The Apple Mac mini "Core i3" 3.6 (Late 2018/Space Gray) features a 14 nm "Coffee Lake" 3.6 GHz Intel "Core i3" (8100B) processor with four independent processor "cores" on a single chip, a 6 MB shared level 3 cache, 8 GB of user upgradable 2666 MHz PC4-21300 SDRAM, 128 GB or 256 GB of onboard PCIe-based SSD storage (256 GB starting on March 18, 2020), and an "integrated" Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics processor that shares system memory.

Connectivity includes four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C connector) ports, two USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet (configurable to NbaseT/10 Gigabit Ethernet at the time of system purchase), 802.11ac Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n compatible), Bluetooth 5.0, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Compared to its ancient predecessor, this model looks similar apart from its dark "Space Gray" color, but it has a vastly more advanced processor and system architecture in addition to more modern connectivity. It also has upgradable RAM, but not upgradable storage.

All Mac mini systems are configured by default without a display, keyboard, or mouse, but numerous Apple and third-party options are available.