using earphones with a mac mini

If your headphones are exclusively Bluetooth, they need to be compatible with the Bluetooth used by your Mac mini. Open the Bluetooth Preference panel in System Preferences, ensure Bluetooth is on, and follow the vendor's pairing instructions for your headset. If they don't appear in the Mac Bluetooth panel after several attempts at pairing (including power off/on of the headset, then they may need charged, or are simply incompatible.

I purchased the Sony WH-1000XM4 headset for use with my new M1 mini. These are Bluetooth 5.0, pair perfectly with my mini that also features the same version of Bluetooth. I am running macOS 11.4. They also include a wired audio cable for those circumstances where the Bluetooth does not pair (such as my 2014 MacBook Air).

All Mac minis (including the M1) have a 3.5-inch audio out port on the back panel in the approximate same location. Here is a snapshot of the 2018 - 2020 Intel mini:

Were you implying your headset is completely wireless and lacks an audio cable port?

Hello, Andrew Allsop.

Yes, the Mac mini has a 3.5mm headphone output jack.

However, if you want to use a headset that has also a microphone you will need a USB adapter for that.

If you google "USB audio interface adapter" you should come up with very many options.

In fact, it does.

2018 Mac mini tech specs:

https://support.apple.com/kb/SP782?locale=en_US

If that's the case then your option is a USB audio adapter.

Are you sure? What model year mini is that?

I believe every mini since introduction has an audio out port.

Well, images were inevitable… 🤓

It happens to the best of us.

I'm lucky if I can find my coffee cup in the morning and I've been drinking for years! 🤣

A sign you need more coffee. Peet's Major Dickinson whole beans.

😋