The correct orientation of the Mac Mini

[Ifti]

First thing my son noticed as well. You get used to it, unless it’s actual ocd, in which case it’s a little bit more tinkering to flip it. The little stubs that attach the base plate to the chassis are in a triangle shape around the edge, so they need to be moved or taken off and replaced with a different kind of attachment. Magnets are out, unfortunately.

I thought about sanding it off, but the dust the plate gives off is a bit offputting. I don’t know what’s in it, but it’s not like other plastics I’ve worked with.

Would have been ideal if you could pop off that bottom plate and just turn it around 180 degrees before popping back on! lol

 

[fuchsdh]

They probably would have if it was an option. It’s a tiny machine and it has a lot of components that can cause interference. Or it could be a manufacturing reason, usually with Apple it’s either cost or appearance. Minimalism has a price and if it isn’t paid in money, it’s paid in functionality.

I love the mini but like you, I think some of the decisions they’ve made to get the appearance they want are mad. But it’s so funny that they’re so single-mindedly fixed on making it look a certain way and then if you plop it onto its side, it just works better. Just imagine how they would react if everyone started setting their macs on their side.

Eh, looking at it the other way, if you want to put it on its side... you can, and Apple doesn't have to change anything to enable that functionality. There's nothing stopping you from mounting your Mac mini however you want (I put my 2018 vertically in a stand for space-saving reasons, the reputed cooler running was just a nice side effect.

I wonder how much of the focus on a horizontal "default" orientation is just tradition? That has historically been how a lot of computers have been arrayed, and certainly in the days when the Mac mini had an optical drive it was really the most feasible one. Might just be at this point even if Apple could make a machine that was built vertical-first they consider the orientation of a mini part of the identity (although given that the new Mini is essentially more a shrunken-down Mac Studio, perhaps that's not really part of the thinking behind it.)

 

[PaulD-UK]

I've always used my M1 mini on edge in a Minisopuru USB-C dock with 1TB NVMe in its base.

I've only got space to put a new M4 Pro mini on edge on my desk, because I have an array of six TB3 Docks with NVMe slots inside each, all daisy chained off the two TB4 ports on the M1 mini. Four Glyph docks, two WD D50 docks, 10TB in all. As well as a DIY 5K iMac monitor conversion - in all its 5K gorgeousness... 🙂
You can see the monitor OSD remote control in the last picture. In use the monitor is lowered 0n a VESA arm to hide all the docks and mini.

So I'm just beginning to install the M4Pro mini in its place, and I found that I can use the base stand from a Yottamaster 2x2.5" enclosure to hold the new mini on edge until I can get a proper aluminium dock/base to hold it upright.

It is held in place very well, with just some stick-on pads to protect the mini and hold it tight.

I'm posting this from the new mini, before I've done a migration, and there is absolutely no fan noise at low loads. I'll test more when I've finished the install...

 

[nexx27]

What do you use the egpu for? Gaming? Emulators? Productivity?

Worth the hassle?

 

[MacCheetah3]

I had my 2012 and 2020 (M1) Mac mini in a vertical stand.




I’ve re-used that stand for the new Mac mini though, obviously, not vertical as the M4 mini is more stout.




In my tests, the effects seem negligible. I just don’t like wasting things — and it looks neat. Nonetheless, yes, yes, I haven’t settled yet on physical placements of the hub and external drives. The difficult balance of form and function.

New gen Minis show the hot air coming out the right side when viewed from the front. If this is the case, they should work best when oriented vertically on the side, so if the bottom is facing out like in the photo you'd want the ports on the right side and the front to the left.

ETA: I believe this would put the power button on the bottom right facing out, unless I'm misremembering where it is on the new Minis...

Apple’s animation isn’t completely clear — no pun intended. The flow is front half of circular grill intake and rear half exhaust. And while I’ve only had it speed up to a noticeable level under absolutely full workload, that little blower does an impressive job.

This is likely how Apple designed it for server farms. Easier access to power button and better cooling

MacStudium

My OCD is triggered because the 'Mac Mini' text is upside down!

A nitpick, that’s more of possible OCPD. OCD is different:

People with OCD often have an inflated sense of responsibility, meaning that they feel responsible for things that are not within their control.

Fears about making mistakes in OCD involve obsessions about making any type of mistake, either by negligence, error, or random chance, and causing a negative impact on one’s life or the lives of others.

The quote is good, and I linked as a citation, but there’s not really an ROCD (as a subtype). OCD — linked more appropriate extended definition — is, at its core, a feeling of worry, concern, accountability. Even OCPD isn’t a subtype, it’s more of a notable variation as the obsession aspect is significantly enough different.

I have both OCPD and OCD -- and have improved substantially though not shaken them entirely. To finish light-hearted, here’s a little OCPD self-ribbing: Me leaving a room, turning the lights off, and not all of the light switches are down… Then returning:

 

[zapmymac]

Great post, and comments…very informative. I have a circular 1/8” thick silicone trivet (the exact size as the m2 Mini’s bottom plate: it is there to keep the Mini from sliding, now I may try to make it vertical, as suggested. I’ll just have to rejig the cables, to minimize the stress/strain on the cable ports.

 

[osxster]

In a wired setup like yours, where it looks like you are trying to achieve high performance disk IO with storage, using Thunderbolt, etc., I would expect you not to use Wifi. I'm planning on ordering a 10 GB model to replace my Xserve.

 

[Newton1701]

Space gray, that’s a 2018 Mac mini, but the antenna system is essentially the same from 2010 through 2023

 

[TimDeRosa]

Obviously why they put the power button on the bottom!

 

[Stiksi]

What do you use the egpu for? Gaming? Emulators? Productivity?

Worth the hassle?

The 2018/2020 mini has basically no graphics power at all, the igpu is an intel pos that barely runs photoshop at all. I do photo editing, huge size images, animation and video editing. For example, davinci needs 16GB of video memory before it starts to run fairly well at 4K. But sure, I’ve got Windows 10 in bootcamp so I can run some games too.

Getting the egpu to work in macOS is no hassle at all, boot up with it attached and it works, bootcamp though… that takes a little work. Less hassle to just build a pc. But, if you’re like me and will take the hassle to game on a 6-8 year old CPU, the egpu site has good instructions. My son did learn a few new words though during the process, though.

Space gray, that’s a 2018 Mac mini, but the antenna system is essentially the same from 2010 through 2023

They called it early 2020 at the time. It’s the same 2018 machine but they bumped up the base storage in March 2020. It was the last one before M1. Wikipedia says 2018, so they did not fall for that marketing ploy.

I edited the OP to clarify this, cheers!

 

[Stiksi]

I've always used my M1 mini on edge in a Minisopuru USB-C dock with 1TB NVMe in its base.

I've only got space to put a new M4 Pro mini on edge on my desk, because I have an array of six TB3 Docks with NVMe slots inside each, all daisy chained off the two TB4 ports on the M1 mini. Four Glyph docks, two WD D50 docks, 10TB in all. As well as a DIY 5K iMac monitor conversion - in all its 5K gorgeousness... 🙂
You can see the monitor OSD remote control in the last picture. In use the monitor is lowered 0n a VESA arm to hide all the docks and mini.

So I'm just beginning to install the M4Pro mini in its place, and I found that I can use the base stand from a Yottamaster 2x2.5" enclosure to hold the new mini on edge until I can get a proper aluminium dock/base to hold it upright.

This is an impressive setup! I’m kind of on the fence about trying to convert my iMac into a display or just installing opencore on it and running it in target display mode once I get a new mac to replace it. I think it would probably be way beyond my electrical skills to do the conversion…

 

[Newton1701]

The 2018/2020 mini has basically no graphics power at all, the igpu is an intel pos that barely runs photoshop at all. I do photo editing, huge size images, animation and video editing. For example, davinci needs 16GB of video memory before it starts to run fairly well at 4K. But sure, I’ve got Windows 10 in bootcamp so I can run some games too.

Getting the egpu to work in macOS is no hassle at all, boot up with it attached and it works, bootcamp though… that takes a little work. Less hassle to just build a pc. But, if you’re like me and will take the hassle to game on a 6-8 year old CPU, the egpu site has good instructions. My son did learn a few new words though during the process, though.


They called it early 2020 at the time. It’s the same 2018 machine but they bumped up the base storage in March 2020. It was the last one before M1. Wikipedia says 2018, so they did not fall for that marketing ploy.

I edited the OP to clarify this, cheers!

Go to the About This Mac menu on your own Mac and you’ll see that Apple calls it a 2018 model. Just because Apple makes a higher configuration model the new entry level doesn’t make it a new generation. Just like how they’ve eliminated 8GB unified memory MacBook Airs from the current M3 lineup, 16GB is the new entry level, it’s not a new model or generation.

 

[Davelfc]

I currently have my Mini upside down, with pads stuck to it to avoid scratching and moving. I do like the little stand that holds it sideways and will look to purchase one of them asap.

 

[Tago]

If it turns out flipping the M4 Mini 90 deg does miracles to reception, I`ll reconsider, but the preferred solution remains top up bracket under my desktop. Doesn`t seem like the right bracket has arrived anywhere yet, the linked one is right in principle but not in execution.

A lot of sub par bracket designs for previous generations, hopefully someone will make a great one. Eventually. Satechi should be capable of making a good one at a digestible pricepoint.

https://www.etsy.com/no-en/listing/1823585645/new-2024-mac-mini-m4-universal-mount?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=mac+mini+mount&pro=1&content_source=2d35809ff68608d88f128ce856f5273d98fc5481%253A1823585645&variation0=4937030272

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Will be buying one sometime soon as my current computer crop is too long in the tooth to handle some of the websites I like to browse and this issue will almost certainly get much worse sometime next year.

Anyways I'm set up for ethernet and will be using USB KB and mouse so the reception is no big deal. The more efficient cooling is important, given that a dead SSD now equals door stop status for the less expensive Macs.

Will also disable Spotlight, for the same reason. Funny first time I saw Indexing was back on OS 8.6. It was too far ahead of it's time as it slowed that iMac to a crawl, and I've been disabling it ever since. On the plus side those who left their computers running 24/7 could schedule indexing for times when they were not using the computer, not practical on a CRT iMac but at least it was an option.

Thanks to the OP for a great idea.

 

[PaulD-UK]

@OldMacs4Me
“Will also disable Spotlight, for the same reason…”

With AS Macs I have never noticed Spotlight in action at any time.

What I absolutely love is having the text on saved images searchable with Spotlight. Everything everywhere all at once, instantly findable.

With current Apple SSDs capable of Petabytes of R/Ws - enough for several lifetimes of browsing, there is absolutely no reason to mollycoddle a new Mac.

It makes modern MacOS a joy to use

 

[Gabebear]

Universal Control won't use ethernet; Apple forces you to use WiFi.

So if using a Mac mini in a multi-Mac setup with Universal Control then wiring it doesn't help at all.

 

[Stiksi]

@OldMacs4Me
“Will also disable Spotlight, for the same reason…”

With AS Macs I have never noticed Spotlight in action at any time.

What I absolutely love is having the text on saved images searchable with Spotlight. Everything everywhere all at once, instantly findable.

With current Apple SSDs capable of Petabytes of R/Ws - enough for several lifetimes of browsing, there is absolutely no reason to mollycoddle a new Mac.

It makes modern MacOS a joy to use

I’ve been actually having a lot of trouble with Spotlight in the recent macOS versions. Granted, I usually only use the last version of an OS and upgrade when the next OS is about to roll in, so I’m not on the new macOS and won’t be for another 10 months, but Spotlight used to work like a charm, now it can barely find anything. I’ve reset the index a couple times but it’s still not working. It was fine in Catalina, but everything after that has been more miss than hit. Files are there and not in privacy folders, but Spotlight just won’t show them 🤷‍♂️

Maybe it just needs an M chip now, I don’t know. It still finds some things, so I will probably keep it on.

 

[robvalentine]

also makes power button accessible on M4 Models

 

[Joniz]

Universal Control won't use ethernet; Apple forces you to use WiFi.

So if using a Mac mini in a multi-Mac setup with Universal Control then wiring it doesn't help at all.

It works with ethernet as long as you have wifi on. On my computer, i have wifi as second in networking list, after ethernet, and dont attach it to any network. The wifi symbol in the menu is grayed out, but still gives me the ability to use Universal Control, AirDrop, and other wifi-necessary things.

I have my M4 Mini Command Strip velcroed to the back of a monitior, bottom and power button facing out, wires going left and right, and my bluetooth is noteably stronger.

Just dont attach it with back wires pointed down, as i believe thats the direction the warm air blows, which would rise up and get sucked back into the Mini’s cool air intakes, which is always a bad thing with jets and chimneys.

 

[Stiksi]

In a wired setup like yours, where it looks like you are trying to achieve high performance disk IO with storage, using Thunderbolt, etc., I would expect you not to use Wifi. I'm planning on ordering a 10 GB model to replace my Xserve.

For me, it’s more trouble than it’s worth – 9-15m of cable to hide and I have literally never reached the limits of the wifi speed. Now that I have direct line of sight to the router, it’s working as fast as my ISP and the building’s ancient cables let it work.

The storage is mostly just 7200 rpm HDs in a DAS for file storage. I edit from the internal drive because my videos are typically max 5 mins long, so I get by when I move the projects to storage after I’m done. And if I’m working in 1080p, the HDs actually handle that quite well.

I do have a couple nvme USB4 game drives for windows, which I will repurpose as media drives if that part of the business ever grows so much that it becomes a chore to manage my assets.

But this is my home setup, so the esthetic side is honestly more important than maximizing speed. I’m still working on making the egpu blend in more but it’s a difficult block to place in the tiny space. For now, I’m just happy I found a nice cable management solution for the mac part.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

It’s not clear that your photo isn’t a top-down view, so I was a bit confused at first. 🙂

Same here. It was unclear, in a post actually named "correct orientation," since there wasn't a single thing that simply said which way is up 😂. I too assumed the photo was taken from above.

 

[EasternCanucker]

Same here. It was unclear, in a post actually named "correct orientation," since there wasn't a single thing that simply said which way is up 😂. I too assumed the photo was taken from above.

I still can't see it. It looks like it is upside down in a weirdly crafted wooden box and I can't understand why.
It's like one of those 3D art photos you have to stare at to see it or something. My brain cannot figure this out.

 

[metanoiaway]

i wouldn't put it vertical, it can cause thermal paste to migrate to one corner thus making the cpu run hotter as it's no longer evenly distributed on the surface.

will it happen on this m4 mac minis? i don't know, but it happens on PS5, so better be safe...

 

[CharlesShaw]

Ah, I didn’t think of that, sorry. No, it’s on the shelf of a bookcase. My home setup got assigned a corner of our bookcase, no space for an actual desk. Small apartments 😅

Naturally, users of the mini include those who enjoy tinkering and making the best of our "assigned" corners, are wondering if that hinge is functional, and also imagining what's on the other side. 😁