- Minisforum still has no release date for its promised M2 Pro mini PC
- The cheapest M2 mini PC sacrifices flagship graphics power for a lower entry price
- A small 520 gram desktop now drives local AI models without completely relying on cloud processing
At CES 2026, Minisforum introduced the M2 Pro mini PC, a device that promises to be a flagship device for high-end users, powered by an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H processor coupled with Intel Arc B390 integrated discrete-class graphics.
However, five months after launch, the promised M2 Pro has yet to ship, much to the disappointment of potential buyers.
Instead, Minisforum has now released a standard M2 version for budget-conscious buyers.
Minisforum launched an entry-level M2 mini PC
This mini PC sports an Intel Core Ultra 7 356H Panther Lake chip, a 16-thread processor running at 45 watts, which lacks the raw power of the Ultra X9 388H found in the M2 Pro, but is still a competent processor that costs substantially less.
The Minisforum M2 measures 130 x 127 x 50mm, meaning it fits in the palm of your hand and includes a 120W power adapter.
It weighs only 520 grams and supports a VESA mount, which means it can be attached to the back of a monitor.
Under the hood, it comes with two SODIMM slots that support up to 128GB of DDR5-5600 RAM modules and also houses two M.2 2280 slots, supports PCIe 4.0 x4 storage for fast data access, and can hold up to 8TB of NVMe storage.
There is also an additional M.2 2230 slot that houses an Intel BE200 wireless card with Wi-Fi 7. This card provides Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity for wireless peripherals and headphones.
For physical connectivity, this device uses a USB4 Type-C port that runs at 40Gbps for fast data transfers.
It supports three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports offering 10 Gbps each for connecting external devices.
A single USB 2.0 Type A port provides 480 Mbps for legacy accessories like keyboards or mice.
Video output options consist of an HDMI 2.1 port and a DisplayPort 1.4 port. Two 2.5GbE Ethernet ports use the RTL8125D controller to provide wired network reliability.
There is a 3.5mm audio jack, which completes the connectivity set for headphone or speaker use.
To address heating, which is a common issue in small-sized devices, the M2 comes with two heat pipes along with a single cooling fan.
Minisforum claims that with this configuration, at full load, the CPU reaches 78 degrees Celsius with only 42.5 dB of noise.
Built for AI
Minisforum markets the M2 for AI tasks using its combined 90 TOPS processing power (50 from the NPU and 40 from the GPU).
This allows users to run open source models such as GPT-OSS 20B and Gemma-4-26B-A4B locally, a useful feature for testing AI tools without relying on cloud services.
The Minisforum M2 starts at $575 for a base model with no memory or storage.
However, a pre-configured version with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD costs $1,039.
A budget-conscious user might reasonably wonder whether a system that more than doubles the price after the basic configuration really meets their needs.
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