Agreed, but the tangible benefits remain in the country where the product is manufactured. We would be left with only the perception of advantage; neither our countries nor we would see any substantial benefits, unless, of course, the price of the product were to decrease accordingly.
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M4 Mac Mini's Power Button Has New Bottom Location
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As I said in another comment, I think this is much better and more convenient. The placement of the power button on the old Mac mini would cause me to accidentally push it every time I tried to unplug a cable or something similar. I would use one hand to hold the body of the Mac mini while using my other hand to disconnect something, and the hand holding the body would accidentally hit the button. It was a pain in the ass, having it on the bottom eliminates that issue. And since the button rarely needs to be pushed anyway, this is a better, more convenient, upgrade.It's funny you say that, since I am actually doing wrist exercises these days.
People want convenience though
What benefits are we talking about? Economic benefits - well, duh, making stuff in China benefits China whether it’s made from recycled aluminium or pressed baby pandas - but cheaper stuff is still cheaper for Apple whether it comes from China, India or Canada (it sure ain’t gonna come from the USA: https://investingnews.com/aluminum-production-by-country/).
If it’s environmental benefits - cutting carbon emissions and other pollution benefits the *planet* not just China.
Plus, aluminium is one of the things that *is* actually worth recycling - multiple times - so the buyer ends up with something that is far more likely to eventually get usefully recycled than (say) hard plastics.
Checked this on my Studio and, while it is on, a short accidental press does nothing - you have to hold it for several seconds to force power off...
…and accidentally powering *on* can’t be a problem because all the bottom-power-button fans say they never turn their Macs off, right…?
It's not only that. Switching power supplies like those used in the Mini (and just about any dual voltage device) actually prefer having AC power at all times. It's less stressful on the components and, as you noted, uses only a trickle of power to keep the RAM alive.
I think it can be set so a momentary press causes the Mac to go to sleep. At least that's what mine does.
No it has not.
When things glitch… be they copy/paste or fans, restarting clears up the problems 80% of the time. Running hot batteries runs them down. And computers these days do start up in seconds.
You're holding it wrong (JK)
This never happened to me personally. It could be related to where you place your hand while you plug/unplug the cable.
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Read my comment again. I have to move Mac minis around quite often. So I will power them down, and then when I go to unplug the power cable, I grab the machine with my other hand and accidentally turn it on before I get the power cable unplugged. It's frustrating, and I don't see why people try to argue against a scenario that I personally deal with.
Yeah it's definitely caused by where I place my hand, it's just even when I even try to avoid doing it, it can still accidentally happen because the Mac mini will often be in an awkward spot, and it's just one of those small annoyances that has driven me crazy over the years. So as soon as I saw this change on the new ones I was very happy and it made perfect sense to me.
Yet you are arguing against scenarios that many other people are dealing with - wanting to shut down and power off on a regular basis, not wanting to be forced to use a Magic Keyboard, dealing with flakey software that sometimes needs a forced power-off… basically dismissing them with “I never use the power button so you don’t need to either”.
I mean, I’ve regularly moved my Studio (which has the power in much the same position) or plugged in cables and I certainly don’t recall ever switching it on accidentally - certainly not enough to be a problem that justifies inconveniencing a whole tranche of users. Also, I don’t even see that the new position is going to help, since it is completely hidden right where you’re going to grab the Mini to lift it up to better see the sockets.
So, if we’re dictating how people should use their Macs: You should unplug your Mini from the wall before moving it or unplugging the mains cable - actually pretty standard advice for any electrical device.
NB: Several pro-button people here have suggested combining the power button with the front power LED which would be all-round better solution - even before the new Mini several people on MR have criticised the whole moulded-into-a-corner style (which is possibly what causes your problem) so it’s not like the old way was perfect.
I'm just replying to the post, not your solution (which is great and definitely would be needed in my case as well).
If I were going to upgrade from my M1 Mini, it'd have to have something put on the bottom like this to even make it an option. While it helps the functionality for sure, wouldn't it have just been nice if Apple would've thought for more than 2 seconds and added a bit more height to the stand in the first place.
I think a nice bottom, just adding a bit of height to it could've been done, much better their useless design change for the sake of making a useless and bad design skills at this point. Yes Apple, your skills are declining significantly each day it seems. From hardware to software and everything in-between. Apple is just getting worse by the day.
OR. Just don't put the d*** power button on the BOTTOM of the computer you idiots, Apple.
Again, your solution is nice and glad it helps you out. I just wish such a thing wasn't necessary. And yes for so many of us, having daily, or even more often, access to the MAIN and ONLY power button on a desktop computer would be nice.
Was looking forward to the next Studio update. But not really anymore since we all know what will happen with it and the "absolutely necessary" redesign happens to it before the next release.
This is the dumbest thing I have seen anyone complain about. You already have to hold it down when plugging something in because it slides around, so how much more inconvenient is it to lift it slightly to turn it on once in a while?
The Mini is on its way to me. I was considering adding a bit of height to it to create a tunnel effect (draft).
I thought about placing it on this monitor leg, which is 15cm wide—slightly wider than the Mini itself. I've got a variety of cork coasters, so cheers for the suggestion!
Apple should bring back support for keyboard power buttons like they had for decades.
Would immediately make this a non-issue.
Would immediately make this a non-issue.
Would require either wired keyboard or the mini will need to remained partially powered to support Bluetooth
There's no real reason to shut it down, other than the fact that when you touch the keyboard, mouse, or trackpad, it will wake up. You can turn off the monitor to avoid disturbing anyone, but it will still go to sleep after a while as well.
I suppose there's someone at Apple whose main duty is to find something for the community to whinge about. After all, 'negative' advertising often leads to positive results—it’s all about getting people to talk about something frequently. Thanks to this power button, the M4 Mac mini has become the most talked-about device among Apple products today. 👍
My first mini is set to arrive between the 20th and 27th.
I suppose there's someone at Apple whose main duty is to find something for the community to whinge about. After all, 'negative' advertising often leads to positive results—it’s all about getting people to talk about something frequently. Thanks to this power button, the M4 Mac mini has become the most talked-about device among Apple products today. 👍
My first mini is set to arrive between the 20th and 27th.
I see neither as a problem. But agree it would require some updates to behavior on the devices, something Apple should have factored in before releasing the product with such a strange button location.