The M4 Mac Mini is Apple's smallest desktop ever

Apple has unveiled a new Mac Mini. After 14 years, the little machine has been given a new design that takes advantage of the small footprint and low heat generation of the M chips. The Mac Mini now looks like a shrunken Mac Studio. Its dimensions of 5 × 12.7 × 12.7 cm make it the smallest desktop Mac ever.

Faster chips and more RAM

Inside is either the familiar M4 chip - or the new M4 Pro. Judging by the specifications, the latter makes a significant leap in performance compared to the M3 Pro. The maximum number of CPU cores increases from 12 to 14, 10 of which are designed for performance.

The maximum number of GPU cores increases from 18 to 20, and the individual cores should also be faster thanks to the new manufacturing process (N3E). And the memory bandwidth is no longer 150 GB/s, but 273 GB/s. Only benchmarks will show what this means for the bottom line. Apple's own comparisons with the old M2 Mac Mini are not very meaningful.

As with the new iMac, Apple doubles the minimum amount of unified memory (RAM) in the M4 from 8 to 16 gigabytes, with the maximum being 32 gigabytes. The M4 Pro offers a choice between 24 and 64 gigabytes. This makes the Mac Mini a very powerful computer. An overview of the chips:

Progress has also been made in the number of supported displays. With M4, the Mac Mini supports two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60 Hz and an additional one with 5K resolution at 60 Hz. With M4 Pro, a maximum of three 6K displays at 60 Hz are possible. If only two displays are connected, the chips also support 8K at 60 Hz once and 4K at 240 Hz once.

In Switzerland from 599 francs

The price of the basic model remains the same as its predecessor in the USA despite more RAM, and is even lower in Switzerland due to the exchange rate. The Mac Mini starts at 599 francs or 699 euros. Unlike the new iMac, even the cheapest configuration already includes the full-blown M4 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU.

Faster chips, more RAM and more storage space increase the price. The slimmed-down M4 Pro (12-core CPU, 16-core GPU), 24 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD cost 1399 francs or 1649 euros. If you configure the most powerful M4 Pro (14-core CPU, 20-core GPU), 64 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD, you will have to pay 2399 francs or 2799 euros.

The new housing also comes with a new selection of ports. The Mac Mini now has five USB-C ports. The two on the front support speeds of up to 10 Gb/s. The rear three on the M4 version are compatible with Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gb/s), while the M4 Pro version supports Thunderbolt 5 (120 Gb/s). There is also a headphone output at the front, HDMI 2.1, Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet and the two-pin power connection at the rear. The power supply unit remains internal. There are no more USB-A ports.

The new Mac Mini will be available from 8 November. Apple's smallest computer is the second of three Mac announcements - the last expected tomorrow is new MacBook Pros.