In addition to 2-in-1 laptops made by its hardware partners, it also debuted the Surface Pro X with special versions of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipsets. This isn’t Microsoft’s first dance with using Arm chips similar to the Apple M1. But while it immediately draws comparisons with the M1 Mac mini, there are a few things that set it apart in both good and bad ways. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is trying to catch up, announcing its first-ever Arm-based desktop computer. More importantly, it vindicated the mini PC market as a viable computer for more than just content consumption or casual use, as long as you have the right hardware inside. It also shrank the internals, though Apple has yet to take advantage of those space savings. It showcased the power of Apple’s first desktop silicon, butting heads with Intel chips.

The Mac mini has been around for almost two decades now, but the recent Apple M1 model definitely changed the game. It walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, but it has a few feathers that are different from the flock.

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