Connect with us

Apple

Apple announces redesigned Mac Mini with M4 and M4 Pro chips

8GB is no longer the starting memory configuration, but we get a sweet $599 entry price.

Hand holding compact computer device, pink background.
Image: Apple/KnowTechie

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Apple’s “exciting week of Mac announcements” continues. Today, the company announced a completely redesigned Mac Mini, a more compact version of the device, powered by the M4 and M4 Pro chips and with Thunderbolt 5 support. 

A new video also accompanies Apple’s new Mac Mini launch. You may not want to miss out, so take a look. This follows the M4 iMac announcement.

The new M4 Mac Mini, with 16GB of memory, starts at $599 and will be available on November 8. It is available for pre-order today.

M4 Mac Mini: new design and performance 

Person working at desk with computer
Image: Apple

After a decade, the Mac Mini has undergone a radical redesign and is significantly smaller than its predecessor. According to Apple, it measures only five by five inches. 

Apple revealed one of the big reasons for this smaller footprint is the new thermal architecture. According to the Cupertino firm, the system guides air to different levels of the system while all venting is done through the foot.

The redesign includes two new USB-C ports at the front and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Three Thunderbolt ports are also on the back, alongside an HDMI and a gigabit ethernet port. Apple has finally ditched the USB-A ports.

The new Mac Mini can be configured with either the vanilla M4 chip or the M4 Pro chip. Both variants start with 16GB of RAM. 

The M4 Pro chip is the most interesting. It can support up to 64GB RAM paired with a 14-core CPU (10 performance cores and four high-efficiency cores) and a 20-core GPU. Apple claims the new GPU is twice as fast as the M4 chip. 

Only the M4 Pro Mac Mini offers Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, which enables up to 120 Gb/s data transfer speeds, double those of Thunderbolt 4. 

M4 Mac Mini goes carbon-neutral

Carbon neutral computer with USB ports
Image: Apple

The new Mac Mini is Apple’s first carbon-neutral Mac and, after the Apple Watch, the second Apple product to go carbon-neutral.

Previously, the Apple Watch was the only fully carbon-neutral Apple product. The Apple Watch Series 9 was the first carbon-neutral Watch. However, Apple expanded it with the Apple Watch Series 10.

That said, not everyone agrees with Apple’s definitions of carbon neutrality.

The EU even prevented Apple from marketing the new Apple Watch as carbon-neutral last year because Apple relies on carbon credits to cover part of its emissions, just as the company is doing with the Mac Mini.

M4 Mac Mini: price and availability

Back of a mini desktop computer on pink background.
Image: KnowTechie

The M4 Mac Mini starts at $599 with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. This M4 model can be configured up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. There’s also an optional 10-gigabit ethernet upgrade.

Meanwhile, The M4 Pro Mac Mini starts at $1,399 with a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU, paired with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

It can be configured with a 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU, up to 64GB of memory, and up to 8TB of storage.

The M4 Pro chip is the latest addition to Apple’s exciting week of announcements. We will see this chip’s return when Apple announces the 14-inch and 16-inch M4 MacBook Pros later this week.

We will even witness the arrival of the M4 Mac chip, which is rumored to be capable of even more. Unfortunately, this chip is not available with the Mac Mini.

Either way, this has been a busy week for Apple. Kicking the week off with M4 iMac, roll out of Apple Intelligence across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.

The last remaining piece of Apple’s Mac fleet is the new upgraded MacBook Pro models, which we can see tomorrow or Thursday.

What do you think about the new Mac Mini? Would you buy one? Tell us your plans in the comments below, reach out to us via our Twitter or Facebook.

Follow us on Flipboard, Google News, or Apple News

Saurav loves writing and tech. So, after engineering, he didn't look back and embarked on a journey to become a tech writer. Saurav has worked for various tech websites across the globe. Saurav has recently joined Know Techie and is proud to be a part of it.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Apple