There are plenty of changes to accommodate the 2018-era components, of course, and you might not always be a fan of what's new. The teardown shows the modern, desktop-class Intel processor, Apple's T2 co-processor and the thoroughly modern controllers. However, it also confirms that both the CPU and the solid-state drive are soldered on to the board. If you insist on having gobs of fast built-in storage or a Core i7, you'll want to order your computer that way from the factory. It's a good thing there are four Thunderbolt 3 ports to accommodate external drives and graphics, then.

All told, it looks like Apple tried to walk a fine line with the new Mac mini's guts. It provided the added power some people were looking for, but purposefully left some features untouched (or even rolled them back) in the name of pleasing server operators and other pro users.