Apple just revealed a $699 Mac Mini that runs on its new M1 chip

• Apple just announced a new version of its tiny desktop computer, the Mac Mini.
• The new version of the Mac Mini starts at $699, and is equipped with Apple's new M1 chip.
• Apple says the new Mac Mini is faster than ever, and the price starts at $699, $100 lower than the previous model.

Apple just unveiled a huge update to its smallest desktop computer: The Mac Mini just got a new Apple-made processor and a new price tag.

Starting at $699, the new Mac Mini is $100 less expensive than the previous model.

Despite the lower price tag, Apple says the new version of the Mac Mini will be more powerful than ever before with the new M1 chip. "It makes these Macs extraordinarily faster," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a livestreamed announcement on Tuesday afternoon.

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Specifically, Apple says the new Mac Mini is three times faster than the prior model.

It's capable of "dramatically accelerating demanding workloads, from compiling a million lines of code to building enormous multitrack music projects," Apple says. The new M1 chip at the heart of the new Mac Mini combines computational processing with graphics processing and memory, and is the first in-house silicon made by Apple.

Beyond speed increases, the M1 is said to decrease how hot the Mac Mini gets when processing complex tasks like music production.

Apple's new Mac Mini is available now starting at $699 on Apple's online storefront, and orders are said to begin shipping next week.

Apple on Tuesday also announced its new MacBook lineup, which will also be powered by the M1 chip. The new MacBook Air begins at $999 and is said to run silently because it doesn't have a fan. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,299 and has the longest battery life of any Mac.

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