New Apple Mac Mini vs Windows Desktop PC – The winner is clear
Apple recently unveiled its new Mac Mini at an event in New York.
The company’s new device sports a Space Gray case and a completely-overhauled set of specifications.
Apple announced that the Mac Mini would make use of Intel’s latest generation of Core processor to deliver a large performance boost over the previous generation of devices.
However, Apple products command a premium price tag over their Android or Windows counterparts, with the Mac Mini no exception.
To determine the extent of this premium, we compared the specifications of a new Mac Mini with those of an equivalently-priced Windows 10 PC.
As the new Apple Mac Mini is not currently available in South Africa, we compared the dollar pricing of both PCs.
Mac Mini
Apple’s new Mac Mini is available in a number of configurations with different processor models, RAM configurations, and storage capacities.
For the purposes of this article, we used the price of the standard Mac Mini Core i5 model with no additional improvements.
This device boasts a 256GB SSD, hexa-core processor, and 8GB of RAM – priced at $1,099.
| Apple Mac Mini | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel 8th-gen Core i5 |
| RAM | 8GB DDR4 2,666MHz |
| Storage | 256GB SSD |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 |
| Ports | 4x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 1x Ethernet, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 1x 3.5mm jack |
| Connectivity | 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Price | $1,099 |
Windows 10 PC
For the price of the Mac Mini listed above, you can build a pretty impressive gaming PC – or a powerhouse professional workstation.
We put together a simple build list for a PC which is priced similarly to the Mac Mini below.
The components we put together would deliver a PC far more powerful than the Mac Mini, especially in graphics performance thanks to its dedicated GPU.
Dollar pricing from Newegg. was used in the comparison, and Windows is not included in the cost of the device. Purchased separately, is available for around $99.
If a buyer wishes to factor in the cost of the Windows 10 operating system, they could remove the extra storage drive, 8GB RAM stick, or swap out the GPU for a cheaper model to account for the additional cost.
| Component | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-8500 | $285 |
| RAM | 1x 8GB Team T-Force DDR4 2,400MHz | $60 |
| 1x 8GB Team T-Force DDR4 2,400MHz | $60 | |
| Storage | 1x 256GB Intel 545s SATA SSD | $50 |
| 1x 1TB Toshiba P300 Hard Drive | $50 | |
| GPU | EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 | $380 |
| Motherboard | ASRock H370 Pro 4 Micro-ATX | $88 |
| Chassis | Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L | $40 |
| PSU | Corsair CX650 650W | $60 |
| Total Price | $1,073 |
Windows 10 PC is the winner
Apple’s Mac Mini packs some great features and sports a compact, modern chassis design.
However, a Windows 10 PC still offers better value for money in terms of hardware and performance, even with the cost of the operating system factored into the comparison.
The biggest notable difference between the two would be the lack of dedicated graphics in the Mac Mini, making it far inferior to the competing Windows 10 build with its high-performance Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card.
This makes it the clear winner.
While the Windows 10 PC offers the better raw performance, one of Apple’s biggest attractions is its closed but highly-functional ecosystem and software.
This design makes it infinitely easier to use if you have other Apple devices, especially compared to using both Windows and Apple devices.
For this reason, the Mac Mini could remain the preferred choice for Apple fans who do not need high graphics performance and would rather pay more for the familiar software environment.
Now read: Radeon Pro Vega graphics coming to MacBook Pro
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