The M4 Mac mini is officially launched – the most affordable and compact Mac ever to be an Apple TV box

On Tuesday, Apple officially announced The new Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro. And the rumors it was true: the smallest desktop computer is even smaller – it’s about the size of an Apple TV box.

The Mac mini is the most affordable option for users looking for a Mac computer. Since the debut of Apple’s silicon chipset, and the subsequent release of the M1 Mac mini in late 2020, the Mac mini has been an incredibly affordable option for those who want powerful computer.

The new M4 Mac mini

First, the most attractive feature of the Mac mini: the price. The smaller M4 and more powerful M4 Pro Mac models will still give you the most bang for your buck. Apple is keeping the $599 starting price for the base M4 model with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU configuration.

And even better, Apple has finally dropped the base 8GB of memory in the Mac mini M4 lineup and that the starting price now gets buyers 16GB of RAM, which can be upgraded to 32GB.

As for storage, the Mac mini M4 will continue to ship with 256GB for the base model and can be upgraded up to 2TB of disk space.

What does the M4 Pro model offer?

The Mac mini M4 Pro model, however, can be upgraded even further. The smaller $1,399 M4 Pro Mac model starts with a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU and 24GB of memory and 512GB of storage. In addition to the improved base model memory, the new Mac mini M4 Pros can be upgraded to 64GB of RAM, which is double the amount of the previous Mac mini model and the new Mac mini M4 base models.

Apple has included all this in its smallest computer yet as the redesigned Mac mini measures 5 x 5 inches (as opposed to its predecessor’s dimensions of 7.75 x 7.75).

Apple says the new M4 chip has performance 2.5 times faster than the M1 Mac mini and 20 times faster than the last Intel Mac mini, which came out in 2018.

The M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini models replace the M2 and M2 Pro Mac mini configurations, which were released in January 2023. Apple is skipping the M3 chipset for the Mac mini.

Small holes for M4 Mac

The small form factor in the redesigned Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro means some changes to the ports normally found on a computer. No more USB-A ports are available on the new Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro.

However, previous Mac mini owners will be happy to see that Apple has finally moved the ports, two USB-C ports and a headphone jack, to the front of the device.

The back of the Mac mini M4 has three Thunderbolt 4 ports as well as HDMI and Ethernet ports. The Mac mini M4 Pro has the same ports on the back except the three Thunderbolt ports have been upgraded to Thunderbolt 5. This basically gives the new Mac mini models the ability to connect to up to three displays at once.

The back of the new Mac mini M4.
Credit: Apple

Small color for M4 Mac

If Mac mini fans were hoping for a choice of new colors, it seems that Apple has only stuck with the silver color.

an apple announced The new Mac mini one day after it launched a week of new Mac announcements. These new Macs come with the introduction of Apple’s branded AI, Apple Intelligence. While previous Macs with the power of a Silicon chip will be able to use Apple’s AI features, the M4’s chipset is designed for Apple Intelligence, so Apple clearly hopes that the two work together to bring customers both.

The new M4 Mac was introduced by Apple to start the week. The base iMac model, which comes with a built-in monitor, starts at $1,299, making the $599 Mac mini an attractive option for those who already have a computer screen at home.

On Monday evening, Amazon appeared to have made a mistake it leaks details of the new Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro while uploading a Mac comparison chart on its new iMac M4 product page. The image was quickly removed, but not before a number of social media users saved the image and shared it online.

New M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini models are available pre-order now and will be available in stores on November 8.