You can probably trace the beginning of the small computer trend back to now the original Mac miniIt debuted in 2005 with a simple pitch: What about a desktop, but small? Now, Apple aims to take that concept even further with its latest Mac mini, a five-by-five-inch box that can handle some serious workloads at just two inches tall. While we expect Apple to include the M4 chip, it can also be configured with the more powerful M4 Pro model announced today. Couple that hardware with standard 16GB of RAM (like the new M4 iMac) and you’ve got a pretty compelling Mac mini starting at $599 ($499 for education customers).
Why did Apple cut the Mac mini? It’s not like the previous case that’s been around for years was too big (7.75-by-7.75-inches and 1.41-inches thick). When I review M2 Mac mini early last yearI’m still impressed by how slim and sleek it looks, especially compared to smaller form factor Windows systems. But by reducing its footprint (at the expense of making it a little taller), Apple can once again make the Mac mini desirable.
You may not need it, but one look at his tiny frame and you can start to find reasons to give him a loving home.
Apple claims that the M4 chip makes the new Mac mini 1.8 times faster than the M1 version, and 2.2 times faster when it comes to graphics. (The fact that Apple didn’t directly compare it to the M2 model makes it clear that it’s not a major year-over-year improvement.) While the M4 chip has up to 10 cores, the M4 Pro has up to 14 cores. (10 performance and 2 efficiency cores). It also has a 20-core GPU, double the amount on the main M4 chip. Introducing the M4 Pro Lightning 5 A Mac-first connection that offers up to three times the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3, plus up to 64GB of RAM. There’s also 273GB/s of memory bandwidth, which should be a big help for AI processing.
It’s also a major selling point for the new Mac mini, given that Apple Intelligence was officially launched this week with the release of iOS 18.1. The M4 chip has 38 TOPS (tera operations per second) AI processing power, while the M3 has reached 18 TOPS. Although Apple didn’t say it outright, I’m pretty sure AI is the main reason the Mac Mini now starts with 16GB of RAM. Apple Intelligence requires at least 8 GB of RAM to run, but the company admitted that it might not be enough To enable Xcode 16’s AI features. As always, having more RAM is better for future checks, especially when you can’t add more memory.
Apple finally gave us some front ports on the Mac mini instead of the clean facade of the last few models. On the front, there are two USB-C ports and a 3.5 mm jack, which will make it easy to connect flash drives and headphones. On the back, you’ll find three more USB-C ports (one of which offers Thunderbolt), HDMI, and Ethernet. It would be nice to see an integrated SD card reader, but Apple currently reserves that for the more expensive Mac Studio.
You can pre-order the new M4 Mac mini today starting at $599 ($499 for education customers) and it will be available in stores on November 9th. The M4 Pro model starts at $1,399 ($1,299 for schools). This price difference may seem high, but it is the same as the M2 models. And as we can see from us M2 Mac mini reviewit certainly held its own against other expensive desktops.
