Apple Mac Mini M4 review: a tiny wonder

Why wouldn’t you privation the caller Mac Mini? Over the past respective days of investigating Apple’s redesigned desktop Mac, I’ve been impressed by each the powerfulness and imaginable crammed into this precise compact machine. For a starting terms of $599 and with 16GB of RAM present standard, the M4 Mac Mini has instantly go the champion worth successful Apple’s full Mac lineup. It’s much than susceptible for astir computing tasks today, and if my M1 MacBook Air is thing to spell by, the Mini won’t consciousness dilatory (or thing adjacent to it) for astatine slightest the adjacent 4 oregon 5 years.

Apple provided maine with 2 precise antithetic Mac Mini units. This archetypal reappraisal is focused connected the modular M4 model, which includes a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and the default 16GB of memory. My instrumentality has 512GB of storage, which bumps its terms to $799, but mundane show should beryllium identical to that of the basal 256GB configuration. I’ve besides got a kitted-out M4 Pro model, which raises the terms to a stratospheric $2,199. For that money, I’d damn good expect the M4 Pro Mini to beryllium a powerhouse.

But astir radical won’t request to walk anyplace adjacent that amount. The regular M4 variation offers a batch successful its ain close and would beryllium my proposal for anyone who wants a dependable desktop Mac — particularly if you’ve already settled connected a show and / oregon keyboard that you love.

As ever with the Mac Mini, Apple provides the computer; you bring your ain display, keyboard, and mouse. Apple is much than blessed to merchantability you its ain Studio Display and peripherals, but with the Mini present capable to tally up to 3 displays astatine erstwhile (up from 2 connected the M2 model), you’ve got a ton of runway for creative, versatile table setups. If you’ve perfected your work-from-home office, you tin conscionable adhd the Mini to whatever’s already determination without having to rearrange everything. 

And the instrumentality itself volition hardly instrumentality up immoderate of that space. Measuring 5 inches wide, 5 inches deep, and 2 inches tall, the 2024 Mac Mini’s footprint is little than fractional that of the erstwhile enclosure, which was designed astir the Intel platform. (Just look astatine how overmuch unused abstraction determination was aft the Apple Silicon transition.) It’s not rather arsenic tiny arsenic an Apple TV 4K, but to me, it’s the astir striking illustration yet of what Apple tin execute with hardware that’s purpose-built for its M-series chips. Another invited alteration is that the caller Mini puts immoderate ports close connected the front, whereas its predecessors made maine blindly plug everything into the backmost — oregon crook the full happening astir truthful I could really spot what I was doing. 

Now you’ve got a brace of 10Gbps USB-C ports (USB 3) and a headphone jack up front. Around backmost are 3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) ports, HDMI, and a gigabit ethernet jack that’s upgradable to 10-gigabit speeds. I bash miss the SD paper slot you’d find connected a Mac Studio oregon MacBook Pro, but I haven’t erstwhile felt disappointed astir the deficiency of USB-A. Everyone has a antithetic accessory situation, truthful its lack mightiness sting much for you, but it’s casual to conscionable plug successful a dongle if necessary. The M4 Pro Mac Mini has adjacent faster, brand-new Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, with theoretical information transportation speeds of up to 120Gb/s (three times faster than Thunderbolt 4). But that’s mostly targeted astatine originative professionals and intensive video work. Despite its dramatically reduced dimensions, the Mini inactive retains an interior powerfulness supply, truthful there’s nary cumbersome ceramic to interest about.

Notice that I haven’t mentioned a powerfulness fastener yet. That’s due to the fact that Apple made the funny determination to determination it to the bottommost of the instrumentality adjacent the rear near corner. Do I privation the fastener were someplace else? Sure. Pressing it requires reaching implicit the Mini and lifting the portion up slightly. It’s silly but hasn’t negatively affected my acquisition successful immoderate worldly way. If you’ve got an Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, you’ll beryllium reminded of its awkward determination close during setup, erstwhile you’ve got to double-press the powerfulness fastener to marque a unafraid nexus betwixt the fingerprint sensor and Mac. The Mini is utilized successful a wide premix of environments including location theatre systems and unrecorded lawsuit production. I could spot the button’s presumption becoming a hassle successful immoderate of those scenarios, but if you’re utilizing it connected a desk, it’s much of a unusual quirk than an annoyance. And there are ever workarounds.

Apple’s revamped thermal strategy for the Mini keeps the M4 exemplary moving quietly. Even erstwhile I’m heavy successful a Lightroom photograph editing session, I don’t perceive the fan. I’m definite the M4 Pro’s other GPU cores would marque those RAW edits adjacent faster, but the regular M4 is up to the task for astir photograph work. Elsewhere, the instrumentality has seldom missed a step, nary substance what I propulsion astatine it. I’m nary videographer, truthful I can’t talk to whether superior editing enactment would exposure the M4’s limits. If there’s 1 usage lawsuit that warrants stepping up to the M4 Pro, it’s apt that.

Everywhere else, the M4 Mini conscionable hums along. As you tin spot successful our benchmarks, it’s close successful keeping with the M4 iMac and MacBook Pro. I’ve hardly sampled immoderate of the Apple Intelligence features successful macOS Sequoia — I don’t find them peculiarly compelling — but I’m already a large instrumentality of iPhone Mirroring and the built-in model tiling that has allowed maine to yet bid farewell to Moom. MacOS feels similar it’s successful a large spot these days.

With the Mini present being truthful charmingly small, it’s casual to imagination up each sorts of hardware and bundle possibilities. Why not springiness radical a prime of colors like the iMac? As for software, this happening looks much similar an Apple TV than ever before, truthful what if it sometimes behaved similar 1 too? Imagine a TV-optimized amusement interface — yes, similar a modern Front Row — that would footwear successful whenever a TV surface is connected implicit HDMI. The M4 is much than susceptible capable to juggle some macOS and a tvOS-like experience.

As I said earlier, the $599 Mini is the champion worth astir if you haven’t yet joined the Mac broadside of Apple’s ecosystem. Even the $799 configuration I tested, with 16GB of representation and a 512GB SSD, seems reasonable. But erstwhile you spell beyond that successful RAM oregon storage, Apple’s pricing smacks of greed and padding the company’s bottommost line. That’s existent crossed the line, but it’s felt much acutely connected a instrumentality that starts astatine lone $599. Stepping up to 1TB of retention and 32GB of RAM brings the terms to $1,399. Yikes.

For most, the Mini volition beryllium a stationary computer, and the beingness of 3 Thunderbolt ports means you tin connect a speedy outer SSD without caving to Apple’s farcical rates. Given that, the other $799 config, with 24GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, could beryllium much worthwhile. Neither tin beryllium upgraded later, truthful it’s important to get the specs close erstwhile buying.

Every clip I glimpse implicit astatine the caller Mac Mini connected my desk, it feels similar the Mini’s perfect form. The redesigned enclosure makes the astir of Apple Silicon’s tiny footprint, and with Apple’s M4 spot and an ample enactment of ports, the 2024 Mini should stay a zippy, reliable machine for years to come. It’s ne'er been much mighty. Well, but for the overmuch pricier M4 Pro version. Stay tuned for much connected that soon.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge
Shot with the Nikon Z6 III and 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.