M4 Mac Mini tested: The smallest is the biggest
22.11.2024
Translation: machine translated
Apple's tiny device impresses with a lot of performance at a mini price. There's just one thing that annoys me.
The cheapest Mac in Apple's range turns out to be amazingly fast even in its basic configuration. And with the more powerful chip, the little one even poaches in Mac Studio territory, depending on the application. The cooling concept, the selection of connections and the new design are also impressive. Just this button ...
Design and connections: yay
After 14 years, the smallest Mac has been redesigned to take advantage of the small footprint of the M chips. The new housing measures just 5 × 12.7 × 12.7 cm, which is only 58 per cent of the volume of the previous model. Apple has modelled the shape on the Mac Studio: The Mac Mini stands on a circular plastic base with ventilation slots. This makes it look as if it is floating one centimetre above the table.
Source: Samuel Buchmann
The shrinkage should not be really important for most people, because the old Mac Mini also fits easily on a desk. But Apple's demonstration of power is certainly cool. So much power in such a small housing shows how efficient the chips have become.
The new design also changes the connections. USB-A has been completely removed. Instead, Apple has increased the number of USB-C sockets and placed two of them on the front. These support USB 3 (10 Gbit/s). The three at the rear support Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbit/s) on the M4 chip and Thunderbolt 5 (120 Gbit/s) on the M4 Pro. In total, there are now:
- 2 x USB-C (10 Gbit/s)
- 3 x USB-C (40 Gbit/s or 120 Gbit/s)
- 3.5 mm audio connection
- HDMI 2.1 (48 Gbit/s)
- Ethernet (1 Gbit/s or 10 Gbit/s)
- Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3
Source: Samuel Buchmann
For me that fits. Almost all my devices now have a USB-C cable. And for the few exceptions, I keep a dongle in my drawer. I just think it's a shame that the Mac Mini doesn't inherit the SD card reader from the Mac Studio.
The button of the kick-off
One design decision, however, is so strange that it deserves its own section: the position of the power button. It's on the underside. What the hell, Apple? Has the designer of the Magic Mouse escaped from the dungeon?
Source: Samuel Buchmann
I can already hear the apologists hitting the keys: "It's not so bad, you can raise it a bit." - "It doesn't matter, just never switch it off." - "It's logical, it just didn't have anywhere else to go." Apple's Vice President Greg Jozwiak justifies himself with similar arguments.
No!
There is no acceptable reason for this stupidity. I unplug my entire setup in the evening and switch off the Mac Mini. Every morning I have to fumble around until I find the damn button. Every time I do this, I move the case on my desk and have to straighten it again (okay, the OCD is my problem).
Source: Samuel Buchmann
Does the stupid button make the Mac Mini a bad product? Of course not. But it's an unnecessary annoyance in an otherwise perfect design that Apple probably won't change for another ten years. Something like that just annoys me.
Performance: unique for 600 francs
The Mac Mini is available with two chips: M4 or M4 Pro. The M4 always comes in its full version with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. With the M4 Pro, you have the choice between a slimmed-down version (12/16 cores) and one with more power (14/20 cores). The M4-Pro benchmarks tested in this test apply to the powerful chip.
The most important upgrade is the RAM of the base model. For 599 francs or 699 euros, you now get 16 GB of RAM instead of just 8 GB as before. This change makes the cheapest Mac Mini a price-performance hit. The YouTube channel "Linus Tech Tips" tried to configure a comparable Windows PC and failed miserably.
As with all Macs, however, the advantage disappears as soon as you want even more RAM or a larger SSD. Apple continues to charge astonishing sums for such upgrades. Generally speaking, you pay even more if you have selected the cheap chip. Specifically, the prices in the M4 configuration are:
- 200 francs / 230 euros per 8 GB RAM
- 200 francs / 230 euros per 256 GB SSD (up to 512 GB)
- 200 francs / 230 euros per 512 GB SSD (from 1 TB)
The SSD modules in particular cost many times more than comparable individual parts for Windows. An equally fast WD Black SN850X, for example, costs 150 francs for 2 TB. Do-it-yourself upgrades would be theoretically possible with the Mac Mini - but Apple uses SSDs in a proprietary form factor that are not available to buy anywhere.
The alternative is external drives.
External SSDs are an alternative. However, standard models such as a Samsung T7 only achieve transfer rates of 1000 MB/s. The Mac Mini's internal SSD achieves between 3000 MB/s and 7000 MB/s, depending on the model. External storage can only keep up with Thunderbolt 4 and higher. The OWC Express 1M2, for example, achieves 3151 MB/s.
In terms of computing power, the M4 chips are much faster than the M2 generation found in the last Mac Mini. If I use all CPU cores, the regular M4 achieves an average score of 56 per cent higher than the M2. This puts the smallest chip almost on a par with the M2 Pro.
With M4 Pro, the new Mac Mini outperforms its direct predecessor by 55 per cent. It poaches in the territory of a Mac Studio with M2 Ultra for 3999 francs. If you mainly need CPU power, the new Pro chip offers plenty of performance at a moderate price.
The advances in graphics performance are somewhat less significant. The M4 scores 28 per cent higher than the M2 and half as high as the M4 Pro. The latter is 35 per cent ahead of the M2 Pro.
Even with the cheapest Mac Mini, even demanding programmes such as Lightroom run smoothly enough to work reasonably well. The difference to the old basic model with half as much RAM is sometimes striking: My test export of 200 RAW images is completed in a third of the time.
If a task primarily requires the GPU, such as Adobe's AI noise filter, the advantage of the new chips is not as great. However, the M4 Pro stands out all the more from the normal M4. This also applies to video export, which utilises both the CPU and GPU.
The bottom line is that the basic Mini is perfectly adequate if you only occasionally need demanding applications. However, if you edit large RAW images or work on video projects on a daily basis, upgrading to the M4 Pro is a good idea. The 200 francs or 230 euros for the full version of the chip, which has two more CPU cores and four more GPU cores, is well worth it.
Temperatures
Temperatures and volume: Pssst!
For cooling the chip, Apple relies on a similar concept to the Mac Studio: a cylindrical fan draws fresh air from under the housing, lets it flow over the circuit board and the power supply unit and blows the waste heat out again. The teardown video from iFixit also shows that the cooler of the M4 Pro is of a higher quality than that of the M4.
The cooling system works excellently in everyday use. Most of the time, the Mac Mini is not audible at all. The fan only revs up under full load, but remains very quiet. I measure just 44 decibels from a distance of 30 centimetres when I stress the CPU and GPU at the same time.
Despite the low noise level, the Mac Mini never has to throttle its chip. The fan keeps the temperature at around 95 degrees Celsius and the CPU clock rate remains stable at around 3.9 gigahertz. I measured a maximum power consumption of 55 watts with the regular M4 chip, and it manages with 3.5 watts in idle mode.
Source: Samuel Buchmann
In a nutshell
Apple's best deal ever
Never before has there been such a good office computer for so little money. Even the cheapest Mac Mini can cope with everything that everyday life throws its way. The new chip and the additional RAM expand the possibilities of the tiny computer compared to its predecessor. This makes the basic Mini Apple's best deal ever.
With M4 Pro, even more RAM or more storage space, the price rises rapidly. The more powerful chip is worthwhile if you often use performance-hungry programmes such as Lightroom. These will run noticeably faster. With the SSD, you should keep upgrades to a minimum and store large amounts of data externally. Apple's pricing policy in this area is definitely no longer up to date.
Otherwise, there is hardly anything to criticise about the new Mac Mini. It has a good selection of connections and impressively demonstrates the efficiency of Apple's chips: Despite the narrow housing, the Mini doesn't overheat and never has to throttle its performance. This is also thanks to its efficient and mostly inaudible cooling system.
Only this button ...
Pro
- Enough power for almost everything
- Extremely favourable in the base
- Impressively small form factor
- Good selection of connections
- Quiet and energy-efficient
Contra
- SSD upgrades are overpriced
- Switch-on button on the underside
Header image: Samuel Buchmann
Samuel Buchmann
Senior Editor
Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.chMy fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.