Apple today announced the 2023 Mac mini with the M2 and M2 Pro chip variations. Despite the internal upgrades, the device features the same design that Apple introduced for the Mac mini a decade ago. Now, TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the 2024 model will retain the same design language as the current model.
A redesign of the Mac mini is unlikely to happen anytime soon
In a new tweet, the analyst highlighted a prediction he made 10 months ago about how the 2023 Mac mini would retain the same form factor design as its predecessors. Kuo also stated that the 2024 generation of the Mac mini will also look the same without providing any particular predictions regarding the processors that would be used in that model.
My new prediction for next new Mac mini is similar to the one I made about ten months ago. I think the new Mac mini in 2024 will likely remain the similar form factor design.
Apple may have decided to stick with the original design to save money on production costs. The base M2 model now costs $599, which is $100 less than the M1 model.
Along with highlighting his tweet regarding the Mac mini from 2022, Kuo also made a prediction on the use of 3nm CPUs in the 2024 MacBook Pro. The analyst anticipates the debut of such a model, which would replace the current model, In the first half of 2024.
I expect the next new MacBook Pro models, which will adopt M3 Pro/M3 Max processors made by 3nm (likely TSMC’s N3P or N3S), will go to mass production in 1H24.
A recent report also claimed that Apple’s M3 chips will be based on the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) 3nm process. This means that the updated MacBook Pro and Mac mini models will make sure of the enhanced technology. The technology will likely also be implemented in the A17 Bionic chip for the iPhone 15 Pro and Ultra.
Apple is reportedly going to be the only major tech company in 2023 to use TSMC’s enhanced 3nm semiconductor process. Mass production of 3nm chips has already begun.
