M4 Mac Mini's Power Button Has New Bottom Location

[salz4life]

This is a bit outdated. I think they should do a voice controlled shut down. For example, every time you sneeze, it shuts down. If you do it twice - it reboots. Buttons are so last year. Ask the car manufacturers

Can Siri actually shut your computer down for you? I never thought of that. LOL

 

[Stiksi]

While completely irrelevant for 99% of people, it's an odd design choice considering that Apple is so heavily pushing carbon neutral, and even low-carbon electricity for charging. You would think that turning the computer fully off would be higher up on their list of priorities.

I turn my mini off every time I stop working. Why would I leave a machine on when I leave the office? This just means that instead of positionong the Mac Mini back to front on my desk for easy access to the button, I also need to turn it upside down.

 

[SnowPenguin]

Having the power button at the bottom is so weird. It’s not a deal breaker, but I can’t imagine a reason tonhave it that way… Maybe we are supposed to place it upside-down.

Thinking back of the charging port of their Magic Mouse, modern Apple can be weird at times.

 

[cult hero]

For most usage this is fine. For me it would be fine since my last Mac Mini was only powered down when I was rearranging my desk or moving. No big deal there. Sleep is almost no cost in terms of power and my network backups take place at night. (My mini used to be the house’s Time Machine server, but I have a NAS now since Apple has killed their server product.)

It’s still just kinda weird. I don’t love it. But it’s also the sort of thing that’s going to enrage the peanut gallery. I wonder if there is alternative way to turn this on for odd mounting/embedding. (Although is a button on the back that much more convenient in those cases?)

 

[brofkand]

For most usage this is fine. For me it would be fine since my last Mac Mini was only powered down when I was rearranging my desk or moving. No big deal there. Sleep is almost no cost in terms of power and my network backups take place at night. (My mini used to be the house’s Time Machine server, but I have a NAS now since Apple has killed their server product.)

It’s still just kinda weird. I don’t love it. But it’s also the sort of thing that’s going to enrage the peanut gallery. I wonder if there is alternative way to turn this on for odd mounting/embedding. (Although is a button on the back that much more convenient in those cases?)

You can send a WOL packet from another machine on the same network, provided the Mini is connected to Ethernet.

 

[BaldiMac]

Having the power button at the bottom is so weird. It’s not a deal breaker, but I can’t imagine a reason tonhave it that way… Maybe we are supposed to place it upside-down.

Thinking back of the charging port of their Magic Mouse, modern Apple can be weird at times.

Can't imagine? The obvious answer is to discourage consumers from regularly using the power button. But I'm sure there were cost savings and and design considerations as well.

 

[SnowPenguin]

Can't imagine? The obvious answer is to discourage consumers from regularly using the power button. But I'm sure there were cost savings and and design considerations as well.

And why would they want to discourage people from doing that? The second part could be more likely the reason.

 

[BaldiMac]

And why would they want to discourage people from doing that?

Because that's not how they intend it to be used. Best UX is to just let it go to sleep. You may certainly disagree, but it's obviously Apple's position.

The second part could be more likely the reason.

Glad to expand your imagination!

 

[cult hero]

I wonder why they opted to keep an internal power supply. They could have cut the size down and had the option for USB-C power. That doesn’t make sense for everyone but paired with a USB-C monitor it would have been pretty darn cool.

 

[orpheus1120]

You can send a WOL packet from another machine on the same network, provided the Mini is connected to Ethernet.

You don't need WOL packet to wake an apple silicon mac. It is so efficient that even during sleep mode it's constantly monitoring network activity. But anyway. the poster meant to reboot the mini, not wake from sleep.

 

[staypuftforums]

The notch came about due to increase of screen real estate. We essentially now have pixels for the menu bar where before it was dead space.

I much prefer having more screen to use.

Notch gives you less screen, not more.

 

[tonmischa]

You can send a WOL packet from another machine on the same network, provided the Mini is connected to Ethernet.

If the Mac is completely shut down, you can send a WOL to start it up?
Source, please.

 

[BaldiMac]

Notch gives you less screen, not more.

How do you figure? Notch allowed them to expand the screen into the upper bezel. Previously, the upper bezel had to be wide enough for the camera all the way across. For example, the display size increased from 13.3" to 13.6" on the MacBook Air.

 

[staypuftforums]

View attachment 2444325View attachment 2444322

Here's how it'd look with a notch. So basically the same as a MacBook currently looks. You'd just prefer to have that space on the left and right of the camera wasted by a black bar rather than be useful.

The "evil" notch gives more screen real estate.

I figured you were referring to the XPS 15 which does have thinner bezels than a MacBook but it also has a 720p webcam.

You can play the same photoshop games with the Macbook by removing the notch to show more screen.

The notch does not add a single extra pixel. It is a design and marketing choice and nothing more.

 

[staypuftforums]

How do you figure? Notch allowed them to expand the screen into the upper bezel. Previously, the upper bezel had to be wide enough for the camera all the way across. For example, the display size increased from 13.3" to 13.6" on the MacBook Air.

Because it is literally a cutout on the screen itself.

If I cut a notch into my iMac, there would be less screen, not more.

You can argue that it allows for the device to be *slightly* smaller, but it absolutely does not give you any extra screen space.

 

[BaldiMac]

Because it literally a cutout of the screen itself.

If I cut a notch into my iMac, there would be less screen, not more.

Except that's not what happened. Read my post. They expanded the screen into the upper bezel.

 

[Mr.Fox]

I believe there is a separate cauldron in hell for those who decided and approved to place the power button at the bottom. In the same cauldron will be cooked those who decided on the charging port of the magic mouse

 

[staypuftforums]

Except that's not what happened. Read my post. They expanded the screen into the upper bezel.

They could have expanded the screen without a notch. It's a design choice.

 

[BaldiMac]

They could have expanded the screen without a notch. It's a design choice.

Okay? That doesn't change the fact that the screen was bigger. Obviously, you can always make the whole device bigger. The notch allowed them to fit a bigger screen into the same space.

 

[Pete_202]

The switch on the bottom wouldn't be a problem if sleep actually worked properly. On my M2 Pro Mini the display will not usually receive a signal when the computer wakes from sleep so I either have to leave the Mini on with sleep disabled or shut it down when not in use for several hours.

 

[staypuftforums]

Okay? That doesn't change the fact that the screen was bigger. Obviously, you can always make the whole device bigger. The notch allowed them to fit a bigger screen into the same space.

Possibly. But even then, it's only a tiny fraction smaller than it otherwise would have been with the same screen size and no notch. There's still a sizeable bezel on these machines, even with a notch.

 

[BaldiMac]

Possibly. But even then, it's only a tiny fraction smaller than it otherwise would have been with the same screen size and no notch. There's still a sizeable bezel on these machines, even with a notch.

Again, no one is arguing that they couldn't have made a larger case. Apple simply believes that the notch is a reasonable tradeoff for a smaller case.

 

[R3k]

Notch gives you less screen, not more.

For MacBook Pro notch debut, the screen sizes and usable screen ratio increased over the previous models due to the accompanying thinning of bezels.

Thinning the bezels and relegating the camera to a notch increased the overall active display space.
Which is why they did it.

 

[dg1974]

From the article: https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/30/24283861/apple-redesigned-mac-mini-macbook-pro-imac-m4-photos

there’s no way to reach the power button, which is on the underside of the computer, without lifting it up

it’s insane!!!

 

[brofkand]

Again, no one is arguing that they couldn't have made a larger case. Apple simply believes that the notch is a reasonable tradeoff for a smaller case.

They could have fit a camera in the upper bezel with no notch if they wanted to - Dell does. But they chose to do the notch for some god forsaken reason.