Smaller Mac mini Powered by M4 and M4 Pro Chips

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Originally published at: Smaller Mac mini Powered by M4 and M4 Pro Chips - TidBITS

First, Apple introduced the M4 iMac (see “New 24-inch iMac Upgraded with M4 Chip,” 28 October 2024). The next day, the company pulled back the curtains on the diminutive M4 Mac mini, described in an intro video on the product page as “the lovable little Mac that can do it all.” Apple also noted that it’s the first carbon-neutral Mac.

The silver M4 Mac mini is smaller but taller than its predecessor, looking like a cross between the previous Mac mini and an Apple TV. It measures 5 inches (12.7 cm) square and 2.0 inches (5.0 cm) tall; the previous model was 7.7 inches (19.7 cm) square and 1.4 inches (3.6 cm) tall. It also finally moves some ports to the front for easier access—there will be less fumbling around in the back.

As before, the Mac mini comes in two configurations: one with an M4 chip starting at $599 and the other with an M4 Pro, starting at $1399. You can place pre-orders now with delivery and in-store availability on 8 November 2024.

M4 Mac mini spec card

Let’s look at the key specs and how they’ve changed:

  • M4 and M4 Pro chips: The M4 has the same specs as the high-end M4 iMac: a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. However, with the M4 Pro, you can choose between a 12-core CPU/16-core GPU chip and a 14-core CPU/20-core GPU chip for $200 more. Apple claims the M4 is roughly twice as fast as the M1, and the M4 Pro is two to three times as fast as the M2 Pro. While Apple doesn’t directly compare the M4 and M4 Pro, the additional cores should enhance performance for demanding tasks.
  • Memory: Like the iMac, the M4 Mac mini starts at 16 GB of memory, up from 8 GB. That’s welcome and likely helpful for Apple Intelligence. You can upgrade to 24 GB for $200 or 32 GB for $400. The M4 Pro Mac mini ships with 24 GB by default and provides upgrades to 48 GB for $400 and 64 GB for $600. We have long recommended 16 GB instead of the default 8 GB, but it remains to be seen if Apple Intelligence features noticeably benefit from even more memory.
  • Storage: For the M4 Mac mini, the base level of storage remains 256 GB, with options for 512 GB ($200), 1 TB ($400), and 2 TB ($800). The M4 Pro Mac mini starts at 512 GB and lets you increase that to 1 TB ($200), 2 TB ($600), 4 TB ($1200), or 8 TB ($2400).
  • Connectivity: The front face of both models features two USB-C ports with support for 10 Gbps USB 3, along with a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the back, you’ll find Ethernet (either Gigabit Ethernet or 10 Gigabit Ethernet for $100 more), HDMI, and three Thunderbolt ports. The M4 Mac mini features Thunderbolt 4 ports offering up to 40 Gbps, while the M4 Pro model breaks new ground in the Mac world with Thunderbolt 5, boasting transfer speeds of up to 120 Gbps. Gone are the USB Type-A ports from the previous models.
  • Display support: Both models support up to three displays, one more than the M2 Mac mini could drive, although the capabilities vary slightly once you get into 6K screens like Apple’s Pro Display XDR.

However, not all the changes are positive. Most notable is the price of the M4 Pro Mac mini, which starts at $100 more than the M2 Pro model it replaces. It does have 8 GB more memory, but the M4 Mac mini and M4 iMac didn’t increase in price despite a similar increase in memory.

Moving the headphone jack to the front of the Mac mini makes it a lot easier to plug in headphones, but if you use speakers, you’ll have a cable sticking out of the front at all times. There’s no pleasing everyone.

The M4 Pro Mac mini also has only three Thunderbolt 5 ports, compared to four Thunderbolt 4 ports on the M2 Pro model. While the front-mounted USB-C ports are better in nearly every way, some will still mourn the loss of USB Type-A ports from the back of the previous models.

Finally, while most people seldom need to press the power button these days, putting it on the bottom feels weird.

M4 Mac mini power button

Overall, though, these new M4 and M4 Pro models make the Mac mini even more attractive than before. They’re smaller, faster, and have higher memory ceilings. While everyday users of the M1 or M2 Mac mini may not see any compelling reason to upgrade, pro users who rely on the M2 Pro Mac mini might be tempted by the additional performance and Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

Apple’s target market for the Mac mini is still those working on an Intel-based Mac (or a PC) who want to move to the Apple silicon world. In particular, one of these Mac minis with an Apple Studio Display presents a compelling alternative for those of us who appreciate the versatility and performance of the 27-inch iMac.

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I love that the base RAM on the Pro is 24 GB.

Also, TB5 is a nice addition. The marketed 120 Gbps is unfortunate because the top 40 Gbps part of it, the “Bandwidth Boost” as Intel marketing likes to call it, is reserved for video and not actual PCIe b/w at your disposal for just any bidirectional data i/o. In terms of user-facing data over PCIe, it’s 80 Gbps which is twice what TB3/4 offered (it’s also PCIe 4.0 now).

For those of us who need fast disk i/o, TB5’s 80 Gbps in real-world applications will translate to something just above 6 GB/s (see the OWC Envoy Ultra as an early example of that). This is great news because it means we are finally getting an external interface that roughly matches the b/w of our internal flash.

Looking forward to ordering an M4 Pro 14" MBP tomorrow. :slight_smile:

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4 posts were split to a new topic: What processors are behind Private Cloud Compute?

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  1. Both the iMac and MacMini do not support Wi-Fi 7, only Wi-Fi 6E. So far, the only Apple device supporting Wi-Fi 7 is the new iPad Mini. It’s not crucial yet since there are almost no reasonably priced Wi-Fi 7 routers, but it is undoubtedly not forward-looking.

  2. The power switch for the Mac Mini is underneath the rear left corner. While you don’t need to access it often, you do need to when it is essential to power the computer off and back on if it has been shut off. The switch on the MacSutudio is on the back near the lower left corner, and just reaching around to find it is non-trivial; the MacMini spot is even more unreachable and involves lifting the corner. You could say it’s equivalent to the charging port for the Magic Mouse being on the bottom.

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Yes. Definite stirrings of tech lust here, particularly when using these things as build bots, servers, and VM hosts. However, right now my own homelab M2 Pro covers me for sufficient RAM and storage, and in fact gives me a spare TB port on what, sans hub, would otherwise be a guaranteed usage of all of the available ports.

So the question is this: just how much faster is the top M4 Pro config over the equivalent M2 Pro, taking into account the two additional performance cores? Enquiring minds, etc.

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Apple’s intro video says 1.6x for CPU tasks, 1.5x for GPU tasks, and up to 2x for “motion effects” (M4 Pro now supprts hardware accelerated ray tracing).

Core clock is up 10% (has anybody noticed we’re at 4.3 GHz now?) and memory bandwidth is up 37% compared to M2 Pro.

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The new Mac Mini has lots of compute power in its small form. It also has high bandwidth connectivity, especially in the higher performance models. This suggests the possibility to connect many Mac minis creating a miniature high powered server farm. This also suggests adding a Mac mini as a peripheral to provide access to compute functions requiring Apple Silicon for existing Intel equipment.

I had been thinking of adding a Mac mini as a coprocessor for the MacPro. Now I wonder if the combination would work better with the Mac mini controlling the MacPro as its file server.

Does anyone have insight into connecting a Mac mini and MacPro7.1 (Intel)?

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I am very curious to see the speed differential between the internal drive (assume 1T version) and an external (like a Sammy 990Pro) NVMe in one of the 40gb/s enclosures.

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That will be interesting indeed. The best transfer rates I’ve seen to flash over TB4/USB4 on a Mac have been about 3.2 GB/s. I know my M1 Pro does about 5.5 GB/s to its internal flash and the fastest M2 Studio I have seen does IIRC about 7 GB/s. If these new systems manage to surpass that it will increase the internal flash advantage some more — and this just after TB5 came to present a path to external 6 GB/s. It had almost caught up. :laughing:

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@ace Adam, you’re killing me! :sweat_smile: My 27 inch intel iMac with 128gb RAM is for sure Apple’s target market for this machine. But “maybe wait until tomorrow?”

It cracked me up.

Looking forward to see what else is coming from this staggered rollout.

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I think today was the last new machine release.

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John Ternus, Apple’s SVP for Hardware Engineering, has hosted each daily video this week. At the end of this one, after the surprise MacBookAir announcement (16GB for all), he quickly summarized what had been announced and said that was it for a week. After the credits, there was a little non-announcement dessert.

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I’m surprised the Mac Studio wasn’t updated to M4. That’s what I’m waiting on for replacing my Intel iMac.

Rumor is it won’t be until May-June 2025. And that makes me wonder if the upgrade will be more than just a speed bump and Thunderbolt 5. But what could it be?

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Simple guess: It will be 2Q25 when the M4 Ultra is ready to ship in quantity.

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Today I ordered a new Mac Mini.

With the following configuration:
Apple M4 chip with 10‑core CPU, 10‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
24GB unified memory
512GB SSD storage
Gigabit Ethernet
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, two USB‑C ports, headphone jack

To replace my 2018 Mac Mini Intel.

I will write up my opinions, set up, and first impressions.
If you’re interested I will post on my blog sometime later in November.

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They got you with “Just one more thing,” my friend. :slight_smile:

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What’d I miss?

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MacBook Pros. Unless of course it was me who was writing a day behind that particular introduction. In any case, it looks like all the cats are out of all the bags for this week. Have a great weekend!

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Yeah, I posted the comment after the MBPs were launched.

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Couldn’t agree more about my 27" iMac. Wonderful 4g resolution. Lots of screen real estate.

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