Apple ’s Week of Press Releases continues , with Monday ’s promulgation of a new M4 iMac followed by Tuesday’snew M4 Mac miniskirt . This catch the Macworld team slimly off guard because we thought the party would go to the M4 MacBook Pro first , and leave the mini for last . Why ? Because this year ’s mini got a major redesign , and Apple usually wish to cease on a in high spirits note . Maybe the agenda got rearrange at the last minute after that unfortunateAmazon leak out .
Redesigns are authoritative . Not just because they enable customers to show off that they ’ve fix the latest model – although you could be sure that Apple knows the value ofthat – and not just because of ornamental nicety . ( If we cared about those we ’d be complaining about the lack of a Space Black colouring material finish … which we ’re all not brainsick about , dependable . ) The 2024 Mac mini certainly looks good , but design is about much more than just aesthetics ; in this case , the benefit of the redesign are usable , with the gimmick finally cash in the check write by that stain name all those geezerhood ago . It ’s in reality a mini Mac in a true and pragmatic sense .
Mac mini was small , but the M4 Mac mini is downright tiny .
The M2Mac mini was small, but the M4 Mac mini is downright tiny.
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The Mac mini started out at 6.5 - in foursquare , which was imposingly petite by the standards of 2005 . But as estimator have grow smaller , the miniskirt has n’t . In fact its desktop footprint has in reality gotten bragging , with a protrusion to 7.7 column inch in 2010 . ( For visualisation intent , in suit you do n’t own one , the 2022 miniskirt ’s step is roughly the same as four Apple TV 4 K units arrange in a lame . Which might not be a totally fair comparison , but the tip is that it ’s not precisely unobtrusive . )
The depth decreased , admittedly , but I ’m yet to be convert that this matters as much . And the weight has remained largely constant . It became more of a Macskinnythan a Mac mini .
The M2Mac mini was small, but the M4 Mac mini is downright tiny.
Why does this subject ? Because the Mac mini ’s entireraison d’êtreis to be small . Its use is to take up as little space as potential on a modern minimalist screen background , to be carry easy from room to room , to slip easily into a remote worker ’s rucksack as they shuttle between home and billet . have a pocket-size footprint is its whole matter , baby .
The tech upgrades for the M4 Mac mini are definitely nice . I wish the two - generation processor excrescence and the increase in CPU and GPU nitty-gritty ; I care the switch from rear USB - A ports to front - facing USB - C ports ; I wish have the option to get up to 64 GB of random memory and plump for three presentation even if I do n’t go for the Pro model . These are all valid and pleasing upgrades .
But have ’s be true here : we do n’t know the Mac mini for its specs but for its form factor . The 2024 miniskirt is a tidy 5 - inch public square and has drop in weight by more than a pound sterling , create it a real wonder of Apple engineering . It looks like a tiny Mac Studio and in photos , it ’s almost too little to believe . It ’s not just significantly little than its predecessor — as Apple tell in its announcement video recording , it ’s 1/20th the size of it of the top - selling PC desktop in its price range and more than six times faster . The Mac mini has always been deceivingly knock-down , but it has n’t quite lived up to its descriptive cognomen .
Until now . With the 2024 redesign , the Mac mini ’s form ingredient is lastly delivering the trade good .
