Redesigned M4 Mac mini Is Smaller and Much More Powerful

Oct 29, 2024

Jeremy Gray

A hand holding a small, sleek, silver electronic device with ports on the front. The device appears compact and minimalist, suggesting a modern and portable design suitable for technology use.

Apple’s compact Mac mini desktop series has a new M4 processor and a brand-new design. Compared to its predecessor, which skipped Apple’s M3 series altogether, the M4 Mac mini promises to be more powerful, smaller, and ready for Apple Intelligence.

The M2-powered Mac mini proved to be one heck of a machine for photographers and videographers, promising Mac Studio-like performance in a smaller and much more affordable machine. However, the M2 Mac mini, mighty as it is, lacked some workflow features that demanding enthusiasts and professionals require. The new M4 Mac mini aims to change that thanks to its redesigned chassis.

The new Mac mini’s footprint is less than half the size of its predecessor, measuring just five by five inches (12.7 by 12.7 centimeters). The old Mac mini is 7.75 by 7.75 inches (19.7 by 19.7 centimeters). This shrunken footprint comes with an increase in height, growing from 1.41 inches (3.58 centimeters) to two inches (five centimeters).

A silver rectangular electronic device with two USB-C ports, an indicator light, and a headphone jack on the front. The bottom has a dark, circular vent pattern.

The Mac mini also has new ports alongside its revised shape and size. On the front of each version, M4 and M4 Pro, the Mac mini has a pair of USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the back, the M4 version has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, and an Ethernet jack. The M4 Pro-equipped Mac mini features three Thunderbolt 5-compatible USB-C ports. The M4 Pro Mac mini is the first Mac to support Thunderbolt 5, promising up to 120 Gb/s data transfer speeds, more than double the throughput of Thunderbolt 4.

Rear view of a compact silver computer showing various ports including power, Ethernet, HDMI, and three USB-C ports arranged in a row.

While the M4 chip’s performance gains have been covered already, including in coverage of Apple’s new M4 iMac yesterday, the Mac mini marks the debut of the M4 Pro, which Apple calls “the world’s fastest CPU core” compared to similar machines. The M4 Pro version offers up to 14 CPU cores, including 10 performance and four efficiency cores. The new silicon also supports up to 20 graphics cores, making the M4 Pro up to twice as powerful as the standard M4 for graphics-intensive applications. It’s worth noting that both new chips feature hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is the first Mac mini line to include this performance feature.

Compared to the most powerful Intel Mac mini Apple made, which featured an Intel Core i7, the new Mac mini with M4 Pro is up to 9.4 times faster than Adobe Premiere Pro. The M4 Pro chip is two to three times faster than the M2 Pro chip featured in the most recent Mac mini for audio, video, and rendering applications.

A person sits at a desk working on a computer in a bright room. The desk has pottery materials, a speaker, and a notebook. There are plants on the windowsill and art supplies on shelves. The screen displays a creative project.

The M4 chip family is also built with a more powerful Neural Engine to support Apple Intelligence, which launched on iPhone, iPad, and Mac yesterday.

The M4 Mac mini has one more notable trick up its sleeve, and it’s an important one that has nothing to do with computing. The new Mac mini is Apple’s first carbon-neutral Mac. The computer is made using over 50 percent recycled content overall, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure, 100 percent recycled gold plating in the circuit boards, and 100 percent recycled rare Earth elements in all magnets. The electricity used to manufacture the computer is sourced from 100 percent renewable energy. The device ships in entirely fiber-based packaging, making it the first Mac mini to ship without plastic packaging. Apple’s efforts combined results in an 80 percent reduction of the new Mac mini’s carbon footprint compared to its predecessor. There are still some emissions remaining, which Apple offsets using carbon credits.

“The new Mac mini delivers gigantic performance in an unbelievably small design thanks to the power efficiency of Apple silicon and an innovative new thermal architecture,” says John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “Combined with the performance of M4 and the new M4 Pro chip, enhanced connectivity on both the front and back, and the arrival of Apple Intelligence, Mac mini is more capable and versatile than ever, and there is nothing else like it.”

Pricing and Availability

The M4 Mac mini starts at $599 ($499 for education customers), while the M4 Pro starts at $1,399 ($1,299 for educators). The M4 Pro model, which will appeal to most heavy photo and video users, ships with 24GB of unified memory and 512GB of SSD storage. It can be configured up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. Complete purchasing details are available on the Apple Store, and the new Mac mini will arrive to customers starting on November 8.

Image credits: Apple