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Hands On With Apple's New M4 Mac Mini

An underrated feature I don’t see a lot of talk about:

It appears that the new mini properly supports CEC over HDMI, at least to be able to turn an attached TV off and on.
 
  • Wow
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tomtad said:
It's an audio jack, not just for headphones. If I want to plug in some speakers I now either have to get a dongle and use up a Thunderbolt port or have a wire poking out of the front. And I thought Apple had spent the last decade on a crusade against wired headphones?
Click to expand...
Or you can purchase a ThunderBolt/USB hub that has an audio out jack and connect your audio equipment there, plus the bonus of getting USB A ports, etc.
 
nsayer said:
An underrated feature I don’t see a lot of talk about:

It appears that the new mini properly supports CEC over HDMI, at least to be able to turn an attached TV off and on.
Click to expand...

This is actually huge news! Does it also change volume over CEC?

I use a comically large OLED TV as a monitor (it's great for multitasking!), but I hate having to use hacky workarounds to get it to come to life when I wake my desktop.
 
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motochan said:
That’s not how Apple decides on things. If they did that, the back might get too dense and fugly? Also, the chip might not have enough lanes to support that many high speed ports when it scales into a TB5 with M4-Pro. They’d much rather keep everything nice and neat.
Click to expand...
Notice the vertical usb ports.
 

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ProbablyDylan said:
This is actually huge news! Does it also change volume over CEC?

I use a comically large OLED TV as a monitor (it's great for multitasking!), but I hate having to use hacky workarounds to get it to come to life when I wake my desktop.
Click to expand...
Alas, it does not support volume or mute over CEC. The volume buttons on the keyboard produce the same "don't" symbol response as before.
 
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Very Tempted on base m4 model & going ext ssd route. Can anybody advise how much disc space is actually available on the 256ssd after the first initial start up before any extra programs are downloaded etc. Just curious & can’t find this info anywhere! I’m a 4hr drive from nearest Apple Store too so can’t just pop in!
I’m coming from a 2011 mini. M4 would be a clean start with no Time Machine backup transfers etc
 
Ta_whirimatea said:
Very Tempted on base m4 model & going ext ssd route. Can anybody advise how much disc space is actually available on the 256ssd after the first initial start up before any extra programs are downloaded etc. Just curious & can’t find this info anywhere! I’m a 4hr drive from nearest Apple Store too so can’t just pop in!
I’m coming from a 2011 mini. M4 would be a clean start with no Time Machine backup transfers etc
Click to expand...
boot off the external? zero in that case!
 
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Ta_whirimatea said:
Very Tempted on base m4 model & going ext ssd route. Can anybody advise how much disc space is actually available on the 256ssd after the first initial start up before any extra programs are downloaded etc. Just curious & can’t find this info anywhere! I’m a 4hr drive from nearest Apple Store too so can’t just pop in!
I’m coming from a 2011 mini. M4 would be a clean start with no Time Machine backup transfers etc
Click to expand...
There is discussion of only TB3 or better booting from an external SSD now. Apple has modified its APFS utility and security regarding permissions to mount/connect external attached devices. Need more validation of what works now, before thinking that is a doable.
 
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Ta_whirimatea said:
Very Tempted on base m4 model & going ext ssd route. Can anybody advise how much disc space is actually available on the 256ssd after the first initial start up before any extra programs are downloaded etc. Just curious & can’t find this info anywhere! I’m a 4hr drive from nearest Apple Store too so can’t just pop in!
I’m coming from a 2011 mini. M4 would be a clean start with no Time Machine backup transfers etcI'm showing about
Click to expand...
I'm showing 12.8 GB for "System Data" and almost 19 GB for macOS on my base M4 with 256 GB drive. It's filling up quickly as my Photo library and Messages start downloading... Can't believe how big my Messages file is; maybe time to delete all those pics and videos... :)
 
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mvdrl said:
I'm showing 12.8 GB for "System Data" and almost 19 GB for macOS on my base M4 with 256 GB drive. It's filling up quickly as my Photo library and Messages start downloading... Can't believe how big my Messages file is; maybe time to delete all those pics and videos... :)
Click to expand...
This is always the time you determine if that is enough within your purchase trial period. They sold 256 GB SSD Macs back in 2012. Still too small for someone that wants to use a Mac for normal storage needs. ;)
 
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Realityck said:
There is discussion of only TB3 or better booting from an external SSD now. Apple has modified its APFS utility and security regarding permissions to mount/connect external attached devices. Need more validation of what works now, before thinking that is a doable.
Click to expand...
Yeah I’d been seeing a bit of conflicting chatter on forums about whether ext ssd boot is the golden ticket solution but have time to keep reading up on it. I doubt I’ll use apple AI so it not being able to read ext drives doesn’t bother me. Am kinda leaning to the 512gb now but all my photos iTunes always goes ext anyways
 
mvdrl said:
I'm showing 12.8 GB for "System Data" and almost 19 GB for macOS on my base M4 with 256 GB drive. It's filling up quickly as my Photo library and Messages start downloading... Can't believe how big my Messages file is; maybe time to delete all those pics and videos... :)
Click to expand...
Will check my messages app on my old 2011 mini to see its size 👍
 
polyphenol said:
First day with an M4 mini and the following seem significant:

For even my relatively modest needs, the performance boost over an M1 8/256 is very obvious. I suspect a lot of that is down to the extra memory.

Disappointed that a watch charger being plugged into a front USB socket cause it to complain about a high power device.

Disappointed that it was even more unhappy at my iPhone 15PM being connected. (I wasn't wanting to charge it - just check it connected OK.)

Happy that a four-way powered USB-C hub works fine with four drives plugged in. All four remained stable for hours. However, an unpowered hub saw drives dropping off and/or not appearing.
Click to expand...
What I said was true. But I have now realised that I was using a mini-hub (2 * USB-C and 2 * USB-A sockets) though there was only one device plugged in - my Watch charger (genuine Apple) or my iPhone 15 PM.

This afternoon I used it for a very ordinary USB-A memory stick - and got the same problem.

Therefore, I retract the blame from Apple and redirect it towards my SSK SC109 mini-hub. Thoroughly dischuffed with that now.
 
OneTraveler said:
Can confirm that the keyboard does in fact work while plugged in, however I believe it is still using Bluetooth to connect to the machine. The "plugging in" simply provides a power source for charging.
Click to expand...
I switched my keyboard from my old M1 mini to my M4 mini by simply plugging it in to the M4. I rather expected it to revert to the M1 mini when I disconnected the lead - but it didn't.

That is why I thought it actually sent signals on the wire and not over Bluetooth. But it is quite clear that what i did doesn't prove it - just led me to think it did.
 
polyphenol said:
I switched my keyboard from my old M1 mini to my M4 mini by simply plugging it in to the M4. I rather expected it to revert to the M1 mini when I disconnected the lead - but it didn't.

That is why I thought it actually sent signals on the wire and not over Bluetooth. But it is quite clear that what i did doesn't prove it - just led me to think it did.
Click to expand...
and I'm fully aware that I may be 100% wrong.....
 
IBeenMacSince19 said:
Whenever someone tells me the new MacMini has no USB A port, I tell them it has no SCSI port either. Get over it.
Click to expand...
It also doesn't have a Centronics parallel port either, but it's been ~15 years since I bought a printer with a parallel port. The Mini does come with an RJ-45 Ethernet port and that has been around almost as long as the SCSI ports. USB-A devices are still very common and still being sold.

Noting the limit on Thunderbolt ports, I would have liked a couple of USB-A ports with USB 2.0 performance levels for low speed peripherals so I wouldn't be wasting the high speed ports. In my case, I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a problem with using the USB-A ports on my Thunderbolt display for connecting the keyboard and trackpad. Unlike the experience others had with non-Apple monitors with USB ports, the my Mini does wake up when I press a key.
 
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IvyKing said:
It also doesn't have a Centronics parallel port either, but it's been ~15 years since I bought a printer with a parallel port. The Mini does come with an RJ-45 Ethernet port and that has been around almost as long as the SCSI ports. USB-A devices are still very common and still being sold.

Noting the limit on Thunderbolt ports, I would have liked a couple of USB-A ports with USB 2.0 performance levels for low speed peripherals so I wouldn't be wasting the high speed ports. In my case, I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a problem with using the USB-A ports on my Thunderbolt display for connecting the keyboard and trackpad. Unlike the experience others had with non-Apple monitors with USB ports, the my Mini does wake up when I press a key.
Click to expand...
Thunderbolt docks are as useful as the level of rage it brings some people feel who reject the idea of a desktop with a dock.

Find a good quality TB3 dock on the cheap, and you're set on any ports you could ever want. Plus you can mount it somewhere convenient or out of the way, and use it with any other mac.
 
polyphenol said:
I switched my keyboard from my old M1 mini to my M4 mini by simply plugging it in to the M4. I rather expected it to revert to the M1 mini when I disconnected the lead - but it didn't.

That is why I thought it actually sent signals on the wire and not over Bluetooth. But it is quite clear that what i did doesn't prove it - just led me to think it did.
Click to expand...
it clearly sends -some- signals! i have noticed this functionality before.
 
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No one is ever allowed to complain about the mini or base model Macs again.

Because this exists...


If anyone complains show them this. Again and again and again.
 
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