It supports Bluetooth 4.2, but not Bluetooth 5.0. While the mobo has two USB-C ports, it does not have four. By contrast, the Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming had similar specs (it also had Bluetooth), but is available for $129.95 on Amazon. The site recommended two ASUS ROG motherboards, one of which was in the mid-three hundred buck range, and the other over $400. I wanted to stick with a known-working mobo, so I worked my way up the TonyMac buyers' guide to the Pro-level motherboards.Īlso: Mac Mini 2018: Cheat sheet TechRepublic Unfortunately, they don't have the specs we need, and with only one PCIe slot there's no way to get there from here. Both of these are known to work with MacOS Mojave. The TonyMacx86 site recommends two motherboards for Mac Mini-style machines, the ASUS ROG Strix H370-I Gaming and the Gigabyte H370N WIFI. For now, though, the primary benefit of the T2 in the Mac Mini is faster video encoding and encryption speeds. There is some speculation that the T2 might wind up being the special sauce that kills Hackintosh builds.

Obviously, we can't configure the T2 chip in our Hackintosh build. Even so, we'll keep the requirement in mind.Īpple's custom T2 chip: This is the wildcard. HDMI 2.0 output: Most motherboards with on-board video support the faster bandwidth required for HDMI 2.0. The machine also supports the new Bluetooth 5.0 spec. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: The Mac Mini supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi networking and is a/b/g/n compatible. Although there are nearly as many different PC cooling options as there are PC builds, we'll look for an inexpensive fan for our build. We'll need to find a reasonable power supply to meet our needs.įans: The Mac Mini has one fan that's doing all the work. Power supply: The Mac Mini's power supply is tiny, but it works. It's going to be hard to find a case that can fit everything I bought in a size that small. Most motherboards just don't come with Ethernet above 1Gb (although more and more have two 1Gb Ethernet ports).Ĭase: Face it, the Mac Mini is tiny. I spent an extra hundred bucks and equipped my Mac Mini with a 10Gb Ethernet port. Network: This is going to be another high bar for the Hackintosh.

2017 mac mini or nuc