Geekbench 4

This tests the capability of a single processor core. Many more common tasks on a Mac will only use a single core at a time. Intel’s Turbo Boost technology comes into play here.

The Core i3 processor in the entry-level Mac mini doesn’t feature Turbo Boost, so its clock speed remains 3.6GHz. However, the Core i5 model (£1,099) and Core i7 option (an upgrade option on both) have it. This enables the former to reach 4.1GHz and the latter 4.6GHz. They have 9MB and 12MB of level 3 cache, compared to the Core i3’s 6MB. Apple didn’t give us a Core i5 model to test, but you can see the big gains the Core i7’s spec brings to the table.