard drives, 4GB RAM: $999.99

All models come with Lion (OS 10.7) pre-installed.

We will be listing these and CTO options shortly. More updates as we get them!