M4 Mac mini review: The first redesign in years hides incredible computing power

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  • Reply 21 of 34
    Mike Wuerthelemike wuerthele Posts: 6,957administrator
    charlesn said:
    Nice review, Mike. My only surprise is that this didn't get the full five stars. Very rarely (if ever?) does Apple nail a product at its price point better than this. But I guess there's always room for a 1/2 star of improvement. Speaking of which: it's late 2024 and Apple really should be on board with Wifi 7 for the products it's releasing now--devices that will be in use years into the future. No, it's not going to be a while before wifi 7 router prices come down. Lower prices are here. TP-Link Archer's BE230 is WiFi 7 with dual multi-gig ports for $99. And Asus has released the Wifi 7 versions of its super popular 86U and 88U routers with prices competitive with what the Wifi 6 models sold before Wifi 7 came along. Yes, the absolute bleeding edge routers will still cost you $500 and more, but's always the case. 
    Stars are a distraction that Google demands. I hate them and always have. They never accommodate the entire user base, and they're a distraction to the text.

    Wi-Fi 7 and slightly lower upgrade pricing would have kicked it over to 5 for me.
    muthuk_vanalingamdewmeOferAlex_VwilliamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 22 of 34
    Mike Wuerthelemike wuerthele Posts: 6,957administrator

    rob53 said:
    For those of you wondering whether you can get a non-Apple replacement storage card, check out the kickstarter site https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polysoftservices/studio-drive/posts/4247624 that has been building storage cards for the M1 Mac Studio. They are already working on storage cards for the M4 Mac mini. 
    I've been watching this one! I've reached out to see if they'll send me one for the Mac Studio, we'll see.

    The M4 Pro SSD is differently shaped, it's odd.
    edited November 2024
    rob53apple4thewinAlex_VAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 23 of 34
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,332member

    rob53 said:
    For those of you wondering whether you can get a non-Apple replacement storage card, check out the kickstarter site https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polysoftservices/studio-drive/posts/4247624 that has been building storage cards for the M1 Mac Studio. They are already working on storage cards for the M4 Mac mini. 
    I've been watching this one! I've reached out to see if they'll send me one for the Mac Studio, we'll see.

    The M4 Pro SSD is differently shaped, it's odd.
    I think the Pro SSD had to be adjusted because there wasn't room for the standard mim SSD, requiring a flat cable to locate the card where there was room.
    Looking at the main page in this campaign, they have storage cards listed with a delivery date of January 2025 for the Mac Studio.
    "A custom 2TB to 8TB SSD for the Apple Mac Studio M1 and M2, with NAND overvoltage protection." 

    "
    We send blank board prototypes to Collin Mistr (dosdude1), who is one of the most renowned technicians and youtubers in the Mac world." I've seen him on youtube so it looks like they might have at least blank boards available soon. The website also lists four people in the USA who have worked with them. Might be beneficial to contact them and be a kickstarter backer. They do warn people that using their SSD cards might violate Apple's warranty but that's never stopped people who take new Apple hardware apart.
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 24 of 34
    mbmoore said:
    chasm said:
    mbmoore said:
    No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.
    I have a small hub that does all that for my MBP.

    Or you could switch to one of these growing number of USB-C thumb drives.
    Actually, neither of those solutions works for me. On my old 11 inch Air, I leave my LOW PROFILE (1/4” protrusion) 512gb thumb drive in the USB-A port practically all the time—it’s a permanent appendage to it and it’s where I save all of my data files. Because of USB-C’s limits to minimization, there is no pathway to that size drive footprint, and I need the extra storage to avoid using up my internal drive space. The only solution is to add structural support to the adapter. I certainly use hubs and other thumb drives occasionally, but not permanently attached. In this configuration, I can pick up my Air and walk out the door without worrying about wagging a bag of attachments with me. Apple throws a monkey wrench into things when they don’t include USB-A—major oversight IMO. I know why they do it—it’s an easy way to coerce buyers into upgrading to a more expensive model, but I’m on a limited budget.

    You can get dumb drives with both USB-C and USB-A plugs on them. Still quite tiny.
    williamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 25 of 34
    thedbathedba Posts: 801member
    charlesn said:
    Nice review, Mike. My only surprise is that this didn't get the full five stars. Very rarely (if ever?) does Apple nail a product at its price point better than this. But I guess there's always room for a 1/2 star of improvement. Speaking of which: it's late 2024 and Apple really should be on board with Wifi 7 for the products it's releasing now--devices that will be in use years into the future. No, it's not going to be a while before wifi 7 router prices come down. Lower prices are here. TP-Link Archer's BE230 is WiFi 7 with dual multi-gig ports for $99. And Asus has released the Wifi 7 versions of its super popular 86U and 88U routers with prices competitive with what the Wifi 6 models sold before Wifi 7 came along. Yes, the absolute bleeding edge routers will still cost you $500 and more, but's always the case. 
    The Mac Mini is marketed as an every day regular consumer desktop. Not tailored to professionals with heavy workloads.
    The regular consumer or college student whom this is for, is likely not caring about the minute and imperceptible differences to them, between Wifi 6, 6E, 7.   
    Oferwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 26 of 34
    lmaclmac Posts: 213member
    The biggest deal is the high price of ram and storage upgrades. It kind of defeats the purpose of making it smaller if i have to hang a bunch of peripherals off of it. How can the entry price be reasonable and the upgrades cost so much more than market? Only thing i can think of is that this is intentional, and greedy.
    williamlondon
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  • Reply 27 of 34
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,332member
    lmac said:
    The biggest deal is the high price of ram and storage upgrades. It kind of defeats the purpose of making it smaller if i have to hang a bunch of peripherals off of it. How can the entry price be reasonable and the upgrades cost so much more than market? Only thing i can think of is that this is intentional, and greedy.
    You're missing the point unless you're talking about Intel computers. Apple only makes one new device that has exchangeable memory (RAM) and storage (disks/SSDs) and that's the Mac Pro (you can add PCIe cards with RAM and SSDs). This has been the norm since the M1 came out so you need to do more reading to see what's available. External storage is easy to add, configure and switch between devices. As for Apple charging more than street (not USA streets) cost for upgrading WHEN YOU BUY THE MAC, they do it because they can (I don't like this either) but also because they use specialized storage (some replaceable) and soldered memory to the SoC (system on chip if you don't know that term). Read my previous post where I talk about a kickstarter company making the storage cards for the Mac Studio and starting to design them for the Mac mini. To repeat, Apple does not make any (except Mac Pro) post-sale upgradeable devices any more so what you buy is what you get. Adding peripherals is the only easy way to add storage to an Apple device of any kind.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 28 of 34
    jvm156 said:
    you can get 4tb NVME drives for $250 If ya time it right
    I timed it right and got a 4tb nvme ssd for about $180
    muthuk_vanalingamAlex_VAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 29 of 34
    mbmoore said:
    No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.
    I’m fine with you having to do that, rather than adding a second controller and take up spots for something I don’t use and is legacy. 
    williamlondonAlex1N
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  • Reply 30 of 34
    mbmoore said:
    chasm said:
    mbmoore said:
    No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.
    I have a small hub that does all that for my MBP.

    Or you could switch to one of these growing number of USB-C thumb drives.
    Actually, neither of those solutions works for me. On my old 11 inch Air, I leave my LOW PROFILE (1/4” protrusion) 512gb thumb drive in the USB-A port practically all the time—it’s a permanent appendage to it and it’s where I save all of my data files. Because of USB-C’s limits to minimization, there is no pathway to that size drive footprint, and I need the extra storage to avoid using up my internal drive space. The only solution is to add structural support to the adapter. I certainly use hubs and other thumb drives occasionally, but not permanently attached. In this configuration, I can pick up my Air and walk out the door without worrying about wagging a bag of attachments with me. Apple throws a monkey wrench into things when they don’t include USB-A—major oversight IMO. I know why they do it—it’s an easy way to coerce buyers into upgrading to a more expensive model, but I’m on a limited budget.

    Not supporting corner cases is not a major oversight. 

    It’s not a conspiracy to make you buy more internal storage, as there are plenty of USB-C storage options, you just don’t like them. That doesn’t make it a conspiracy to coerce you. 
    Alex_VchiawilliamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 31 of 34
    Rogue01 said:
    Someone should tell the author that the first Apple Silicon Macs were released in November 2020, which was 4 years ago, not 'nearly five years ago' as mentioned in the article.

    The bad thing about the Mac mini is the audio out on the front.  The mini has a pathetic speaker and powered speakers are required.  Not everyone is wasting $1600 for an Apple Display, so powered speakers will be plugged in, sticking out of the front.  They should not call it carbon friendly with the power button out of reach on the bottom, making people leave it on 24/7.  Soon the Mac Studio with M4 Max will be here.  When you upgrade the mini with usable memory and storage, you are about $200 shy of the same configured Mac Studio, making the mini a poor choice.  You will get so much more performance, ports, and better port layout, with only $200 more.  You still need a monitor with the Mac Studio as well.

    USB-A was a great feature of the prior mini because many people have and use USB flash drives, which are all USB-A.  Now you need an adapter.  The Mac mini is great, until you upgrade it and realize you get a much better Mac with the Mac Studio for only $200 more.
    Yes they should. It sips very, very little power in sleep, a fraction of a watt per hour. No need to shut it off every night to save that power. Do you do this with your iPad? Nope. Your Apple TV? Nope. It’s power efficient. You probably have a dozen things that waste more power without a thought. 
    Alex_VAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 32 of 34
    mbmoore said:
    chasm said:
    mbmoore said:
    No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.
    I have a small hub that does all that for my MBP.

    Or you could switch to one of these growing number of USB-C thumb drives.
    Actually, neither of those solutions works for me. On my old 11 inch Air, I leave my LOW PROFILE (1/4” protrusion) 512gb thumb drive in the USB-A port practically all the time—it’s a permanent appendage to it and it’s where I save all of my data files. Because of USB-C’s limits to minimization, there is no pathway to that size drive footprint, and I need the extra storage to avoid using up my internal drive space. The only solution is to add structural support to the adapter. I certainly use hubs and other thumb drives occasionally, but not permanently attached. In this configuration, I can pick up my Air and walk out the door without worrying about wagging a bag of attachments with me. Apple throws a monkey wrench into things when they don’t include USB-A—major oversight IMO. I know why they do it—it’s an easy way to coerce buyers into upgrading to a more expensive model, but I’m on a limited budget.

    Have you tried using iCloud?

    Or if you're going to buy a new MacBook Air consider buying the next size SSD. Yes, more expensive than a thumb drive but way faster and solves the problem.

    Or get a MacBook Pro the M4 versions are similar in price to the Airs and have an SSD slot.

    Or try Connect to a computer or file server explained here, https://support.apple.com/en-am/guide/iphone/iphe9aff429a/ios
    edited November 2024
    williamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 33 of 34
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,288member
    mbmoore said:
    No USB-A on a Mac Mini isn’t a big deal, but it’s a huge deal on a MacBook. I just bought an M1 MacBook Air, and I like it, but there is no real replacement for my low profile USB-A thumb drive. I’m going to have to use a fragile 90 degree adapter to connect my USB-A thumb drive to one of the two USB-C ports. Not a great solution.
    There have been USB-C to USB-A pigtail cables for many years. I bought a third party one when I had a MacBook Air 2017 7+ years ago. I no longer have that notebook computer but I still have the adaptor.

    Apple currently sells one for $19. Or you could get two for $9

    https://www.amazon.com/JSAUX-Adapter-Compatible-MacBook-Samsung/dp/B07BS8SRWH/

    and keep one in your travel kit. 

    And yes, dual port USB thumb drives are easily found in late 2024

    https://www.amazon.com/SSK-Thunderbolt-Transfer-Android-Tablets/dp/B0BFH9QZ49/

    from various manufacturers at various capacities and price points.

    Not a big deal.
    edited November 2024
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 34 of 34
    Costco is selling Base M4 Mac mini for $500 ($100 off list) and Base M4 Pro Mac mini for $1270 ($130 off list) through Dec 2.
    canukstormwatto_cobra
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