RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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I've hand-picked my 12 favorite Mac mini alternatives for Windows, from budget picks to high-end content creation stations. There's no denying Apple's newly unveiled Mac mini with M6 chip is a seriously cool piece of hardware, but fixed memory and limited port selection mean it's definitely not for everyone.
If you want upgradable RAM and additional connectivity like USB4 for hooking up an external GPU, these are the Windows Mac mini alternatives I really like. I've included top-tier compact machines from brands we've reviewed highly during our mini PC testing, including Beelink, Geekom, GMKtec, Minisforum, and Asus. Whether you need a cheap mini PC for the office or a high-performance powerhouse for heavier workloads, these are the machines I recommend.
My top 12 Windows mini PCs
Geekom
A8 Max
GMKtec
EVO-X1
Geekom
A8
Minisforum
UM890 Pro
Kamrui
E3B
Beelink
SER9 Pro
AceMagic
K1
Peladn
HO5
Bosgame
P3 Lite
GMKtec
NucBox G10
Acemagic
X3
Asus
Nuc 15 Pro
Why I chose these mini PCs
I had three key areas of focus when selecting these mini PCs — performance, connectivity and value for money.
Performance was obviously high on my list, which is why I've included mini PCs powered by some seriously capable AMD Ryzen and Intel Core processors. The Beelink SER9 Pro ranked as our best mini PC for business.
I also wanted plenty of memory and storage, although upgradeability obviously varies considerably between these machines.
There are some particularly well-connected choices among my top 12, too. The Minisforum UM890 Pro has two USB4 ports, OCuLink for connecting high-speed external hardware, dual 2.5GbE ports and enough display connections to drive four screens simultaneously.
The GMKtec EVO X1 also combines USB4 and OCuLink with dual 2.5GbE networking, alongside HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.
Price was important as well, so I tried to include options for different budgets rather than filling the list with flagship machines. We rate Acemagic's K1 as our best mid-range mini PC, and at under $290, GMKtec's G10 Mini PC is a very affordable choice.
For more options, check out the best mini PCs we've tested, and for more savings, see our round-up of this week's best mini PC deals .
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