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Which Mac mini do I have? Identifying Apple Products

Which Mac mini do I have? Identifying Apple Products

Apple released the Mac mini back in January 2005 and there has since been 17 updates and 6 major revisions. This can make it confusing if you are trying to figure out which model you have!

Did you know the first Mac mini used an IBM PowerPC processor, had an integrated DVD drive and WiFi was an additional upgrade! Storage was configurable to a maximum of 80GB and 1GB memory was the most memory it could accept. The Mac mini has certainly come a long way since then, now using Apple’s latest M1 processor.

Figuring out which Mac mini you have can be helpful if you are looking to sell, would like to know which version of macOS it can run, or checking if you can upgrade the storage or memory.


How to check which Mac mini you have

Check “About This Mac”

Click on the Apple top left, then click About This Mac. This will open a window where you can see the model year and the specification of your Mac mini. To check your storage drive and size, click the Storage tab.

About This Mac - Mac mini

Lookup the serial number

If your Mac won’t power on then About This Mac won’t be much help! Luckily Apple print the device serial number on the base of the Mac mini. You can then use this 12 digit alphanumerical code to check with Apple here.


Found your Mac mini? Now, what can it do?

Use our handy cheatsheet below to find out if you can run a newer version of macOS, or check whether you can upgrade your memory (RAM) or storage drive.

Model Year Model Number Model Identifier Maximum OS Upgradable Memory Upgradable Storage Geekbench 5 Score (multi)

Early 2005

A1103

PowerMac10,1

Mac OS X 10.5.8

Yes - user upgradeable. 1GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Late 2005

A1103

PowerMac10,2

Mac OS X 10.5.8

Yes - user upgradeable. 1GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Early 2006

A1176

Macmini1,1

Mac OS X 10.6.8

Yes - user upgradeable. 2GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Late 2006

A1176

Macmini1,1

Mac OS X 10.6.8

Yes - user upgradeable. 2GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Mid 2007

A1176

Macmini2,1

Mac OS X 10.7.5

Yes - user upgradeable. 3GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Early 2009

A1283

Macmini3,1

Mac OS X 10.11.6

Yes - user upgradeable. 8GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Late 2009

A1283

Macmini3,1

Mac OS X 10.11.6

Yes - user upgradeable. 8GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Mid 2010

A1347

Macmini4,1

macOS 10.13.6

Yes - user upgradeable. 16GB max

Yes - requires tools

N/A

Mid 2011

A1347

Macmini5,1 and Macmini5,2

macOS 10.13.6

Yes - user upgradeable. 16GB max

Yes - requires tools

Core i5 2.3GHz - 1125, Core i5 2.5GHz - 1251, Core i7 2.7GHz - 1277

Late 2012

A1347

Macmini6,1 and Macmini6,2

macOS 10.15.7

Yes - user upgradeable. 16GB max

Yes - requires tools

Core i5 2.5GHz - 1268, Core i7 2.3GHz - 2630, Core i7 2.6GHz - 2816

Late 2014

A1347

Macmini6,1 and Macmini6,2

macOS 10.15.7

No

Yes - requires tools

Core i5 1.4GHz - 1226, Core i5 2.6GHz - 1498, Core i5 2.6GHz - 1642, Core i7 3.0GHz - 1628

A1993

Macmini8,1

Latest version of macOS (Jun 22)

Yes - tools required. 64GB max

No

Core i3 3.6GHz - 3258, Core i5 3.0GHz - 4760, Core i7 3.2GHz - 5646

A2348

Macmini9,1

Latest version of macOS (Jun 22)

No

No

7413

2023

A2348

Mac14,3 (M2) Mac14,12 (M2 Pro)
Model Number    

Latest version of macOS (Jun 22)

No

No

M2 (8-core) - 8802, M2 (10-core) - 11857, M2 Pro - 14563

 

You can find guides for upgrading memory and storage (where possible) on iFixit’s website, complete with step by step instructions. If your Mac mini is past it’s prime and you are looking to upgrade check out our range of refurbished Mac mini here.