The smallest Mac is about to get even smaller, and yet also more powerful, as the Mac Mini sees an update in size and strength.
One of the smallest computers is about to get a big upgrade, and yet get even smaller at the same time. Apple hinted at changes last week, and this week, we’re certainly getting them.
Following on from Apple’s M4 iMac announcement this week, the maker of the Mac has a new Mac Mini, as its most affordable Mac sees a new design and new hardware inside.
The name will stay the same, but the hardware is changing in just about every way.
There’s a new chip inside, as the M2 Mac Mini is updated to an M4 variant, and you’ll now get a choice between the standard M4 as seen on this year’s iPad Pro, as well as a more meaty and more powerful M4 Pro, with Apple introducing that, too.
You can bet we’ll hear about the M4 Pro in a MacBook Pro likely to be announced later this week, but for now, think of the compact Mini, particularly that whole “compact” description. In 2024, it’s getting smaller, as the thin profile of the previous generations sheds even more grams and gets more compact again.
The new Mini is a little taller at 5cm compared to the 3.58cm of the previous generation. However, it’s smaller in just about every other way, dropping to a 12.7cm softened square compared to the 19.7cm square from the past. That’s not much bigger than the Apple TV 4K, which is 3.1cm tall and a 9.3cm square of sorts. Yikes.
Technically, this year’s Mac Mini is a 5 inch by 5 inch square of computing power, but it also weighs less, sitting at roughly half the roughy 1.2kg weight of its predecessor, now at 670grams.
The hardware aims to be formidable, boasting speed improvements over the original M1 Mac Mini, and over its most recent generation, though the M4 Pro is where most of the gains are. Comparing the M4 Pro Mini to the M2 Pro Mini, Apple notes 3D renders in Blender are almost three times as fast, video renders in Motion are up to twice as fast, and support for Logic plugins sees nearly twice the amount.
What’s more, the M4 Pro edition of the Mac Mini gains a feature: support for Thunderbolt 5.
In what will likely be a nod to something the next MacBook Pro supports, the M4 Pro Mac Mini sees support 120 gigabits per second of speed, which translates at up to 15 gigabytes (GB/s) per second, twice as fast as Thunderbolt 4. You’re likely going to need a new cable for that, as well as supported devices, but when you have them, faster speeds than what most have now are definitely possible, and all from a compact computer.
“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,” said John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering at Apple.
“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,” he said.
While the new Mini is faster and smaller — and wholly changed overall — the price remains the same, starting at $999 in Australia when it arrives next week. That is, of course, a starting price, with the $999 M4 Mac Mini getting 16GB RAM and 256GB storage with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, while the M4 Pro Mac Mini will start locally at $2199 for a 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 24GB RAM, and 512GB storage, plus those Thunderbolt 5 ports.
