Apple's Mac Mini is one of the best miniature PCs out there, with incredible performance and connectivity in a tiny package. But you can only make the most of it with a great monitor, and there are a range of exciting displays to choose from.
Apple's own Buy at Best Buy is our current favorite, but it's not our only one. Here are the best monitors for the Mac Mini in 2023.
Apple's Studio Display is designed from the ground up to serve as an external display for Mac products, making it easily the best fit for the Mac Mini. The 27-inch monitor offers a 5K resolution with Apple's Retina panel technology and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide cam (plus studio-quality mics) for easy web conferences. In a less usual move for Apple, the monitor also comes with an excellent six-speaker sound system that includes Apple's Spatial Audio support for compatible audio files, making it a great monitor pick if you listen to a lot of music while working, but don't really like external speakers.
The Studio Display has an option to add Nano-texture glass, which helps reduce glare when working in sunny or bright conditions, and offers several choices for the stand, including a height adjustment design, or a VESA mount. Brightness is on the high end for monitors at 600 nits, and color accuracy is excellent (Apple is using its own Display P3 color gamut to gauge support for a billion different colors). Three USB-C ports are included, and the display can automatically pair with your Mac Mini during setup.
The Asus ProArt PA32DC is a professional-grade monitor, with great color accuracy, impressive color gamut support, and a high brightness for an OLED panel. It has a very high contrast ratio, offering the blackest of blacks with some impressively stark whites thanks to its 500 nits of brightness. The color accuracy can be improved out of the box, so it's good to see that Asus includes a colorimeter if you want to do it yourself -- though professional calibration can be worth it on an expensive monitor like this.
It's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, but this isn't a display designed for gaming. Still, it's 4K resolution, so more cinematic games will look great on it. HDR movies and TV shows will benefit from not only the vibrancy and clarity of OLED, but the PA32DC also supports multiple HDR formats, including Dolby Vision.
Although this monitor can't stand up to Apple's most premium displays for the Mac Mini, it does a good job at a much more affordable price.
A 5K monitor is a dazzling high-end option for extra detail, but many people would be just fine with 4K for their work and play. This BenQ steps up with a spacious 32-inch, 4K design that is excellent for editing or design, especially if you like to make use of the DualView option that makes it easy to view photos or videos side by side on the screen. It also offers 100% coverage of the sRGB color gamut and factory calibration to help with color accuracy when the details are most important.
The 60Hz BenQ PD3200U also comes with a hotkey puck, or a little wheel accessory with several buttons to automatically switch between screen modes. Those modes are specifically designed to help with certain types of work, including CAD/CAM, Animation, and Darkroom. Put it all together, and this monitor has serious utility for a wide range of professional uses.
You’ve already spent plenty of money on your Mac Mini — it’s understandable if you want to save on a compatible monitor. This 27-inch Pixio is an ideal pick for a budget monitor that can still provide plenty of visual capabilities. That includes a 1440p resolution, a 100Hz refresh rate, and support for HDR, plus both G-Sync and FreeSync.
The monitor also covers 90% of the DCI-P3 color space and offers USB-C for connecting and charging the latest accessories. The design isn’t exactly going to blow anyone away, but for these specs at this price, the Pixio gets the job done and can handle a variety of tasks, even gaming.
Dell's 32-inch USB-C hub is an ideal monitor for a busy desk, so makes an excellent companion for a Mac Mini model — especially if you need to dock some other accessories while you work. The sturdy design is made to last, with options for adjusting height, tilt, swivelling, and more, while the 4K IPS panel offers excellent image quality and great contrast. It covers 100% of the sRGB gamut and 100% of Rec 709.
In addition to the easily accessed USB-C ports, the Dell U3223QE monitor also comes with HDMI (HDCP 2.2), DisplayPort, four USB-A 3.0 ports, and Gigabit Ethernet. It's a particularly strong choice if you tend to work not only with a desktop computer like the Mac Mini but with a MacBook also by your side that may need charging while you are busy.
Apple's Pro XDR display isn't as cutting-edge as it once was, but it's still one of the best displays you can buy for the Mac Mini if you want a big screen with incredible color accuracy. It has an impressive 6K resolution which few other displays can match, and with high color accuracy and wide color gamut support, including 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut. It offers impressive brightness at 1,000 nits all-screen sustained, or a peak HDR brightness of 1,600 nits. For an LCD displays, its contrast is impressively high, offering dark blacks and rich colors.
There's no included stand, and the official Apple one is incredibly expensive (on top of the high-price of the display), but it is excellent if you opt for it. The overall build quality of the display is impressive, and though the bezels aren't as trim as some of the latest models, they're thin enough that the display looks modern and clean.
Bundled ports include Thunderbolt 3, which lacks the performance guarantees of newer Thunderbolt 4 ports, but it's functionally as strong should you need to connect a range of accessories.
There are newer displays than this one, but not many that can match its incredible specifications, making the Pro XDR still one of the best Mac Mini monitors you can buy.
Yes. The Mac Mini does not come with a monitor included, so you will need to purchase one separately.
Yes, you can connect the Mac Mini to virtually any monitor as long as you have the proper ports or adapters. The Mac Mini really is flexible, and it comes with two display outputs. One is USB-C/Thunderbolt and the other is HDMI 2.0. You can get adapters and accessories to convert it to DVI or VGA monitors.
Yes. The HDMI supports 4K up to 60Hz, and the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port outputs up to 6K at 60Hz.
Since the Mac Mini has two display ports, it does support two monitors. However, you cannot daisy chain with the Thunderbolt 3 connection. You are limited to one for each. The M1 MacBooks are limited to only one external display.
While prior Mac Mini models had some workarounds to get a Mac Mini running on an iMac monitor, you will have to obtain a separate display this time.
Not reliably. You could use Mac screen sharing or a solution like Luna Display over Wi-Fi if you are desperate, but most workarounds are a pain to get started. It's best to stick with an external monitor whenever possible. Even options such as using Sidecar with an iPad require you to have a display first to set it up.
Find the matching port in the back of the Mac mini, either USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 or HDMI 2.0. Plug in both devices (don't turn them on yet), and then connect those ports with the compatible cable. Then turn your Mini and your monitor on. You also can find USB-C adapter cables that will work with the Thunderbolt 3 port if you are working only with DisplayPlay or other, rarer connections.
Given that the Mac Mini only supports two external displays and the M1-powered MacBooks can only connect to one monitor, a curved display can be a good solution to get more screen real estate. Curved monitors come in a variety of sizes and resolutions, but in general, you'll want to choose an ultrawide curved display. These generally come in UWQHD resolution, and it's like having two FHD panels stacked side-by-side. There are several benefits here.
First, curved displays are more immersive and the slight curvature can help immerse you into the content you're looking at or working on. Second, the wide format means you essentially get the benefit of having two displays, but without the seams of connecting two monitors together. And third, cable clutter is reduced to a single cable running to your Mac. If you're short on desk space with a large ultra-wide panel, be sure to choose a monitor that comes with a VESA mounting bracket so you can mount the display to a monitor arm or to the wall.
The 2020 Mac Mini has a USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port and HDMI 2.0 port for video connections, so your monitor really needs one of those for a proper connection. Monitors that only have older connections will not be a good fit.
Otherwise, it's mostly down to how you'll be using the Mac Mini, and this can vary a lot. Artists and photographers will want to look for high-quality panels with plenty of color coverage. Those with additional accessories like MacBooks may want to check for extra USB-C hubs for multiple connections or charging. If you'll be moving your Mini around frequently, look for a monitor design with easy-to-reach ports so re-connecting it will be less of a hassle.
Jon Martindale covers how to guides, best-of lists, and explainers to help everyone understand the hottest new hardware and software in desktops, laptops, and on the web. He's also written articles on how to make your PC more efficient for the summer, and how he fixed his backpain with an annoying pop-up app.
Although Jon covers a wide range of topics, his particular focus is on PC components and peripherals. He's also written gaming performance guides.
Jon also writers for Forbes, Lifewire, and Microcenter, has authored two novels, and provided back story and dialogue for a handful of games. He's an amateur game developer, and has made a few game prototypes in his spare time -- with a little help from ChatGPT. Jon's also an avid board gamer, getting in regular games of epic tabletop fare like Twilight Imperium and War of the Ring where he can. He's a father to two kids who recently discovered the joys of Pokémon, and keeps his aging French Bulldog cross busy on regular walks.
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