Leaks Suggest M2 Mac mini, 'Tower' Are Incoming

pcmag.com:

Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) from June 6-10, and to hear the internet tell it, the company is preparing to announce everything from a redesigned iPad and refreshed MacBook Air to a mixed reality headset and iPhone with an always-on display.

A new leak suggests that Apple is also planning to reveal a new Mac mini with an M2 system-on-chip. B&H Photo Video has listed(Opens in a new window) an "Apple MAC MINI 8/256 M2" on its website. Presumably that refers to a model featuring an M2 chip, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage.

It would track for Apple to release a Mac mini with an M2 chip alongside a new MacBook Air. The company introduced the M1 chip with new models of the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro in 2020; maintaining some level of parity across those product lines makes sense.

B&H Photo Video has also hinted at a bigger surprise with a listing(Opens in a new window) for "Apple MAC MINI TOWER 8/256 M1P." Most of that makes sense—it seems like a Mac mini with an M1 Pro chip, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage. But the reference to a "tower" is a bit harder to make sense of.

9to5Mac guesses(Opens in a new window) that B&H Photo Video is referring to a new Mac Pro featuring Apple's custom silicon. That wouldn't come as too much of a surprise. The company last updated the Mac Pro in 2019, and every other Mac has received some version of the M1 chip, or been discontinued.

It would be odd for Apple to release a Mac Pro with an M1 Pro instead of an M2, but it's possible that a base model M2 wouldn't be able to compete with later versions of the M1, thanks to Apple's staggered rollout. Maybe better performance would trump the latest branding.

We should find out soon enough...