The correct orientation of the Mac Mini

[PaulD-UK]

@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.”

Doesn’t happen with iMacs/Mac Pros, over the ~20 years that they have been vertical.

 

[Stiksi]

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. 😁

Yes, the hinge is functional, but it hides all the mess. There's the DAS, a USB hub and a bad heat channel for the egpu's side fan. Luckily it mostly uses the rear exhaust. When I play a particularly GPU intensive game, I tend to open the door a bit to let it breathe easier.

I've still not done proper cable management in there, I'll get to it eventually but some of the cables will still be replaced with more suitable length versions. The most eagle-eyed might pick up that I did some managing on the door between the shots. The one I left unzipped is my "rogue" usb-c cable, that I use for connecting temporary external drives etc.

The stickers in the bottom of the top shelf are from a previous cable routing, they're velcro and stapled to the shelf.

I apologize for the lack of context in the images. I wanted to share this project, but I also take online privacy a bit too seriously to show more of the home.

 

[Populus]

I was about to open a thread specifically about the M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini orientation for the best thermal efficiency, but I think I’ll follow on this thread. MR mods will probably be thankful for it.

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...

Okay, I hadn’t thought about this, honestly. Yeah, it could well be a factor to consider, but I think the M4 & M4 Pro on the Mac mini have regular solid thermal paste. I highly doubt it will move.

However, I was considering putting it horizontally under my table, and now I’m not so sure because… do you know where the power supply is? Exactly, it is mounted right on the inner side of the aluminium case, right under the top of the case. And it is mostly passively cooled through that aluminum case so… putting it right under the desk, where the table would difficult the refrigeration by heat radiation of the top of the case, could cause the power supply to die prematurely by overheating.

Actually, I’d be really careful with maximizing the heat dissipation of the top of the aluminium case, because if you think about it, most of the heat not only from the power supply but also from the SoC, ends up on the top of the case. And as I said, the power supply is embedded there, and from what I’ve seen on some teardowns, some of the components of that power supply (I’m not sure if the condensers or capacitors) are now lower quality than in previous generations. They aren’t bad, mind you, but they used to be from the best brand that is known, and on this generation it’s a more “regular” brand. And all the heat not dissipated through the heat pipe is going right there.

Furthermore, while testing my M4 Pro Mac mini with some stressing tasks, the top of the case became really, like really hot, which somehow worries me a bit. Maybe the regular M4, with a less power demanding SoC, doesn’t suffer so much heat accumulation there, I don’t know.

For all that said, I’m not convinced of placing my new M4 Pro Mac mini under the table, even tho I’ve found a nice 3D printed screwable one.

So now I’m wondering how and where to put the mini… because if I put it sideways, the radiated heat will go to the side located at the top, instead of going to the top of the case where the power supply is… 🤔

 

[Stiksi]

Furthermore, while testing my M4 Pro Mac mini with some stressing tasks, the top of the case became really, like really hot, which somehow worries me a bit. Maybe the regular M4, with a less power demanding SoC, doesn’t suffer so much heat accumulation there, I don’t know.

For all that said, I’m not convinced of placing my new M4 Pro Mac mini under the table, even tho I’ve found a nice 3D printed screwable one.

So now I’m wondering how and where to put the mini… because if I put it sideways, the radiated heat will go to the side located at the top, instead of going to the top of the case where the power supply is… 🤔

Kind of sounds like you should just turn it upside down. All the heat rises towards the exhaust. But as others pointed out, the minis are designed to be used vertically in server farms, so it shouldn’t be a problem. And you can always just try it out temporarily in the orientation you want under the desk and keep an eye on the PSU temp with something like iStat menus.

If you do try it out, let us know what happened to the temps, at least I would love to hear how it turned out!

 

[omppu]

I'm gonna use this stand. https://makerworld.com/en/models/750832-apple-mac-mini-m4-vertical-stand#profileId-684510

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

There is no "correct" orientation in my opinion. Its just something to be put anywhere you want.

 

[Populus]

I prefer to have it in the regular horizontal position, with the air intake and exhaust in the bottom, just in case. The whole power supply is embedded on the inside of the top aluminum case, so I guess dissipation is important but, hell, all the heat from the PCB and the SoC could go to the top, where the power supply is, so… I’m not sure what’s best honestly.


The other reason to have it horizontally is because I plan to have it on the underside of my table, with a mount that leaves it hanging in the air. I’ll choose, however, one that leaves a minimum space between the table and the top of the Mac mini, to allow the dissipation to work.

EDIT: excuse me, I didn’t realize I already wrote in this post… I haven’t reported the results yet because I still don’t have the Mac mini, as I’m waiting for the M5 Mac mini to be released. The M5 is a hotter chip under sustained load so all the thermal precautions will be even more important.

 

[Solarflares]

I do recommend using 4 little silicone feet, to raise the Mini up 10mm.
Use a quality powered TB4 hub to run external stuff, to shave a few watts off the Mini’s PSU demand.

 

[geratho]

Cool looking setup! It'd be interesting to hear if owners of the M4 Mini have similar results.

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Cool looking setup! It'd be interesting to hear if owners of the M4 Mini have similar results.

The 2024 Mac Mini M4 absolutely has the same issues. Many thanks to Stiksi for the original post on reorienting his 2020 Intel Mini. I have 3 Minis - 2014, 2020 M1 and 2024 M4 and they all benefit from either turning them upside down or on their sides in terms of wi fi reception, in some cases like night and day - 300 Mbps reduced to 10 or less if my 2020 was just placed on the desk normally. I would shove it around and get a little improvement but results were inconsistent. I upgraded to the M4 and eventually was having similar issues but not as bad and started to play around with radical reorientations after watching some YouTube videos on the topic. Magic. What eventually worked best for the M4 was to put it on its side with what used to be the base now on the side and that side pointed toward where my router is in the house. Orienting it any other way did not work as well but now it's up to full Mbps download. Another plus for this is that the M4 power switch is on the bottom due to the smaller form factor which was a pain but now it's on the side, all good. The old 2014 mini I just turned upside down and it improved download from 10 to over 50 Mbps which is still under what it should be but more than enough for what I use that computer for. So, good posts. Be creative with how you orient your mini. You won't be disappointed.