Apple Mac mini "Core i7" 2.7 (Mid-2011) Specs

Identifiers: Mid-2011 - BTO/CTO - Macmini5,2 - A1347 - 2442

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The Mac mini "Core i7" 2.7 (Mid-2011/Aluminum Unibody) technically is a "configure-to-order" configuration of the MC816LL/A Mac mini "Core i5" 2.5 (Mid-2011/Aluminum Unibody), but also is documented as a separate model for reader convenience. Other than processor (and the corresponding larger level 3 cache), these two models are identical.

The Apple Mac mini "Core i7" 2.7 (Mid-2011/Aluminum Unibody) features a 32-nm "Sandy Bridge" 2.7 GHz Intel "Core i7" (2620M) processor with two independent processor "cores" on a single chip, a 4 MB shared level 3 cache, 4 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM (PC3-10600) memory, a 500 GB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory. It does not have an internal optical drive, although an external one could be purchased for US$79.

Connectivity includes a Firewire "800" port, four USB 2.0 ports, combined "audio line in (digital/analog)" and combined "audio line out/headphone (digital/analog)" minijacks, a 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet port, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, an SDXC card slot and an HDMI port as well as a new "Thunderbolt" port that is backwards compatible with Mini DisplayPort and likewise supports an external display at 2560x1600 and passes an audio signal as well. Thunderbolt also supports other peripherals that use the Thunderbolt standard which provides up to 10 Gbps of bandwidth in both directions.

Compared to its non-server predecessor, the most obvious external difference is that this model lacks an optical drive, but it also has the aforementioned Thunderbolt port and is a bit lighter. Internally, it also has a faster processor, architecture, RAM and graphics as well as improved wireless capabilities.

All Mac mini systems are configured by default without a display, keyboard, or mouse, but numerous Apple and third-party options are available.

Also see:

• What are all the differences between the "Mid-2011" Aluminum Mac mini models? Which is best for my needs?
• What are all the differences between the "Mid-2011" Aluminum Mac mini models and the models replaced?

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• Tech Specs
• Ports
• Global Original Prices
• Popular Q&As

Tech Specs

Click on a category for related details. The most commonly needed info is "open" by default, but all info is important. Asterisks (*) reference data in details fields.

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Introduction Date:

July 20, 2011

Discontinued Date:

October 23, 2012

Details:

The "Introduction Date" refers to the date a model was introduced via press release. The "Discontinued Date" refers to the date a model either was replaced by a subsequent system or production otherwise ended. Also see: All Macs introduced in 2011.

Processors:

1 (2 Cores)

Architecture:

64-Bit

Details:

Also see: All models with a 64-Bit processor courtesy of EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Sort.

Geekbench 2 (32):

6980

Geekbench 2 (64):

7758

Details:

Geekbench 2 benchmarks are in 32-bit and 64-bit modes, respectively. These numbers reflect an average of user provided 32-bit and 64-bit results as submitted to the Geekbench website. Higher numbers are better. You also might be interested in reviewing all 32-bit and 64-bit Geekbench 2 user submissions for Macs with the Macmini5,2 Model Identifier, which may include multiple models. To dynamically compare Geekbench 2 results from different Macs side-by-side, see EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Geekbench 3 (32):

2455

Geekbench 3 (32):

4904

Details:

These Geekbench 3 benchmarks are in 32-bit mode and are for a single processor core and all processor cores, respectively. Both numbers reflect an average of user provided results as submitted to the Geekbench website. Higher numbers are better. You also might be interested in reviewing all 32-bit single core and multicore Geekbench 3 user submissions for Macs with the Macmini5,2 Model Identifier, which may include multiple models. To dynamically compare 32-bit Geekbench 3 results from different Macs side-by-side, see EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Geekbench 3 (64):

2706

Geekbench 3 (64):

5510

Details:

These Geekbench 3 benchmarks are in 64-bit mode and are for a single processor core and all processor cores, respectively. Both numbers reflect an average of user provided results as submitted to the Geekbench website. Higher numbers are better. You also might be interested in reviewing all 64-bit single core and multicore Geekbench 3 user submissions for Macs with the Macmini5,2 Model Identifier, which may include multiple models. To dynamically compare 64-bit Geekbench 3 results from different Macs side-by-side, see EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Geekbench 4 (SC):

3088

Geekbench 4 (MC):

5945

Details:

These Geekbench 4 benchmarks are are for a single processor core and all processor cores, respectively. All Geekbench 4 benchmarks are 64-bit. Both numbers reflect an average of user provided results as submitted to the Geekbench website. Higher numbers are better. You also might be interested in reviewing all single core and multicore Geekbench 4 user submissions for Macs with the Macmini5,2 Model Identifier, which may include multiple models. To dynamically compare Geekbench 4 results from different Macs side-by-side, see EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Geekbench 5 (SC):

587

Geekbench 5 (MC):

1289

Details:

These Geekbench 5 benchmarks are are for a single processor core and all processor cores, respectively. All Geekbench 5 benchmarks for the Mac are 64-bit. Both numbers reflect an average of user provided results as submitted to the Geekbench website. Higher numbers are better. You also might be interested in reviewing all single core and multicore Geekbench 5 user submissions for Macs with the Macmini5,2 Model Identifier, which may include multiple models. To dynamically compare Geekbench 5 results from different Macs side-by-side, see EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Comparison.

Processor Speed:

2.7 GHz

Processor Type:

Core i7 (I7-2620M)

Details:

This model is powered by a 32 nm, 64-bit Intel Mobile Core i7 "Sandy Bridge" (I7-2620M) processor which includes two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip. Each core has a dedicated 256k level 2 cache, shares 4 MB of level 3 cache, and has an integrated memory controller (dual channel). This system also supports "Turbo Boost 2.0" -- which "automatically increases the speed of the active cores" to improve performance when needed (up to 3.4 GHz for this model) -- and "Hyper Threading" -- which allows the system to recognize four total "cores" or "threads" (two real and two virtual). Also see: How fast are the "Mid-2011" Aluminum "Unibody" Mac mini models compared to the "Mid-2010" models replaced?

Turbo Boost:

3.4 GHz

Custom Speeds:

N/A

Details:

N/A

Processor Upgrade:

Soldered

FPU:

Integrated

Details:

The processor is soldered directly to the motherboard.

System Bus Speed:

5 GT/s*

Cache Bus Speed:

2.7 GHz (Built-in)

Details:

*This system has a "Direct Media Interface" (DMI) that "connects between the processor and chipset" in lieu of a traditional system bus. Intel reports that it runs at 5 GT/s.

ROM/Firmware Type:

EFI

EFI Architecture:

64-Bit

Details:

N/A

L1 Cache:

32k/32k x2

L2/L3 Cache:

256k x2, 4 MB (on chip)

Details:

Each core has its own dedicated 256k level 2 cache and the system has 4 MB of shared level 3 cache.

RAM Type:

PC3-10600 DDR3

Min. RAM Speed:

1333 MHz

Details:

Supports 1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SO-DIMMs. Also see: How do you upgrade the RAM in the Aluminum "Unibody" Mac mini models? How much RAM of what type do they actually support?

Standard RAM:

4 GB

Maximum RAM:

16 GB*

Details:

By default, 4 GB is installed as two 2 GB modules. *Officially, this model supports 8 GB of RAM, but as first discovered by OWC, it actually is capable of supporting 16 GB of RAM using two 8 GB modules. In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells memory -- as well as other upgrades -- for this Mac mini. In the UK, site sponsor Flexx sells memory and other upgrades for this Mac mini. In Germany, site sponsor CompuRAM sells memory and other upgrades for this Mac mini. In Australia, site sponsor Upgradeable sells memory and other upgrades for this Mac mini. Also see: Actual Max RAM of All G3 & Later Macs.

Motherboard RAM:

None

RAM Slots:

2

Details:

N/A

Video Card:

Radeon HD 6630M

VRAM Type:

GDDR5

Details:

This model has an AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory. Also see: What type of video system is provided by the Aluminum Mac mini models? Which are integrated and which are dedicated? Can the video be upgraded? In Spain, site sponsor iRepairs provides affordable repair and data recovery services. In-person and by mail repair services include the graphics card, power supply, and more for this Mac mini.

Standard VRAM:

256 MB

Maximum VRAM:

256 MB

Details:

The AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics processor has 256 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory.

Display Support:

Three Displays

Resolution Support:

1920x1200*

Details:

*This model simultaneously supports 1920x1200 on an HDMI display or a DVI display using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter and 2560x1600 on two Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort displays or even a VGA display (with an optional Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, which is compatible with the Thunderbolt port).

2nd Display Support:

Dual/Mirroring*

2nd Max. Resolution:

2560x1600 (x2)*

Details:

*This model simultaneously supports 1920x1200 on an HDMI or a DVI display (using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter) and 2560x1600 on two Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort displays or even a VGA display (with an optional Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, which is compatible with the Thunderbolt port).

Standard Storage:

500 GB HDD

Std. Storage Speed:

5400 RPM

Details:

This model also could be equipped with a 750 GB, 7200 RPM hard drive for an additional US$150, a 256 GB SSD for an additional US$600 or a 750 GB 7200 RPM hard drive and a 256 GB SSD for an additional US$750. Also see: How do you upgrade the hard drive(s) in the Aluminum "Unibody" Mac mini models? What type of hard drive(s) do they support? In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells storage upgrades for this Mac mini. In the UK, site sponsor Flexx sells storage upgrades for this Mac mini. In Australia, site sponsor Upgradeable sells storage upgrades for this Mac mini. Also see: SSD Compatibility Guide for All G3 & Later Macs.

Storage Dimensions:

2.5" (9.5 mm) x2

Storage Interface:

Serial ATA (6 Gb/s) x2

Details:

Regardless of the storage pre-installed, this model supports dual SATA II (3 Gb/s) 2.5" hard drives or SSDs that are each up to 9.5 mm thick.

Standard Optical:

None*

Standard Disk:

None

Details:

*This Mac mini does not have an internal optical drive. Site sponsor Adorama offers the external Apple USB SuperDrive for US$79. It writes DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL at 4X, DVD-R and DVD+R at 8X, DVD-RW at 6X, DVD+RW at 8X, reads DVD at 8X, writes CD-R at 24X, writes CD-RW at 16X, and reads CD at 24X. Site sponsor Other World Computing also has a variety of compact external optical drive options that may be of interest. OWC also offers a "Data Doubler" mounting kit for this model. It makes it simple to install a second hard drive or SSD in the available drive bay of this Mac mini. Also see: What are the full capabilities of the external SuperDrive? Can it be used with other Macs?

Standard Modem:

None

Standard Ethernet:

10/100/1000Base-T

Details:

N/A

Standard AirPort:

802.11a/b/g/n

Standard Bluetooth:

4.0

Details:

802.11n (802.11a/b/g capable as well) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 standard. As a minor point, Apple quietly stopped referring to the wireless networking (802.11n) as AirPort Extreme with this Mac mini. Also see: What is 802.11n? How is it different from 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a?

USB Ports:

4 (2.0)

Firewire Ports:

1 (800)

Details:

Four 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire "800" port.

Expansion Slots:

SD Card (SDXC)

Expansion Bays:

None

Details:

This model has an SDXC Card slot. In the US (and many other countries), site sponsor Other World Computing sells a wide variety of external expansion options and hand-picked accessories like external storage, stands, keyboards, cables, adapters, speakers, and more for this Mac mini.

Incl. Keyboard:

None

Incl. Input:

None

Details:

No Mac mini systems ship with a keyboard or mouse.

Case Type:

Cuboid

Form Factor:

Mac mini Unibody

Details:

Uses a tiny case -- milled from a single block of aluminum -- that is 7.7 inches wide and deep and 1.4 inches tall.

Apple Order No:

BTO/CTO

Apple Subfamily:

Mid-2011

Details:

As this model technically is a custom configuration of the Mac mini "Core i5" 2.5 (Mid-2011), it does not have its own order number.

Apple Model No:

A1347 (EMC 2442)

Model ID:

Macmini5,2

Details:

Please note that these identifiers often refer to more than one model. Also see: All Macs with the A1347 Model Number, the 2442 EMC Number, and the Macmini5,2 Model Identifier. For more about these identifiers and how to locate them on each Mac, please refer to EveryMac.com's Mac Identification section.

Battery Type:

N/A

Battery Life:

N/A

Details:

N/A

Pre-Installed MacOS:

X 10.7 (11A2061)

Maximum MacOS:

X 10.13.x*

Details:

*This system fully supports the last version of OS X 10.8 "Mountain Lion" as well as OS X 10.9 "Mavericks" with the exception of the "Power Nap" feature. It is compatible with the last version of OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" and OS X 10.11 "El Capitan" as well, but advanced feature support is limited to Mac-to-Mac AirDrop and AirPlay Mirroring. Other major features are not supported. It is capable of running macOS Sierra (10.12) also, although it does not support the Universal Clipboard, Auto Unlock, and Apple Pay features. Finally, this model is capable of running macOS High Sierra (10.13), and it supports HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding), but it does not support hardware accelerated HEVC. It is not compatible with macOS Mojave (10.14) or later versions of the operating system. Also see: Which Macs are compatible with macOS High Sierra (10.13)? What are the system requirements? Which Macs support HEVC?

Minimum Windows:

7 (32-Bit)*

Maximum Windows:

8.1 (64-Bit)*

Details:

*Apple's Boot Camp 4 supports the 32-bit version of Windows 7 on this model and Boot Camp 5 supports the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8. Earlier versions of Windows are not supported. Although Apple does not support Windows 10 via Boot Camp 5 (officially or otherwise), this system meets Microsoft's hardware requirements and it very well may be possible to boot Windows 10 on this Mac. If you have installed Windows 10 on this system (successfully or unsuccessfully), please share the results of your experiment. Thank you.

MacOS 9 Support:

None

Windows Support:

Boot/Virtualization

Details:

Also see: Are there any third-party programs to run Mac OS 9/Classic applications on Intel Macs? For more on running Windows on Intel Macs, please refer to the exhaustive Windows on Mac Q&A.

Dimensions:

1.4 x 7.7 x 7.7

Avg. Weight:

2.7 lbs. (1.22 kg)

Details:

In inches - height by width by depth, (3.6 cm, 19.7 cm, 19.7 cm)

Original Price (US):

US$899

Est. Current Retail:

US$100-US$200

Details:

This configure-to-order Mac mini is the same as the MC816LL/A configuration, but has been custom configured with a 2.7 GHz "Core i7" processor for an additional US$100, which brings the original total to US$899. Photo Credit: Apple, Inc.

Ports

Click on a category for additional details. The most commonly needed info is "open" by default, but all info is important. The icons correspond with the icons for each port on the computer.

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Video (Monitor):

2*

Floppy (Ext.):

None

Details:

*1 HDMI and 1 Thunderbolt port. Supports 1920x1200 on an HDMI or a DVI display (using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter) and 2560x1600 on as many as two daisy-chained Thunderbolt displays (it also supports a Mini DisplayPort display or even a VGA display (with an optional Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter). Thunderbolt is backwards-compatible with Mini DisplayPort-equipped displays as well as adapters that are compatible with Mini DisplayPort (DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI). Thunderbolt likewise can support other peripherals that use the Thunderbolt standard, which provides a maximum theoretical 10 Gbps of bandwidth in both directions.

ADB:

None

SCSI:

None

Details:

N/A

Serial (Standard):

None

Serial (Geoport):

None

Details:

N/A

USB:

4 (2.0)

Firewire:

1 (800)

Details:

Four 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire "800" port.

Modem:

None

Ethernet:

1 (RJ-45)

Details:

Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 standard.

S-Video Input:

None

S-Video Output:

None

Details:

N/A

Microphone:

None

Sound In:

1

Details:

Combined "audio line in minijack (digital/analog)."

Sound Out:

1

Headphone:

1

Details:

Single combined "audio line out/headphone minijack (digital/analog)."

Security (Lock):

1

Joystick (PC):

None

Details:

N/A

Power:

1

Power Adapter:

N/A

Details:

100V-240V, 85W maximum.

Global Original Prices

Global original prices for the Mac mini "Core i7" 2.7 (Mid-2011) in 34 different countries and territories follow; organized alphabetically by region.

For global original prices for Intel Macs in one particular country on a single page, please refer to EveryMac.com's Global Original Prices section.

Original Prices - North & South America

Canada:

C$899

Brazil:

R$3.049

Mexico:

MXN $13,390

United States:

US$899

Original Prices - Europe

Austria:

€899

Belgium:

€899

Denmark:

DKK 6,869

Finland:

€899

France:

€899

Germany:

€899

Ireland:

€899

Italy:

€899

Luxembourg:

€854,42

Netherlands:

€899

Norway:

NOK 7.310

Portugal:

€899

Spain:

€899

Sweden:

SEK 8.405

Switzerland:

CHF 969

United Kingdom:

£779

Original Prices - Asia

China:

RMB 6,971

Hong Kong:

HK$7,067

India:

N/A

Indonesia:

N/A

Japan:

¥77,620

Korea:

KRW 1,115,400

Malaysia:

RM 2,803

The Philippines:

PHP 45,890

Singapore:

S$1,220

Taiwan:

NT$29,050

Thailand:

THB 30,217

Vietnam:

VND 21,769,950

Original Prices - Australia & New Zealand

Australia:

A$1019

New Zealand:

NZ$1409

If you have additional original prices for this model, please get in touch. Thank you.

Popular Q&As

Ten of the most popular Q&As about the Mac mini models follow.

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