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Mac mini (Early 2006) and (Mid 2007): External ports and connectors

Learn about the external ports and connectors on the Mac mini (Early 2006) and Mac mini (Mid 2007) computers.

All ports and connectors discussed in this document are located on the Input/Output (I/O) panel on the back of the computer.

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The ports and what they do

One FireWire 400 portNo alt supplied for Image

The Mac mini (Early 2006) and Mac mini (Mid 2007) features one 400 Mbit/s FireWire (IEEE 1394) port; 8 watts. 400 Mbit/s is a theoretical maximum load, and actual rates will vary. This port is used by older iPods as well as third-party devices such as video cameras or external hard drives or optical drives.

Power port

This port is for connecting to the Mac mini (Early 2006) and Mac mini (Mid 2007) power supply. This power connector is very similar to that of the Apple Cinema Display, and you should take care to differentiate the two connectors when setting up the Mac mini (Early 2006) of Mac mini (Mid 2007) with an Apple Cinema Display.

Ethernet port (10/100/1000 Gigabit Base-T)No alt supplied for Image

The Mac mini (Early 2006) and Mac mini (Mid 2007) has a built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet port. These computers can be connected to an Ethernet cable from a cable or DSL modem, hub, switch, or router, or to another Macintosh computer. The connected device can be either a 10Base-T, 100Base-TX or a 1000Base-T device; the port automatically detects which type of device is connected. You don't have to use an Ethernet crossover cable to connect to other Ethernet devices.

Display portNo alt supplied for Image

The Mac mini (Early 2006) and Mac mini (Mid 2007) has a DVI-I port that supports DVI-compatible Displays. You can also use the included DVI to VGA adapter to connect a VGA monitor—the computer supports analog resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 pixels. Using an optional DVI to Video adapter, you can connect to televisions, projectors or VCRs that use S-video or composite connectors.

Four USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 portsNo alt supplied for Image

The Mac mini (Early 2006) and Mac Mini (Mid 2007) has a total of four USB 2.0 compliant ports.You can connect both USB 2.0- and USB 1.1-compliant devices to these ports.

The USB ports use USB Type A connectors, which have four pins each.

The USB 2.0 ports support low-speed, full-speed, and high-speed data transfers at up to 1.5 megabits per second (Mbit/s), 12 Mbit/s, and 480 Mbit/s, respectively.

Audio in / optical audio in portNo alt supplied for Image

The Audio In port accommodates both digital optical input and analog audio input.

Analog audio line input is accepted through a 3.5mm mini phone jack. The sound input jack accepts line-level stereo signals up to 24-bit stereo 44.1-192kHz sampling rate. It also accepts a stereo miniplug-to-RCA cable adapter for connecting stereo equipment to the computer.

Optical audio input is SPDIF format and uses a standard toslink cable with a toslink mini-plug adapter, accepting up to 24-bit stereo and 44.1-96kHz sampling rate.

Headphone out / optical audio out portNo alt supplied for Image

The headphone / line output jack accommodates digital optical audio output, analog audio output with a 24-bit, 44.1-192 kHz D/A converter, digital audio output up to 24-bit stereo and 44.1-192 kHz sampling rate and supporting encoded digital audio output (AC3 and DTS). For analog headphone / line output a standard audio cable with 3.5mm metal plug should be used. For digital audio, a standard toslink cable with a toslink mini-plug adapter can be used.

Security slotNo alt supplied for Image

This slot is designed to fit a lock and cable to prevent theft. Such locks are available through the Apple Store.

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