The $499 price tag on the 2014 model certainly highlighted this fact.
The Mini has long been Apple’s entry-level desktop. By jacking up the price 60 percent, Apple is moving away from the entry-level macOS machine that was the Mac mini of old as Brian Heater from TechCrunch points out. The price bump seems to be the primary complaint with most reviewers. This one will run you $799, which is $300 more than the previous iteration’s base configuration. The base unit is powered by a 3.6GHz Intel Core i3, 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4, and a 128GB SSD. It has been four years since the tiny desktop unit has seen a refresh so it might not be a surprise that there have been significant hardware upgrades. The entry unit is as powerful as a 2017 iMac but configurable to be just as comfortable 'sitting in stacks within a render farm.' Other than the significant price increase, most reviewers had good things to say about the overdue refresh of Apple's SFF Mac. Bottom line: Reviews for the 2018 Mac mini are in, and they are mostly positive.
