New Mac mini arrives with redesign, powerful M4 & M4 Pro processors, more USB-C
Apple has introduced a New Mac mini with the M4 chip upgrade, more USB-C, and a new smaller, sleeker design.
M4 Mac mini - Image credit: Apple
As part of its fall updates, the new Mac mini brings quite a few things to the table. For a start, the compact and entry-level Mac is smarter, thanks to its new chip.
Gone are the M2 and M2 Pro chips from the previous generation, and in their place are the M4 and M4 Pro. Apple says the new M4 offers 1.8 times the CPU performance and 2.2 times the GPU performance over the M1 model.
The M4 Pro version, with up to 14 CPU cores and up to 20 GPU cores, also has a better Neural Engine that's three times faster than the M1 equivalent. The memory bandwidth is also higher, going from 120GB/s in the M4 to 273GB/s.
Along with the new internal powerhouse, the Mac mini has been updated externally. Following months of rumors, the new Mac mini is smaller than the well-known aluminum puck, with it being even thinner than before.
Down from 7.7 inches square, the new Mac mini is now just 5 inches by 5 inches, shrinking its desktop footprint considerably.
This shrinkage has also forced some design changes, including to the ports at the back. That starts with the inclusion of three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the rear, with the Pro model gaining Thunderbolt 5.
For reference, the Thunderbolt 4 connection can handle up to 40Gbps of throughput. Thunderbolt 5 can offer up to 120Gb/s data transfer speeds.
All models also have HDMI and Gigabit Ethernet on the back too, with the latter upgradable to 10Gig.
Around the front, Apple includes a pair of USB-C ports, as well as the audio jack, for easier access.
When it comes to external display support, the M4 Mac mini can deal with two 6K displays and one 5K display. Meanwhile the M4 Pro can do up to three 6K displays at 60Hz.
Apple is also calling the Mac mini the first carbon-neutral Mac. It is made from over 50% recycled content, including 100% recycled aluminum in the enclosure, gold plating for the circuit boards, and rare earth elements for the magnets.
The electricity used to make it is sourced from 100% renewable sources, while low-carbon modes of shipping have been prioritized to cut carbon further. After reducing the carbon footprint by over 80%, Apple uses high quality carbon credits to cover the remainder.
It's also the first Mac mini to get entirely fiber-based packaging.
Apple will open preorders for the Mac mini from today, with availability from November 8. The M4 Mac mini starts from $599, while the M4 Pro can be bought from $1,399.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
(although I would prefer a new 27” iMac…)
They have access to every single commercially viable flat panel display on the panel. It's entirely possible that there were 27" and 32" prototypes in a lab in Cupertino right before they stopped selling those.
Let's remember that notebook models have been >85% of Mac unit sales for 15+ years.
The reasonable alternative is a Mac mini paired with a monitor that fits your requirements (including the all important budget). There has been a Mac mini in my house since the 2010 server model but they have never been plugged into an Apple display.
My daily driver Mac mini M2 Pro drives a 27" LG monitor (4K@60Hz) which looks great as an office productivity display. The Mac mini 2018 (Core i7) that it replaced is plugged into an LG C2 55" OLED television. There are many good displays that don't have the Apple logo. Apple doesn't want to compete with other monitor manufacturers on price since Apple prefers fat gross margins.
And yes, M-series Mac minis run cooler than the 2018 Intel-powered model. M-series silicon has a lower TDP. It's worth pointing out that Apple hardware engineering programs the fan curve to let the CPU run close to max (near 100 °C) at load regardless of whether it's Intel silicon or Apple silicon.