The Mac mini debuted in 2005 and was touted as the most affordable Mac on the market, as well as the smallest. Its case measured 2.0 × 6.5 × 6.5 inches, about the size of a small porcelain plate. The mini’s exterior was fabricated from aluminum, with polycarbonate plastic caps on the bottom and top. The original mini used 32-bit PowerPC processors and clocked at 167 MHz. The mini allowed for a maximum of one gigabyte of memory, with only a single DIMM (dual in-line memory module, a series of random access memory circuits). It used a single 2.5-inch hard drive, with a maximum transfer rate of 100 megabytes per second. As you might have guessed, these specifications are not great. The real draw of the mini was its price and the fact that it didn’t take up nearly as much space as a regular computer tower. 

Fast forward to 2010, when the third generation Mac mini was released. This mini came with a thinner unibody aluminum case, as well as an internal power supply and an SD card slot. A 2011 update added a Thunderbolt port. Its dual-core Intel i5 and quad-core i7 processors supported up to 16 gigabytes of memory, a real step up from its predecessors. This mini heavily improved upon the performance of the older generations, adding Bluetooth capabilities. 

Then, in 2018, the fourth generation of the Mac mini was released. This mini had Intel Coffee Lake processors (Intel’s fifth-generation chip, using Haswell architecture). With Bluetooth 5, four USB-C ports, and flash storage, this mini was a big step forward for miniature PCs. The storage worked up to a maximum of two terabytes, and the RAM was increased to a baseline of eight gigabytes. The chassis is constructed from the same aluminum, with a unibody design, but the color is the darker “space gray.” 

At Mac of All Trades, we sell Used Mac Minis across the entire product line. You can save big by purchasing a used Mac mini serviced by our refurbishment experts. A Used Mac mini makes a great media server. It’s an easy way to play movies and music. It’s also one of the most stylish of all the Apple computers. 

Now, buying a used computer can give people pause, but know that our products have been tested by a team of experts, who have served the Apple community for over two decades. Each of our products undergoes a rigorous 40-point inspection, wherein we test every component of the products’ hardware for performance. In the case of the mini, that means testing the speed of the hard drive, the capacity of the memory, and the functionality of its ports. 

Although we are an e-commerce company, we are easy to reach by phone or email. Get the process started by calling 800-581-8987 so we can help you find the Apple product that best suits your needs. In addition to Mac minis, we also sell iMacs, MacBooks, Mac Pros, iPads, iPhones, Apple Watches, and assorted Apple accessories and parts.