Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Apple ’s new minuscule Mac mini gives up very picayune after being strike with a shrink light beam , and the M4 processor save enceinte performance at a reasonable cost . But that all turns moody the moment you run into Apple ’s predatory upgrade pricing .
Price When Reviewed
This value will show the geolocated pricing text edition for Cartesian product undefined
The M4 Mac mini (middle) is closer to an Apple TV 4K (top) than the Mac Studio (bottom).
Best Pricing Today
Best Prices Today: Apple Mac mini (M4 Pro, 2024)
Apple recount us the new Mac mini was small . It shows us photos and videos . And still , when I took it out of the box , I was reasonably unprepared for just how pocket-size it actually is .
In this mighty little microcomputer is Apple ’s new M4 processor , 16 GB of RAM , and a 256 GB SSD . The performance and value in this base conformation , for just $ 599 , are quite good . This is a desktop information processing system that will attend the mean user well for old age at a very affordable Leontyne Price .
But then you commence to look at what it takes to do just a little more , and the value vanishes . Apple has n’t change its memory or entrepot pricing structure in years and it remain firm out even more now with a better cornerstone model . high RAM configurations are shockingly expensive . Additional storage costs a belittled fortune . You canveryquickly price yourself into a system that is n’t a honorable deal at all .
The M4 Mac mini (middle) is closer to an Apple TV 4K (top) than the Mac Studio (bottom).
We refresh the version of the Mac mini that comes with the M4 Pro CPU , a soup - up variant with more CPU core , double the GPU power , more than twice the storage bandwidth , and more . It , too , is a decent note value at its starting price but quickly escalates thanks to Apple ’s horrific climb pricing .
If you need a great Mac desktop , the new M4 Mac miniskirt should be gamey on your list , but only in certain constellation .
M4 Mac mini: Processor and upgrades
The base model Mac miniskirt includes an M4 ( with 10 - marrow CPU and 10 - core GPU ) , 16 GB of RAM , and 256 GB SSD , for $ 599 . You ’ll need to add a monitor , keyboard , and mouse / trackpad , but it ’s a system that will service someone well for general everyday chore for age .
At $ 1,399 you may abuse up to an M4 Pro , albeit a skip - back rendering of the chip with 12 CPU core ( rather than 14 ) and 16 GPU cores ( rather than 20 ) . It has 24 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD .
Both of those first appearance - grade configurations are a respectable note value . Thanks to Apple ’s recent switch to let in more Aries the Ram in its base configurations , you could even call them a “ proficient deal , ” as Apple products go . But as with all modern Apple product , you could not add random memory or storage after purchase , so you need to pay Apple ’s upgrade price when you buy it . And those terms are , honestly , highway robbery .
Would it have killed Apple to slip a USB-A port on there?
need to chute from the cut - back M4 Pro to the full version with 14 CPU core and 20 GPU nucleus ? That ’ll be an spare $ 200 .
Jump from 16 GB of RAM in the base modelling to 24 sarin ? $ 200 . Want 32 GB instead ? That ’s $ 400 . Jumping from a 256 GB SSD to 512 GB is $ 200 . To hop up to 1 TB , it ’s $ 400 . Apple ’s prices for RAM and photoflash store are obscene , many times gamy than the cost of the parts or equivalent retail product . Here ’s a 2 TB SSDthat , at the time of this writing , sell for $ 150 and deliver performance comparable to Apple ’s internal storehouse , as one example .
Get this : The incoming - level M4 Mac miniskirt , with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage , is $ 599 . Boosting that to 32 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD is anadditional$600 . Apple ’s upgrade pricing is so crazy that for the Leontyne Price of an additional 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD , you may buy a whole second Mac mini with the same amount of read/write memory and repositing , plus the processor , ethernet , causa , and the entire rest of the computer !
It’s not a dealbreaker, but that’s not where I would have put the power button.
Our review unit is a well-nigh top - of - the - melody model . It ’s a full 14/20 kernel M4 Pro ( + $ 200 ) with 48 GB of RAM ( + $ 400 ) a 1 TB SSD ( + $ 200 ) and 10 Gigabit Ethernet ( + $ 100 ) . The grand aggregate is $ 2,299 , about $ 300 more than the entry - level Mac Studio that still has an M2 Max .
M4 Mac mini: Small but mighty
The new Mac mini is only 5 inches straightforward and 2 inches tall . That ’s less than a fourth part the intensity of the Mac Studio , which is not exactly a large computer . It shares more in mutual with theApple tv set 4K(3.66 in squared and 1.2 inches tall ) .
Up front , you ’ll find a headphone labourer and two USB - C ports . Around the back is Ethernet , HDMI 2.1 , and three more Thunderbolt / USB - C port ( Thunderbolt 4 is supported on M4 Thunderbolt 5 on M4 Pro ) . There are no USB - A ports and no Coyote State card reader .
metalworks
Despite the flyspeck size of it , the powerfulness provision is integrated , so you do n’t have to plug a big adapter into your wall or take up several plugs ’ worth of outer space on a index strip .
It ’s a good excerpt of port for such a small computer , though the total ejection of USB - A is more than a small annoying . Many innovative devices , from wireless dongle for mice and controllers to audio interfaces and microphones , still apply USB - A. And if you ’re ever handed some data on a USB thumb drive , there ’s a good prospect it ’s USB - A. You ’ll require to augment your Mac mini with anaffordable USB - C hub .
The power button is on the underside of the back - allow corner , raised off your desk by the fan riser . The gap is n’t big enough for most fingers , so you ’ll require to nobble your Mac mini just a little to agitate the power button . It ’s not ideal , but also not a dealbreaker ; we think most users grant their desktop Macs to go to sleep rather than power them down completely , so it ’s not as though you ’ll have to do this often .
The little size does n’t leave much elbow room for active temperature reduction , but Apple ’s singular airflow result cultivate well . Air is pulled in via a vent around the raised bottom of the Mac , spread , and then discharge out that same petty riser . During day - to - day tasks , the Mac mini is most silent .
In long telecasting encoding jobs or when playing in high spirits - death 3D games , the fan spin up and becomes quite hearable . It ’s not a jet railway locomotive , and I ’ve certainly heard louder cooling systems , but it ’s there . I should note that I ran all tests with the Mac in High Power mode ( only uncommitted on the M4 Pro Mac mini ) for maximum public presentation . This admit the lover to spin up higher , keeping the arrangement coolheaded during long geological period of intense oeuvre at the cost of some randomness .
M4 Pro Mac mini: Performance and efficiency
I ’ve been imprint with the performance of the M4 Pro chip . For such a tiny and powerfulness - efficient processor , the benchmark numbers are quite safe . The foundation M4 performs super well for a sub-$1000 computer , and the M4 Pro holds its own against computers in the $ 1,500 range . The storage carrying out is great , too .
We ’ll equate against the base M4 ( in an iMac though the Mac miniskirt should execute about the same ) , the most recent high - end Mac mini ( with an M2 Pro ) , and the Mac Studio with an M2 Max in the conformation with 38 GPU cores and 32 GB of RAM . That ’s the other Mac desktop information processing system price about the same as our test system ( $ 2,399 with 1 TB SSD ) .
Geekbench 6
start with the popular standby Geekbench 6 . It ’s well-defined Apple ’s central processing unit nub have come a long room , quickly . These are some of the best Geekbench performance account you could rule . That single - pith grade tops any Intel or AMD CPU on the market by a good margin . And with only 14 cores , it still fork up a multi - core score of over 22,000 . That ’s in the same ballpark as the M2 Ultra ( 24 cores ) or the later Intel Core i9 ( with 24 cores ) .
The Geekbench 6 compute bench mark uses the GPU to do computational tasks not pertain to 3D art rendering , like background blur , face espial , and particle physic simulation . The 20 - core GPU in the M4 Pro show a good improvement over the M2 Pro , but it ca n’t keep up with the 38 - core GPU in the M2 Max . It ’s more or less on par with an old , mid - range distinct laptop GPU like a Radeon 6600 M or a GeForce RTX 2060 .
Cinebench 2024
Cinebench performs in high spirits - end translation of the variety used in TV or film and can be run entirely on the CPU or apply the GPU . We see that unexampled M4 CPU core deform its power again here , with a single - core score right smart above the good Intel and AMD fleck and a multi - core grade that equalise Intel and AMD chips that have 16 or more substance . All of which consume a caboodle more power .
The GPU score of over 9,000 beats the M2 Max even with fewer GPU cores — you’re able to thank newfangled features like mesh shaders and ray tracing acceleration for that . It ’s around the same performance as a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti or Radeon RX 6800 .
Handbrake 1.8.2
The Handbrake video recording encoder is a nifty agency to screen processor carrying into action for media creation apps . We encode theTears of Steel4 K video recording down to 1080p H.265 , using both a CPU - based x265 encoder and the “ videotoolbox ” encoder that leverages Apple ’s dedicated picture encryption hardware .
In both cases , we see a nice openhanded leap over both the base M4 and Apple ’s earlier desktop Macs . It ’s almost doubly as fast as the last Mac miniskirt with M2 Pro , and even flies past the M2 Max in the Mac Studio .
iMovie export
We also run a nimble exportation test with Apple ’s own consumer video editing software , iMovie , which tend to be well - optimized for new Macs . We export a 4 K home plate moving-picture show task using both ProRes and gamey export configurations . The M2 Max manages to pull ahead when take a shit the H.264 file with in high spirits options , perhaps thanks to having two video encode engines . Despite having only one video recording encode locomotive , the M4 Pro care to edge out the M2 Max when exporting to ProRes .
Game benchmarks
There are numerous cause why a Mac should n’t be someone ’s first selection for gaming , but theyarecapable ( if dear ) game machines . The improved central processing unit and storage bandwidth make a big remainder in Civilization VI . wage increase of the Tomb Raider still runs better on the M2 Max thanks to its bigger GPU , but the newer and more efficient GPU of the M4 Pro is n’t all that far behind . This level of performance is a little depleted than what you could expect from a $ 1,000 gaming PC .
Blackmagic Disk Speed
Finally , a quick check of SSD performance with theBlackmagic Disk Speedtest . We can see that the base example M4 iMac is half as fast as the Mac mini , which keep pace with other high - end Mac desktops . In some Macs , the 256 GB configuration uses a unmarried NAND chip and therefore has half the SSD user interface width , resulting in lower public presentation . But our M4 iMac is a 1 TB model , so it ’s possible that all even organisation have half the SSD execution , while the M4 Pro- or M4 Max - based systems are fast .
Regardless , Apple has n’t amend SSD carrying into action since the M2 generation .
Should you buy an M4 Mac mini?
I really wish the new Mac miniskirt . As much as I wish it had even a single USB - A port and I think the force release positioning is an own destination , I ’m impressed by its succinct stature , tranquil cognitive process , and excellent performance .
Now that Apple ships all Macs with at least 16 GB of RAM , the entrance - stage M4 Mac mini , at $ 599 , is a pretty good lot . So is the radical M4 Pro model , which comes with 24 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD and costs $ 1,399 . But it also play up Apple ’s insane acclivity pricing . Most people will need more than 256 GB , and an upgrade to just 512 GB is a downright avaricious $ 200 . If you actually want to use your computer for a few years , we would suggest 1 TB , which is a $ 400 upgrade .
A RAM rising slope would n’t hurt either , and that ’s $ 200 to go from 16 GB to 24 GB , or $ 400 to go to 32 gibibyte . That ’s $ 200 for each 8 GB of RAM , and it ’s highway looting . For the M4 Pro good example , jumping from 24 GB to 48 GB is $ 400 , and the 64 GB upgrade is $ 600 . ( Do n’t ask me why $ 400 bribe you 24 GB of RAM in the M4 Pro mannikin but 16 GB in the standard mannikin . ) This is n’t just “ Apple bounty ” prices , it ’s arbitrary and vulturine corporate greed at its finest . You have no alternative , so you ’ll give 5x as much as it should cost .
The M4 Mac miniskirt is a great computer at a great cost — just as long as you do n’t buy the upgrade .
