What are all the differences between the "Mid-2011" Aluminum "Unibody" Mac mini models and the "Mid-2010" models replaced?

With just a mere glance at the stock "Mid-2011" Mac mini models -- the Mac mini "Core i5" 2.3 (Mid-2011), "Core i5" 2.5 (Mid-2011) and "Core i7" 2.0 Server (Mid-2011) -- and the stock "Mid-2010" Mac mini models -- the Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 (Mid-2010) and 2.66 Server (Mid-2010) -- there is one obvious difference, but there are a number of less obvious and internal differences as well.

A sharp-eyed reader also will notice that three stock models have replaced two, and this change is well worth evaluating, also.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Non-Server Mid-2010 - Left, Mid-2011 - Right)

External Differences

All of the "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" Mac mini models use tiny "cuboid" aluminum cases -- just 7.7 inches across and deep and a miniscule 1.4 inches tall -- that have a "spin off" black plastic base on the bottom that can be removed quickly to access the RAM slots.

However, as is quickly apparent from the above image, the standard non-server Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 (Mid-2010) has an internal optical drive whereas the Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 Server (Mid-2010) and all "Mid-2011" Mac mini models lack an internal optical drive (although Apple sells an external one for US$79).

Connectivity Differences

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Rear - Mid-2011 Mac mini)

Connectivity is similar between the "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" lines, but there are a couple of significant differences as well.

Both lines share 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (although Apple stopped branding the wireless internet capabilities as "AirPort Extreme" for the "Mid-2011" models even though the technology is the same), four USB 2.0 ports, a single Firewire "800" port, combined "audio line in (digital/analog)" and combined "audio line out/headphone (digital/analog)" minijacks, a 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI port, and an SDXC-capable SD card slot (unofficially for the "Mid-2010" models and officially for the "Mid-2011" ones). All support IR for a remote, too.

Other connectivity is different, though. The "Mid-2011" models substitute the Mini DisplayPort from the "Mid-2010" models with a new "Thunderbolt" port. Thunderbolt is backwards compatible with Mini DisplayPort and likewise supports an external display at 2560x1600 and passes an audio signal as well. Thunderbolt also supports other peripherals that use the Thunderbolt standard which provides up to 10 Gbps of bandwidth in both directions. The "Mid-2011" models additionally support Bluetooth 4.0 rather than the older Bluetooth 2.1+EDR standard.

Identification Differences

Externally, the "Mid-2011" and "Mid-2010" Mac mini lines share a single A1347 Model Number, and as a result, it is not convenient to use for identification. However, these lines can be identified externally by EMC Number -- visible upon removing the bottom "spin off" panel to the right of the memory slots (when the ports are pointing toward you) -- and EveryMac.com has hand noted these differences accordingly. The "Mid-2010" Mac mini models display EMC Number 2364 whereas the "Mid-2011" Mac mini models display EMC Number 2442.

In software, the "Mid-2010" Mac mini models all share the Macmini4,1 Model Identifier whereas the "Mid-2011" Mac mini models can be identified by Model Identifiers of Macmini5,1, Macmini5,2 and Macmini5,3 for the entry-level 2.3 GHz model, the mid-level 2.5 GHz model and the Server model, respectively.

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature also can identify these models by the last four characters of their Serial Numbers.

Internal Differences

For all the external similarities, the "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" models differ substantially internally.

The "Mid-2010" models have Core 2 Duo processors, have a 1066 MHz frontside bus, support 1066 MHz PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM and 3 Gb/s Serial ATA connectors, and have NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics. The "Mid-2011" models, by contrast, have significantly faster "Sandy Bridge" Core i5 or Core i7 processors, a 5 GT/s "Direct Media Interface" in lieu of the system bus, support 1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM, 6 Gb/s Serial ATA connectors, and have either Intel HD Graphics 3000 or AMD Radeon HD 6630 graphics.

The specific differences between processors, architectures, configurations and price for the "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2011" models are summarized below.

Comparison Charts

The single "regular" configuration of the "Mid-2010" Mac mini -- the Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 (Mid-2010) -- became two configurations in the "Mid-2011" line -- the Mac mini "Core i5" 2.3 (Mid-2011) and "Core i5" 2.5 (Mid-2011) -- which offer widespread improvement (particularly for graphics performance on the higher-end model), and a lower entry-level price tag, but lose the optical drive:

	"Mid-2010" Mac mini	"Mid-2011" Mac mini
Processor Type:	Core 2 Duo (P8600)*	Core i5 (2415M, 2520M)**
Processor Speed:	2.4 GHz*	2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz**
System Bus/DMI:	1066 MHz	5 GT/s
Standard RAM:	2 GB	2 GB, 4 GB
RAM Type:	1066 MHz DDR3	1333 MHz DDR3
Hard Drive:	320 GB	500 GB
SATA Support:	3 Gb/s	6 Gb/s
Optical Drive:	8X DL "SuperDrive"	None
Graphics Processor:	NVIDIA GeForce 320M	HD Graphics 3000 Radeon HD 6630M
VRAM Type:	Integrated	Integrated Dedicated
Standard VRAM:	256 MB (Shared)	288 MB (Shared) 256 MB (GDDR5)
Display Ports:	HDMI, Mini DisplayPort	HDMI, Thunderbolt
Bluetooth:	2.1+EDR	4.0
Order Numbers:	MC270LL/A	MC815LL/A MC816LL/A
EMC Number:	2364	2442
Model Identifier:	Macmini4,1	Macmini5,1 Macmini5,2
Intro Price:	US$699	US$599 US$799

* The "Mid-2010" model also was available via custom configuration with a 2.66 GHz "Core 2 Duo" (P8800) processor for an additional US$150. As requested by readers, EveryMac.com additionally has documented this custom configuration as its own model.

** The 2.5 GHz "Mid-2011" model also is available via custom configuration with a 2.7 GHz "Core i7" (I7-2620M) processor for an extra US$100. As requested by readers, EveryMac.com additionally has documented this custom configuration as its own model.

The server configuration of the "Mid-2010" Mac mini line -- the Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 Server (Mid-2010) -- gains a massively faster quad core processor as well as architecture improvements with the "Mid-2011" model -- the Mac mini "Core i7" 2.0 Server (Mid-2011):

	"Mid-2010" Mac mini Server	"Mid-2011" Mac mini Server
Processor Type:	Core 2 Duo (P8800)	Core i7 (2635QM)
Processor Cores:	2	4
Processor Speed:	2.66 GHz	2.0 GHz
L2/L3 Cache:	3 MB	256k x4, 6 MB
System Bus/DMI:	1066 MHz	5 GT/s
Standard RAM:	4 GB	4 GB
RAM Type:	1066 MHz DDR3	1333 MHz DDR3
Hard Drive:	500 GB x2	500 GB
SATA Support:	3 Gb/s	6 Gb/s
Optical Drive:	None	None
Graphics Processor:	NVIDIA GeForce 320M	HD Graphics 3000
VRAM Type:	Integrated	Integrated
Standard VRAM:	256 MB (Shared)	384 MB (Shared)
Display Ports:	HDMI, Mini DisplayPort	HDMI, Thunderbolt
Bluetooth:	2.1+EDR	4.0
Order Number:	MC438LL/A	MC936LL/A
EMC Number:	2364	2442
Model Identifier:	Macmini4,1	Macmini5,3
Intro Price:	US$999	US$999

Comparison Summary

Ultimately, the "Mid-2011" Mac mini models are a "four steps forward, one step back" kind of upgrade. For most users, losing the optical drive is well worth the lower entry-level price, the substantially enhanced performance, and the additional connectivity. However, for others, the internal optical drive still is a valued feature, and the "Mid-2010" line remains well worth consideration as a result, particularly given discount prices on the used market.

Site sponsor PowerMax has new and used Mac mini models available for sale free of sales tax. Other World Computing sells Mac mini memory and hard drive upgrades at affordable prices.

Please refer to the Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to dynamically compare any Mac mini model to any other G3 or later Mac.