Apple unveiled the radically redesigned Mac mini on Tuesday, with variations powered by the M4 chip and a brand new M4 Professional chip. The smaller-than-ever desktop pc includes a new design with handy ports on the back and front, quicker processing speeds and, for the primary time, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity and a carbon impartial assure.
“The brand new Mac mini delivers gigantic efficiency in an unbelievably small design due to the ability effectivity of Apple silicon and an progressive new thermal structure,” stated John Ternus, Apple’s senior vp of {hardware} engineering.
The quicker Mac mini is obtainable for preorder now for a launch on November 8.
An enormous new design for the little Mac mini
Photograph: Apple
Regardless of being practically 20 years previous — beginning on PowerPC, then Intel, and now Apple silicon — the Mac mini has solely had two main designs. Its white polycarbonate and aluminum dressing matched the aesthetic of the PowerPC and iPod period it debuted in; a shorter, wider silver aluminum unibody has been its dressing since 2010.
This new design is way extra mini than ever earlier than — solely 5 inches by 5 inches. Profiting from the vitality and thermal effectivity of Apple silicon, it’s extra comparable in dimension to an Apple TV, although nonetheless milled out of bead-blasted silver aluminum. Taking a cue from the Mac Studio, a few of the ports can be found across the entrance, for simpler entry.
Coming with M4 and the brand new M4 Professional
Picture: Apple
The Mac mini doesn’t get up to date with each chip; generally it skips a era. The brand new Mac mini jumps straight from M2 and M2 Professional to M4 and the brand new M4 Professional.
The M2 got here with 8/10/16 CPU/GPU/Neural Engine cores; the M2 Professional got here with both 10/16/16 or 12/19/16 CPU/GPU/Neural Engine cores.
The brand new Mac mini with M4 bumps that as much as 10/10/16 CPU/GPU/Neural Engine cores, and doubles the reminiscence on the entry-level mannequin from 8 GB to 16 GB. In keeping with Apple’s press launch, when in comparison with the older M1 mannequin, efficiency in apps like Microsoft Excel is 1.7 occasions quicker; AI-powered speech-to-text is twice as quick; picture modifying in Adobe Lightroom Basic is a whopping 4.9 occasions quicker. And in comparison with “the best-selling PC desktop in its value vary,” the mini is “as much as 6× quicker one-twentieth the scale” for video modifying workflows.
The M4 Professional options “the world’s quickest CPU core” — as much as 14 of them. The GPU has a modest bump as much as 20 cores; it’s twice as quick as the bottom M4 chip. Constructed for Apple Intelligence, the Neural engine performs 3× quicker than the previous M1 Professional. The M4 Professional now comes with as much as 64 GB of unified reminiscence — with 75% quicker reminiscence bandwidth than the M3 Professional instantly earlier than it.
Subsequent-generation connectivity
Photograph: Apple
Though Apple axed the USB-A ports — a sacrifice needed for its smaller footprint — the Mac mini has extra ports than ever earlier than. All fashions include energy, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, 5 USB-C ports and a headphone jack. On the entry-level Mac mini, these three ports on the again are Thunderbolt 4, for powering high-resolution shows, quick exterior storage, docks for legacy ports and way more.
Photograph: Apple
The Mac mini with M4 Professional brings it ahead to the subsequent era of connectivity. The three ports on the again are Thunderbolt 5. It could possibly energy three 6K shows at 60 Hz, or switch knowledge at 120 Gb/s — twice the pace. The headphone jack on the entrance helps high-impedance headphones for studio-quality audio.
Pricing and availability
Picture: Apple
The brand new Mac mini is obtainable for preorder now. The entry-level M4 model begins on the identical $599 value, whereas the M4 Professional model will run you $1,399. Orders will arrive, and the Mac mini will likely be available in shops, on November 8.
The brand new Mac mini is the primary carbon impartial Mac. In keeping with the press launch, it’s “made with over 50 % recycled content material total,” and manufactured utilizing 100% renewable vitality. It’s even shipped primarily by ocean freight, to scale back the carbon footprint of the provision chain. To offset the vitality utilization of all of the computer systems over their anticipated lifetime, “Apple has invested in clear vitality initiatives all over the world.” As icing on the cake, “the packaging is now fully fiber-based.”
The Mac mini ships with macOS Sequoia, now that includes Apple Intelligence. The AI options constructed into the system embody writing instruments, object elimination in photographs, notification summaries and extra.
Tune in tomorrow for yet another thrilling announcement
It appears Apple has skipped an enormous occasion in lieu of a collection of press releases and shorter movies. A number of weeks in the past, Apple launched the iPad mini with A17 Professional. This week introduced new M4 iMac, new Magic Keyboard, Trackpad and Mouse equipment and now the Mac mini with M4 and M4 Professional. Tomorrow, Apple is predicted to launch new MacBook Execs with the M4, M4 Professional and M4 Max.