Apple Announces Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Chips, Two Front USB-C Ports, and More

[Mac Fly (film)]

No on/off switch???

 

[DPUser]

No of course not. There's no way Apple would price it at $599 for the base model if they did.

Apple's prices to upgrade the internal storage are outrageous, but I'm happy to only pay $599 and get 256gb. 256gb is still a huge amount of space for the main system drive. Cheap external storage is ok for everything beyond that. I don't see much difference between 256gb and 512gb because 512gb isn't big enough for everything anyway, so I'm going to need external storage either way... and then might as well go for 1 or 2 TB.

One significant issue with the base storage capacity arises for those using DropBox... Apple now requires anything in DropBox that is also stored locally must be on the Mac's internal drive. So, if one wants instant access to large files that also reside in DropBox, the 256GB internal drive is a likely bottleneck.

 

[WhisperingBobcat]

I unlock with Apple Watch.

I unlock with Apple watch when it isn't in the other room. I'm getting an overpriced keyboard with a touch id when I upgrade.

 

[carniesandrubes]

Pre-ordered base model, with 10gbe as the only upgrade, should be a solid machine

Same config here. Just ordered.

 

[CraigsDog]

Power button on bottom is just stupid.

how often do you plan to push the power button on this machine? Keep in mind it uses basically no power while sleeping

 

[tenthousandthings]

Yeah but even just regular desktop speakers, now you have a wire coming out of the front.

Not ideal, but workable if you don’t need that third Thunderbolt port:

RockStar™ 3.5mm Audio Cable with USB-C™ Connector | Belkin US

A single-cable solution to listen to music from your USB-C smartphone or tablet on your car or home stereo.

www.belkin.com

 

[blairh]

Absolutely wonderful. First Mac was a mini. Current Mac is a mini. I just love this product and this redesign is simply awesome.

 

[seastar]

Its power button is under the chassis.

 

[Remy149]

Now I need to decide if I should get a 512gb model or just the base one. I primarily want to use this as my plex server instead of my MacBook and already have a 2tb external ssd

 

[adampao]

Does it have a fan?

Not sure, but it already has many fans!

 

[Madmats]

how often do you plan to push the power button on this machine? Keep in mind it uses basically no power while sleeping

Yeah. I don't think I've ever used it (except turning the machine on) on my M1.

 

[joshwithachance]

FACTS. That front audio jack makes this a no go for me.

You won't buy a computer because there's an audio port on the front? That's absurd...

 

[geez66]

Currently have the M1 2020 and have been very happy with it but have been waiting for this.

Ordered the M4Pro with 1tb storage - I would have gone for 512gb and used the Thunderbolt 5 to add external storage but will be using those ports to drive the three monitors...

 

[MilaM]

I like the new design. I'm going to buy one once Apple bumps the base mini storage to a usable 1TB ... in 2034 🙃.

 

[jayb3]

Behold...you are looking at the next Mac Mini form factor for the next 20 years. Enjoy!

 

[Mac-key]

I'm not in the market, because my M2 Pro mini is still too early in its lifecycle to consider replacing, but this is pretty much what I hoped it would be.

same for me - I just got the Mac mini M2PRO back in August. I knew these were coming, but my 2017 iMac was DONE. I'm a professional photographer/videographer and time is $$ - so I made the buy! Got $200 off though via B&H

 

[Fuzzball84]

I’m still making use of an Intel Mac mini I bought in 2020… still goi g string and for regular use even loads up office productivity apps iust as fast as my MacBook Air M2

But when OS support is long gone (security updates) and it really starts showing its age, this type of Mac will be a huge jump… in capability and dimensions 😀

 

[Z∆K]

Apple today announced fully redesigned Mac mini models featuring the M4 and M4 Pro chips, a considerably smaller casing, two front-facing USB-C ports, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, and more.

The product refresh marks the first time the Mac mini has been redesigned in over a decade. The enclosure now measures just five by five inches and contains a new thermal architecture where air is guided up through the device's foot to different levels of the system.

The new Mac mini can be configured with either the M4 or M4 Pro chip, with the latter allowing for a 14-core CPU, a 20-core GPU, and up to 64GB of memory. The Mac mini with the M4 chip features a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and now starts with 16GB of unified memory as standard. The M4 Pro features 273GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Apple says that the M4 Mac mini is up to 1.8x faster in CPU performance and 2.2x faster in GPU performance than the M1 model from 2020. With up to 20 cores, the M4 Pro's GPU is said to be up to twice as powerful as the GPU in the standard M4. Both chips bring hardware-accelerated ray tracing to the Mac mini for the first time, alongside a considerably more powerful Neural Engine.

The M4 Pro model offers two USB-C ports on the front and three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back. This is the first time a Mac has featured Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, which delivers up to 120 Gb/s data transfer speeds—more than doubling the throughput of Thunderbolt 4. The M4 model continues to have Thunderbolt 4 ports.

The new machine is also Apple's first carbon-neutral Mac. The M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini is available to pre-order today with a starting price of $599, with launch set to take place on November 8.

Article Link: Apple Announces Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Chips, Two Front USB-C Ports, and More

I have an ipad pro with a magic keyboard. Could I use the mac mini as my computer and have the iPad as my monitor with magic keyboard as my trackpad and keyboard?

 

[TheGenerous]

Would the base model be OK for my parents? They still use their Mac Mini 2012

For their use, the only issues are in Notes because they use iPhone 13s which support more features in iOS and current macOS. Their Mac Mini stopped having OS updates and therefore Notes and Photos are obsolete (?)

 

[platinumaqua]

USBA is (finally) dying, and adapters are cheap, removing USBA makes sense. Apple’s actually been less aggressive on this than, say, they did with legacy ports when they started using USBA.

And they added the front ports, which is a welcome update. No more need to buy, say, a satechi base just to get nice looking front ports

but having to use adapters is not elegant lol. in the olden days desktop computers are supposed to be full fat to not need adapters to plug things in (for the most common ports)

but yes, front ports are nice

 

[Heat_Fan89]

It looks like it won't move around to much with the rubber trim on the bottom of the base.

 

[Fluffyk]

The Apple hardware is absolutely mindblowing. I wish I could say the same about the software. I remember a time where Apple was so bad in paper specs but that brilliant software UI and UX magic and optimalization made it what it was. These days Apple is only about gigahertz. Exactly what Steve Jobs was against. Windows is faster and snappier even on a decade old PC and looks pretty good now. Meanwhile, macOS is slower and less responsive and looks boring and uninspired with that flat dull look. I’m prepared for the hate but it’s the reality. Apple should do better.

 

[asdfjkl;]

I thought they fired the guy who put the mouse charger on the bottom of the mouse.

No, just transferred from the peripherals team to the Mac mini team.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Would the base model be OK for my parents? They still use their Mac Mini 2012

Just about anything you can think of will be a major upgrade from the 2012 Mini

 

[rezwits]

You won't buy a computer because there's an audio port on the front? That's absurd...

Finally caught up to this thread, started from the beginning, posts just kept flying in!

p.s. be thankful you even have a headphone jack!