Price evolution of a Mac mini in the United States
- Relevance of the price of a Mac mini
- Price evolution of a Mac mini
- Conclusion
- FAQs about a Mac mini's price in the the United States
- Price evolution table and full chart
Introduced in 2005, the Mac mini was Apple’s move to really lower the entry price-point to an Apple computer. By removing the screen Apple was able to significantly reduce the price of the Mac mini in comparison to the iMac, its flagship desktop computer.
The prices in this article always refer to the cheapest option of the latest Mac mini available at any point in time. Sometimes Apple kept selling an older version of their Mac minis at a lower price after releasing a new version, and they most definitely always offer spec upgrades which can make it a lot more expensive. So once again, these prices are for the entry-level of the latest mode.
Price evolution of a Mac mini
The average price of a Mac mini between 2005 and 2023 was $594, with the lowest price being $499 in 2005 and the highest $799 in 2018 (at least within the timeframe we have data for).
Absolute price of a Mac mini per year
Our data source for this article was: WikiPedia .
The absolute price of a Mac mini in the the United States has gone from $499 in 2005 to $599 in 2023. That's an absolute increase of $100, or 20.04% in a period of 18 years. (go to the next section for inflation-adjusted values).
This increment has not been linear though. During this period of 18 years the price of a Mac mini actually decreased year over year 4 times, in 2011, 2014, 2020, 2023.
The biggest absolute price decrease in the price of a Mac mini was in 2011, when the price dropped by $-100, or -14.31%. The biggest price increase was $300, or 60.12% in 2018.
With the price increasing most years, it comes as no surprise that the price of a Mac mini today is higher than what it used to be some years ago.
Inflation-adjusted price of a Mac mini per year
As accurate as the information above might be, it can also be somehow deceiving. This is because the value of money changes over time, usually decreasing. That means that $1 of today's money cannot buy as much as $1 in the past. This phenomenon is called inflation, and can make it complicated to compare historical pricing data. Luckily, we can adjust for it and calculate what a dollar value of the past would be equal to in today's money.
So let's not take a look at the evolution of the price of a Mac mini in the the United States, in that same 18 years period between 2005 and 2023, but adjusting prices to inflation (aka. in today's money).
When we adjust for inflation, we see that the price of a Mac mini also peaked in 2018, when it cost $1,004 (in today's money), and was at its lowest in 2023 when it sold for $631.
The biggest drop in adjusted price happened in 2023, when the inflation-adjusted price dropped by $-164 (-20.65%). Even when adjusting for inflation, the biggest price increase of a Mac mini was still in 2018. However, the $300 jump actually felt like $364 to the consumer due, to the effect of inflation.
The average price of a Mac mini during this period of time, adjusting for inflation, has been $788, and the most current price of $599 is 23.99% below that average. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Conclusion
Now, as we've explained earlier, the absolute price of a product does not necessarily represent its affordability fairly. For that we have to look at its inflation adjusted price, or in other words, the price evolution in today's money.
When we look at the inflation-adjusted price of a Mac mini, we see that it has varied ± 23.7% over this period of time, and is currently 23.99% cheaper than the average over these years.
So not everything is bad news after all!
Even at $599 (per unit), Mac mini is actually more afordable in 2023 than it was in 2005.
So if there had to be one single take away from this article it would be this: The average person has to make less of an economic effort to purchase a Mac mini today than in the past.
FAQs about the price of a Mac mini in the the United States
The most expensive a Mac mini has ever been was in 2018, when it would cost $799.
(at least within the timeframe we have data for)
The cheapest a Mac mini has ever been was in 2005, when it would cost $499.
However, if we adjust for inflation, a Mac mini was the cheapest in 2023, when it would cost $631 in today's money
(at least within the timeframe we have data for)
The average price of a Mac mini in the 2010s was $609, with the highest being $799 in 2018 and the lowest $499 in 2014.
Other Apple products products
Evolution of the price of a Mac mini charts and table
Below you'll find the raw data of absolute and inflation adjusted prices of a Mac mini in the the United States