M4 Mac mini officially unveiled – the most affordable Mac and it’s compact like an Apple TV box

On Tuesday, Apple officially announced the new Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro. And the rumors were true: the small desktop computer is even tinier – about the size of the Apple TV box.

The Mac mini is the most affordable option for users who want 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 looking for a powerful computer.

The new M4 Mac mini

First up, the Mac mini’s most attractive feature: the price. The even more powerful M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini models are still going to provide the most bang for your buck. Apple is keeping the $599 starting price for the base M4 model with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU configuration.

And even better, Apple has finally dropped the base 8GB of memory from the Mac mini M4 lineup and that starting price now gets consumers 16GB of RAM, which is upgradable to 32GB. 

As for storage, the Mac mini M4 will continue to ship with 256GB for the base model and can be upgraded with 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 $1,399 M4 Pro Mac mini base model starts with a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU as well as 24GB of memory and 512GB of storage. In addition to the upgraded base model memory, the new Mac mini M4 Pros can be maxed out 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 fit this all into its smallest computer yet as the redesigned Mac mini measures at 5 x 5 inches (as opposed to its predecessor’s 7.75 x 7.75 dimensions).

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

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

M4 Mac mini ports

The tinier form factor on the redesigned Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro does mean some changes to the ports usually found on the computer. There are no more USB-A ports found on the new Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro.

However, previous owners of the Mac mini will be happy to see that Apple has finally moved some 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 in the back except the three Thunderbolt ports are 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

M4 Mac mini color

If Mac mini fans were hoping for some new color options, it appears Apple is sticking solely with the silver colorway.

Apple announced the new Mac mini one day after it kicked off its week of new Macs announcements. These new Macs coincide with the launch of Apple’s own branded AI, Apple Intelligence. While previous Silicon chip-powered Macs will be able to use Apple’s AI features, the M4 chipset was made for Apple Intelligence, so Apple is clearly hoping the two work in tandem to bring customers out for both. 

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

On Monday evening, Amazon appeared to have accidentally leaked details of the new Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro when it uploaded a Mac comparison chart to its new iMac M4 product page. The image was promptly removed, but not before a number of social media users saved the image and shared it around the internet.

The new M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini models are available for pre-order now and will be available in stores on Nov. 8.