Apple announces redesigned Mac Mini with M4 chip — and it’s so damn small

As portion of the company’s week of Mac-focused announcements, Apple has conscionable introduced a smaller, yet adjacent much almighty Mac Mini. It’s present equipped with Apple’s latest M4 silicon, supports ray tracing for the archetypal time, and ships with 16GB of RAM by default — seemingly the caller mean successful the Apple Intelligence era. The instrumentality inactive starts astatine $599 with the regular M4 chip, portion the much almighty M4 Pro exemplary has a starting terms of $1,399. Like the refreshed iMac announced yesterday, the Mac Mini is disposable to preorder instantly and volition beryllium successful stores connected November 8th.

The archetypal happening you’ll announcement is the caller design. As rumored, the Mini has been shrunken down considerably — and it was already a comparatively tiny desktop instrumentality to statesman with. Now it’s downright tiny, measuring 5 inches successful some magnitude and width.

Even so, Apple has loaded this happening up with plentifulness of I/O: connected the beforehand are 2 USB-C ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. Around backmost you’ll find ethernet, HDMI, and 3 USB-C / Thunderbolt ports. The USB-A ports are so history, but it’s worthy noting that the basal M2 Mini lone had 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports and 2 USB-A ports. With the M4, you’re getting 5 ports successful all. So you’re losing autochthonal USB-A but picking up an other Thunderbolt port.

The velocity of those Thunderbolt ports volition disagree based connected which M4 processor you choose. The regular M4 spot includes Thunderbolt 4, whereas the M4 Pro gets you the precise latest Thunderbolt 5 throughput.

The M4 Pro Mac Mini besides delivers greater wide show with its 14 CPU and 20 GPU cores. RAM tin beryllium configured up to 32GB with the regular M4 oregon 64GB with the M4 Pro. Storage tops retired astatine a whopping 8TB. So portion the Mini is rather small, you tin marque it earnestly mighty if you’re consenting to walk enough. 10 gigabit ethernet besides remains an optional upgrade for those who privation it.

We’re apt to spot the M4 Pro spot travel to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros that Apple is rumored to denote this week, on with an adjacent much susceptible M4 Max spot that’s not disposable successful the Mini. But the Pro should beryllium plentifulness arsenic is for galore prosumers and creatives.

It’s a engaged week for Apple. The M4 iMac made its debut connected Monday, and the institution besides rolled retired its first Apple Intelligence bundle capabilities crossed iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. (More AI features, including representation procreation and ChatGPT integration, volition beryllium released successful December.) Tomorrow could spot the debut of those upgraded MacBook Pros arsenic Apple rounds retired its caller hardware. The institution is acceptable to study quarterly net connected Thursday, during which it volition nary uncertainty trumpet its latest fleet of Macs.