M4 Mac mini rumored to get a redesign making it smaller than ever before

AppleInsider

Recent reports have suggested that one of the M4 Macs will get a redesign soon, and a new rumor has identified which model will get it -- the Mac mini.

Renders of a rumored redesign for the M2 Mac mini that didn't materialize

The fact that a M4 Mac mini is approaching is clear. What hasn't been clear before Thursday's report is a form factor change.

The new rumor suggests that the device will be far smaller than the existing form factor, which has been around for more than 15 years. A report by Bloomberg on Thursday claims that the device will be close to the size of the Apple TV set-top box.

Given the report's discussion of the Apple TV sizing, though, it's not clear where the direction is for the redesign, flatter or taller like the Apple TV. Apple Silicon Macs don't have expandable RAM or storage, so that's not a consideration for enclosure size anymore, where it was in the Intel version of the Mac mini.

Three USB-C ports of some flavor are rumored for the device, plus space for the power cable, and a HDMI port. Both models in testing are said to be codenamed "J773."

As far as timetable of release goes, Apple suppliers are said to be planning for shipping the core M4 Mac mini to Apple later in August, for a release to consumers later in 2024. A M4 Pro variant is said to ship in October.

The rumor makes a great deal of sense. The existing Apple Silicon Mac mini form factor is mostly empty, and was designed to be thermally robust enough for the notoriously hot Intel processors that used to live in the unit. That thermal demand is no longer the case.

What's less clear is the specific form that the unit will take. A previous rumor had a squat, all-aluminum design.

The rumors at the time discussed a possibility for the "M1X" Mac mini that moved the power supply to the outside of the unit, reusing the iMac power plug. This is illustrated in renders we made about a rumored M2 Mac mini above.

Rumor Score: Likely

Read on AppleInsider

Cesar Battistini Maziero

I wish it was taller and smaller foot print.

Would be a life saver for table space, and mounting ass well.

eightzero

In the "unintended consequences" territory, there is the issue that since the current form factor has been used for 15 years, the racks, mounts, and cabling systems are then all rended obsolete. If Apple really presses this, are we looking at an iMac killer? A Thunderbolt dongle sized thingy that attaches to a monitor? Choices are good; I'm curious about this.

Mac Mini is supposed to fill the "desktop consumer level" niche. How about a "whole home Mac" that replaces the AppleTV, sits on the home network and cabled to the TV, but is available for any monitor, any where on that network? IOW, the CPU is home network based, not a box sitting next to the monitor (which is exactly what an iMac is for one screen.) Nifty idea, but of course, making a product that reduces the need for consumers to buy your other products isn't...insanely great. 

Edit: and...and...and...make that cabled box a new wifi Airport base station. Yeah, I know...and a unicorn pony as well. 

mike1

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

apple4thewin

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

I wish it was taller and smaller foot print.

Would be a life saver for table space, and mounting ass well.

Yeah i agree I was checking how they currently look like and i am surprised apple still gives that much ports for a product I won’t be surprised if half of them go

blastdoor

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

Back in the spring when I realized there would be no new Macs at WWDC, I bought a refurbished m2 pro Mac mini to replace my 27 inch iMac. 

I initially bought a Dell monitor to go with it, thinking it was a great deal relative to the Apple studio display. I was horrified by it. It looked so much worse than my iMac when I saw them side by side. I sent back the Dell and shelled out the money for the Apple. The web cam is as poor as reviews say, but the most important thing by far is the display quality. 

Maybe Apple will make a less expensive 24 inch display….

roundaboutnow

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

I wish it was taller and smaller foot print.

Would be a life saver for table space, and mounting ass well.

Not taller! I still need them to fit with some clearance in 1RU rack space (1.75").

Smaller footprint would be nice. I can fit two existing Mac mini side-by-side in 1RU. Fitting three (or four!) side-by-side would be nice.

roundaboutnow

blastdoor said:

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

Back in the spring when I realized there would be no new Macs at WWDC, I bought a refurbished m2 pro Mac mini to replace my 27 inch iMac. 

I initially bought a Dell monitor to go with it, thinking it was a great deal relative to the Apple studio display. I was horrified by it. It looked so much worse than my iMac when I saw them side by side. I sent back the Dell and shelled out the money for the Apple. The web cam is as poor as reviews say, but the most important thing by far is the display quality. 

Maybe Apple will make a less expensive 24 inch display….

A standalone 24" Apple display same 4.5K resolution and style as 24" iMac would be nice. Make it easy to integrate new Mac mini form factor (either behind the monitor or at monitor base). Then it would pair well as either second monitor for 24" iMac or with standalone Mac mini. A two or three monitor set up on a mini would be neat.

BTW, no one to my knowledge has a standalone "4.5K" 24" monitor. Not too many 27" 5K standalone monitors either, but there are at least some (including Apple Studio display of course). Speaking of Apple Studio Display, if in fact a new smaller Mac mini shows up, updating the ASD stand to more easily integrate the mini would be nice too.

roundaboutnow

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

AI had an article about displays (geared toward connecting to a MacBook https://appleinsider.com/inside/macbook-pro/best/best-monitor-for-macbook-pro), one of which was the Alogic Clarity 27". This is a 4K monitor with integrated pop-up webcam. Not as good as 5K, but I've seen them and they look pretty good, although speakers not as good as Studio Display. They actually have a touchscreen version FWIW.

davebarnes

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

In 27-inch, you have 3 choices for a 5K monitor.
Apple
LG
Samsung

bala1234

blastdoor said:

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

Back in the spring when I realized there would be no new Macs at WWDC, I bought a refurbished m2 pro Mac mini to replace my 27 inch iMac. 

I initially bought a Dell monitor to go with it, thinking it was a great deal relative to the Apple studio display. I was horrified by it. It looked so much worse than my iMac when I saw them side by side. I sent back the Dell and shelled out the money for the Apple. The web cam is as poor as reviews say, but the most important thing by far is the display quality. 

Maybe Apple will make a less expensive 24 inch display….

Dell monitors always seemed a little washed out to me. May be I haven't looked at great dell monitors. But there are plenty of excellent samsung/LG monitors.

9secondkox2

eightzero said:

In the "unintended consequences" territory, there is the issue that since the current form factor has been used for 15 years, the racks, mounts, and cabling systems are then all rended obsolete. If Apple really presses this, are we looking at an iMac killer? A Thunderbolt dongle sized thingy that attaches to a monitor? Choices are good; I'm curious about this.

Mac Mini is supposed to fill the "desktop consumer level" niche. How about a "whole home Mac" that replaces the AppleTV, sits on the home network and cabled to the TV, but is available for any monitor, any where on that network? IOW, the CPU is home network based, not a box sitting next to the monitor (which is exactly what an iMac is for one screen.) Nifty idea, but of course, making a product that reduces the need for consumers to buy your other products isn't...insanely great. 

Edit: and...and...and...make that cabled box a new wifi Airport base station. Yeah, I know...and a unicorn pony as well. 

Already the iMac/Mac Studio/Mac mini situation makes zero sense. 

If apple wanted to push everyone to a pc setup like they did when they killed off the 27+ inch iMac, then it would make sense thst they would have also killed the small iMac too. But they didn’t. Apparently the Mac mini isn’t an iMac killer. That won’t change no matter the chassis design. 

It’s also likely the big iMac with more powerful chip options makes a return sooner than later by now. So there will be something for everyone. 

The Mac mini with apple silicon can literally just be a cube barely larger than cooling fan, with enough room for ports on two sides. Could even be three sided, who knows? 

But it should be more refined and sleek than the old chassis. Dont gunk it up with external power supplies, etc. learn something from the drawbacks and cons of the small iMac redesign. Don’t repeat the bad parts of history. 

sflocal

It doesn't really surprise me.  There is so much empty space in the chassis due to the Intel component sizes.  I guess maybe it was just cheaper (for the time being) to use the current design.  

If they do shrink it down to the size of an ATV footprint, that means it could essentially be mounted on the back of an external monitor and practically forgotten about.  It would be interesting to see what they do.

sflocal

blastdoor said:

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

Back in the spring when I realized there would be no new Macs at WWDC, I bought a refurbished m2 pro Mac mini to replace my 27 inch iMac. 

I initially bought a Dell monitor to go with it, thinking it was a great deal relative to the Apple studio display. I was horrified by it. It looked so much worse than my iMac when I saw them side by side. I sent back the Dell and shelled out the money for the Apple. The web cam is as poor as reviews say, but the most important thing by far is the display quality. 

Maybe Apple will make a less expensive 24 inch display….

It's not necessarily that the Studio Display is expensive, it's that the competition is all low-price junk.  If the LG 5K uses the similar display, but everything else about it is cheap quality garbage and people think Apple should drop their quality to compete.  

I've always used iMacs, but since Apple has abandoned the 27" display, and what will replace it now has me considering a Mac Studio.  That means buying a display.  The Studio Display (imho) is still the best display on the market and expensive as it is, it will be a better investment than anything the competition has.

danox

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

The problem is all those 4K monitors in PC land really do suck when using with a Mac. Also, Mac gaming is bad when compared to the PCs why would someone with a PC even buy a Mac Mini? Most have been running in the opposite direction and staying home on a PC. Wouldn’t a upgrade of the iMacs be a better solution? A all in one computer has always given the most bang for the buck in the Apple universe?

Here I was starting to think a little less powerful Studio Mac, should be the lowest desktop Mac aside from the 24 inch iMac, going into the future.

mike1

sflocal said:

blastdoor said:

mike1 said:

What would be the 24" - 27" monitor of choice to pair this with these days? Anything out there remotely as good as an iMac display but less expensive than a Studio monitor?

Back in the spring when I realized there would be no new Macs at WWDC, I bought a refurbished m2 pro Mac mini to replace my 27 inch iMac. 

I initially bought a Dell monitor to go with it, thinking it was a great deal relative to the Apple studio display. I was horrified by it. It looked so much worse than my iMac when I saw them side by side. I sent back the Dell and shelled out the money for the Apple. The web cam is as poor as reviews say, but the most important thing by far is the display quality. 

Maybe Apple will make a less expensive 24 inch display….

It's not necessarily that the Studio Display is expensive, it's that the competition is all low-price junk.  If the LG 5K uses the similar display, but everything else about it is cheap quality garbage and people think Apple should drop their quality to compete.  

I've always used iMacs, but since Apple has abandoned the 27" display, and what will replace it now has me considering a Mac Studio.  That means buying a display.  The Studio Display (imho) is still the best display on the market and expensive as it is, it will be a better investment than anything the competition has.

Thanks all for the feedback. I'm starting to think that the latest iMac is the better value (for me). I am fine with the 24" screen for this application and it's less expensive than a comparable Mac Mini and Studio Monitor combo. About $1,000 less based on how I would configure them using today's product.

GrannySmith99

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

'mounting ass well'

Ha ha, love it!

macgui

GrannySmith99 said:

Cesar Battistini Maziero said:

'mounting ass well'

Ha ha, love it!

That what she said.

If all this Mac miniest is true I hope they keep the power supply internal. And don't skimp on the ports for the sake of style.

"Look how thin our MacBooks and iPhones are! Now – less mini, more style!"

 I'm ok with the T-4
 port compliment of the M2 mini Pro. To lose even one would be disappointing to me.

charlesn

9secondkox2 said:

Already the iMac/Mac Studio/Mac mini situation makes zero sense. 

It's the most sensible desktop line-up Apple has ever had. The iMac is the easy-setup, all-in-one desktop that's perfect for the needs of most people at home or in the workplace. The Mac Mini is for the pro-sumer on a budget who needs more power and flexibility than the iMac offers and/or who wants a choice in monitors that isn't limited to the 24" screen size of the iMac or the $1600 price tag of the Apple Studio Display. The Mac Mini is also great for a multiple monitor set-up. And finally there's the Mac Studio for pros whose work demands the highest horsepower and flexibility... or anyone who just likes and can afford having the fastest toys. 

tht

The rumors at the time discussed a possibility for the "M1X" Mac mini that moved the power supply to the outside of the unit, reusing the iMac power plug. This is illustrated in renders we made about a rumored M2 Mac mini above.

Please, no external power supply. It’s a mistake on the iMac 24 and would be an even bigger mistake on the Mac mini. The diminutive Apple TV doesn’t have an external power supply and hopefully they stick to that. 

That said, ideas on a DC powered Mac mini: 

Reuse of MBP board: Take the M4 and M4 Pro MBP logic boards, and wrap a case around it. It would just be a rectangular box that is about 10” long, 4” wide and 0.5” thick. Could include fans, the same one MBP use. 

Reuse of iPad Pro board: Same as the above except it would be even smaller. Like around 8” long, 2” wide and 0.25” thick. No fan. You will need a dongle for a HDMI port just like an iPad. Basically grab and go. As light as an iPhone. 

Design a custom box that could fit on a PCIe card, 75 W max. So about 8” long, 4” wide and 0.5” with heat sink. Connects to PCIe board through 3 TB4 ports. Put 6 of them in the Mac Pro for networked compute, local or remote. Can be used without the PCIe host board as Mac Mini. It would be like a thin rectangular box, using MagSafe or TB like Mac laptops. 

mpantone

So much misinformation about this topic.

The main reason why there is a lot of empty space in the current Mac mini chassis is because it no longer ships with the original 5.25" optical drive. The current design had space for one 2.5" HDD (lower bay) and one 5.25" slimline optical drive (upper bay). In some machines, the drive in the upper bay could be replaced with a second 2.5" HDD. The Mac mini 2010 server was like this. There were after market drive brackets for brave DIYers. In fact, the optical drive mechanism was the primary determining factor for the current design's dimensions.

Eventually Apple also removed upgradeable RAM modules and switched from 2.5" storage to soldered NAND.

That is why the current Mac mini is so empty, not because of all the "Intel components" [sic]. The chassis was freeing up space BEFORE the Apple Silicon switch.

The lower TDP of Apple Silicon SoCs have made it easily to cool the device. The thermal solution for the Intel Mac mini units and the Apple Silicon Mac mini units isn't vastly different. The latter just needs to work less to provide adequate cooling. Note that peak temperatures of the M2 SoC during a full workload (like a Handbrake encode) are still about the same as a maxed-out Intel CPU. The former idles much lower though. And the fan on the M-series Mac minis doesn't need to work as hard to keep the SoC cool so it's quieter at full load.

The biggest question about this rumored smaller Mac mini is how Apple handles the power supply unit. It's integrated into the Mac mini, no external power supply. For MacBooks, Apple uses external power supplies (and batteries naturally). The Mac mini presumably would not be powered by batteries so it needs a PSU full time.

I have a couple of mini PCs (based on the Intel N95 and N100 CPUs) and they are both around the size of this purported new form factor. But these mini PCs have external power supplies. Of course, they were only $150-180 apiece so obviously the manufacturer didn't budget for high quality internal PSU.