The Mac mini at 20 – we remember Apple’s tiniest Mac

“I wish I had a nickel for every time somebody asked me that,” said Steve Jobs at Macworld San Francisco 2005. He was pointing at a slide that read: Why doesn’t Apple offer a stripped-down Mac that is more affordable? And then, those people’s dreams came true as Apple unveiled the smallest Mac imaginable – the Mac mini – which has now hit 20.

Really? That Mac doesn’t look particularly ‘mini’ to me…

To be fair, it was 2005. A typical cheapo desktop PC back then was a nondescript tower hewn from plastic. But the Mac mini was affordable without abandoning Apple’s eye for design. For years, potential switchers had griped that Apple should offer a cheaper, stripped-down Mac. Apple wanted to leave them with no excuses. So it gave them this sleek, small computer with an aluminium case and loads of industry-standard ports. And also one excuse, in that the Mac mini was ‘BYODKM’.

I can do random letters too! Was the Mac mini also ‘JFCWITN’?

No, because ‘BYODKM’ did actually stand for something: Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard and Mouse. Apple reckoned folks who’d got their first taste of the company by way of the iPod might not yet be quite ready to go all-in. So the package was suitably mini itself, only having a computer and power supply inside. People were expected to use the peripherals they already owned… even if they did look like garbage next to the shiny new Mac. Still, it worked: switching became a thing.

Hurrah! The little guy won, just like in all those feel-good movies.

The computer was small, but even in 2005 Apple was a giant. And it hadn’t got there without being smart: the mini used laptop components to keep down noise, heat and size, but to make the “cheapest computer Apple’s ever offered” the company skimped on RAM and storage – and made megabucks from upgrades. Sound familiar? Yep: maxing out the RAM and storage on the latest mini costs more than buying a second machine. Which makes it very easy to end up with a Mac whose price is anything but mini.

• Related: The Apple Mac at 40 – and 6 of the best desktop Macs

Craig Grannell Contributor

About

I’m a regular contributor to Stuff magazine and Stuff.tv, covering apps, games, Apple kit, Android, Lego, retro gaming and other interesting oddities. I also pen opinion pieces when the editor lets me, getting all serious about accessibility and predicting when sentient AI smart cookware will take over the world, in a terrifying mix of Bake Off and Terminator.

Areas of expertise

Mobile apps and games, Macs, iOS and tvOS devices, Android, retro games, crowdfunding, design, how to fight off an enraged smart saucepan with a massive stick.