Mac week continues with the new Mac Mini. The rumor was true. The M4 edition shows that the company has shrunk the tiny desktop to a point that isn’t much larger than an Apple TV. The Mini enclosure measures 5 x 5 inches, while the Apple TV 4K measures 3.66 x 3.66.
The much smaller size was made possible by the efficiency of Apple’s own silicon. Despite its smaller size, it still has a built-in fan with heat vents on the bottom. Perhaps this is because the Mini comes with either the base M4 or the newly announced M4 Pro. The M4 Pro may require cooling depending on how hard you push it.
Apple decided to compare performance to the original M1 model (compared to the 2023 M2 Pro), with the standard M4 showing 1.8x on the CPU side and 2.2x on the GPU side.
The M4 Pro debuts as a new Mini with a significant price increase. Apple is touting the new chip as the “world’s fastest” chip. Take it however you will. Meanwhile, the new GPU array doubles ray tracing, demonstrating Apple’s deep interest in bringing gaming to the Mac.
The M4 Pro is also the first Apple Silicon chip to support Thunderbolt 5 (the M4 model still supports Thunderbolt 4). Apple also moved a pair of ports to the front of the desktop to better match the Mac Studio. The back features three more Thunderbolt/USB-C ports, HDMI, and Ethernet.
Also worth mentioning is that the new Mini is Apple’s first carbon neutral Mac. This is another step toward Apple’s plan to become completely carbon neutral by 2030.
The M4 Mini has 16GB of memory and starts at $599. Upgrading to the M4 Pro makes a lot of sense. That model starts at $1,399. That’s $100 more than the new M4 iMac, which notably launched on Monday.
Pre-orders for the Mini begin Tuesday, and the device is scheduled to begin shipping on November 8.
