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Apple's Much Smaller M4 Mac Mini Has All-New Thermal Architecture to Maximize Speed

AppleInLVX said:
That's the thing I'm waiting for. Reviews about how loud this thing is (if at all). I currently have an M1 Mini, and I don't ever hear the thing. It'd be weird if I suddenly started hearing fans again like it was 2008.
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Apple are usually good these days with acoustics but the smaller form factor may result in a louder device at high workloads.

My concern is more about dust accumulation. The trend with ARM and its efficiency is towards more passively cooled devices. See the newest Apple TV and MacBooks for example. They are quiet, have fewer moving parts and so are longer lasting. However it appears they have prioritized power over that here. It would have been nice to have the Mac mini become a passively cooled device. It was never meant to be a Pro device in any case. It was always an entry device and device for those wanting the smallest possible and quietest desktop form factor.
 
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wideEyedPupil said:
there's a seperate story on it on MacRumours abut the power button on the bottom. I really use, can live with that, though seems unnecessarily annoying in a way.
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it's definitely choosing form over function. button on the rear wasnt an issue. granted, seeing that it sits a bit on its fan "pedestal" i'm sure it's not all that difficult to slide a finger to.
 
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Possibly unpopular opinion: I’m glad Apple took the chance with the trashcan Mac Pro when they did. It seems clear to me the groundwork they did to create that design has given them knowledge they are putting into the cooling systems of Studio and Mini. That’s classic trickle-down innovation, that I think Apple gets too little credit for sometimes.

I will still wait for reviews, but I expect it to be silent, simply because that’s the standard Apple has set for themselves. My first Air sounded like a hairdryer when hard at work. My current Air is fanless… I have come to expect my computers to be noiseless, due to the standard Apple has set. Which is why I get annoyed with my Lenovo when fans kick in, even though it is by far the most silent Windows laptop I have ever owned (or been provided by employer).
 
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Fuzzball84 said:
The older designed minis can is always running but at its lowest speed and is practically inaudible. The air flow is minimal but constant. A fair amount of the heat transfer is by conduction to the case etc

This smaller mini has less bulk to do that, so I think it will rely far more on the fan system
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Don't forget though, it's probably not ruining anywhere near the same temp as the old Intel versions. Which by the way I have at home. A 2018 model with the i7. This is very tempting when they end the OS upgrade cycle.
 
Velli said:
Possibly unpopular opinion: I’m glad Apple took the chance with the trashcan Mac Pro when they did. It seems clear to me the groundwork they did to create that design has given them knowledge they are putting into the cooling systems of Studio and Mini. That’s classic trickle-down innovation, that I think Apple gets too little credit for sometimes.

I will still wait for reviews, but I expect it to be silent, simply because that’s the standard Apple has set for themselves. My first Air sounded like a hairdryer when hard at work. My current Air is fanless… I have come to expect my computers to be noiseless, due to the standard Apple has set. Which is why I get annoyed with my Lenovo when fans kick in, even though it is by far the most silent Windows laptop I have ever owned (or been provided by employer).
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My criticism really isn't that they take chances.
Its that they are so ---- stubborn and cheap.

They would rather not redesign a system for 8 years when they painted themselves into a corner than to fix the problem and change the design. Smaller, less profitable companies roll out way more models on a much more regular basis than Apple does. Apple could easily do better.

We see it across the board on their products.
Apple isn't a small company, they can higher more people to layout board changes or design heat sinks and chassis.
 
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Razorpit said:
Don't forget though, it's probably not ruining anywhere near the same temp as the old Intel versions. Which by the way I have at home. A 2018 model with the i7. This is very tempting when they end the OS upgrade cycle.
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I have the i3 model and at idle it runs between 34 to 40 oC and the highest I’ve seen is about 60 oC or so. My M2 MacBook Air idles at 30oC or thereabouts but has rocketed up to 80s at times.

Only the higher spec intel processors when pushed seem to get super hot. The lower spec versions were pretty cool running, even compared to ARM processors including Apple Silicon.

Other ARM based processors including those on a variety of SBC can run super cool, only ever requiring passive cooling.
 
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Reason077 said:
Seems like all the innovation happens on the inside now days. As far as exterior design goes, Apple’s become about as innovative as Tim Cook’s wardrobe.
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The design is fine… industrial design for consumer goods has plateaued a bit recently. I’m just waiting for display panels to go back to square form factor from the retro rounded look 😆

I think it will be a while before we see a real change in industrial design at Apple. Their devices have hardly changed in the past 10 to 15 years really.
 
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This piece of news focuses on the thermal design, and I’m still intrigued about how it works, because the animation on Apple’s site doesn’t look clear. I mean I don’t understand how it can take fresh air, pull it through different layers of the logic board, and pull it out through the bottom vent again.

Hopefylly @vadimyuryev and his brother will disassemble one and solve the mystery
 
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Perfect price value ratio!! Finally 16GB RAM, finally the way is paved for the upcoming Iphone 17 Pro to also get a small RAM upgrade.
 
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Unity451 said:
I'm getting some G4 Cube vibes from this.
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turbineseaplane said:
The Studio does much more of that for me
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I would love to see a taller variant of the Mac Studio, one that reaches actual cubed dimensions, specifically designed for an Extreme chip, we will call it the Mac Pro Cube...

Velli said:
Because this is Mac Mini. Max will be in MBP tomorrow, and presumably in the Studio and Mac Pro later.
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Mac Studio, yes; Mac Pro, no; the ASi Mac Pro has only ever had the M2 Ultra chip in it...
 
MacRumors said:


The Mac mini received a major update today, with Apple introducing a slimmed down design that shaves more than two inches off of the size so it takes up less space on a desktop or in a rack. Despite the size change, the Mac mini uses Apple's most powerful M-series chips, including the new M4 Pro.

mac-mini-thermal-architecture.jpg

Combining the smaller form factor and updated chips necessitated a redesigned thermal architecture. The foot of the Mac mini allows it to pull in air from the surrounding environment, and the air is able to circulate throughout before being vented back out through the bottom foot.

Apple says that air is guided to each level of the system, and that combined with the power efficiency of the M4 chips, the Mac mini can "breeze through intensive workloads at outrageous speeds."

The redesigned Mac mini measures in at five inches square and two inches tall. It's taller than the prior version, but it is 2.75 inches smaller. Rumors suggested that it could be as small as the Apple TV (which is 3.66 inches), but it ended up being a bit bigger than that.

The M4 Pro hasn't been benchmarked yet, but it has a 14-core CPU and up to a 20-core GPU, which is up to twice as powerful as the M4 GPU. 3D renders in Blender are up to 2.9x faster compared to the M2 Pro and motion graphics render up to 2x faster.

Article Link: Apple's Much Smaller M4 Mac Mini Has All-New Thermal Architecture to Maximize Speed
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I wonder how many of these would fit in a 3-U rack.
 
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cmichaelb said:
Oh new thermals will go great with my last big thermal upgrade, my 2013 MacPro!
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It does remind me of the 2013 Mac Pro. They redesigned the chassis to necessitate a thermal solution, exactly the same has happened to the Mac Mini. They could have left the size similar to how it was and relied on a passive cooling solution for the most part.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
I have a feeling Apple thought about the power button when moving it and it's probably going to be just fine where it's at.
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i agree, it's probably easily reachable. it's like the magic mouse's port being on the base. it looks silly, isnt convenient if you need a charge right now, but 60s of charge gives hours and a full charge will last a month. it's ultimately a non issue.
 
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Fuzzball84 said:
I do hope it’s easy to open up and clean it out. I’ve seen some pretty atrocious dust build up in Mac studios that are in relatively clean office space.
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As a Mac Studio owner, I'm curious – why are you opening it up? I was under the impression there was nothing user serviceable in there.
 
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