This M2 Mac Mini is a $499 retro gaming powerhouse after a $100 discount
A surprisingly capable computer that can even run Windows games via the Game Porting Toolkit.
Gaming on Mac becomes more of a reality every day, with powerful Apple Silicon processors and the Game Porting Toolkit unlocking surprisingly decent performance in a wide range of modern games and emulated titles alike. We don't normally cover Mac gaming here, but I thought you might want to know that the latest M2 Mac Mini is down to $499 at B&H Photo in the US, a $100 reduction on the base-spec unit that makes it quite a powerful computer for the money.
I've been experimenting with the Apple Game Porting Toolkit on my M1 MacBook Pro, and I was amazed to see games like Diablo 4 running at playable frame-rates using a tool intended to help game developers see how viable a Mac port could be. Tools like Whisky make it easier to get started, and there are a surprising number of games that run quite decently via this translation layer.
The M2 Mac Mini is around 10% faster than the already-excellent M1, with eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores that deliver super-strong performance in a wide range of Apple Silicon optimised applications - and decent performance in Windows apps too thanks to the apps mentioned above. It can be hooked up to two displays, supporting 4K 120Hz output via USB-C, and there's WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity. If you're after a machine for video or photo editing, programming or even retro gaming, this is a surprisingly viable choice that tends to demolish similarly-priced Windows machines - though for pure gaming performance, you'd be better off with a Windows self-build.
In any case, I thought this might be an interesting pick for RPS readers, so do let me know if you're also gaming on Mac and how you're finding it! As always, I look forward to your comments.