Apple has a reputationfor building some of the most powerful and premium devices, which often come with a substantial price tag. With the launch of the new Mac Mini in late October 2024, Apple did something uncharacteristic of itself. The latest Mac Mini was unveiled with their fourth generation Apple Silicon, the M4 chipset, starting at only $599 for the base variant. This is theirmost compact portable computerever made, and the specs make it feel like a bargain.
Before we get deep into the spec sheet, we should take a moment to appreciate how Apple has been able to shrink the footprint of the already tiny device and make it even more powerful. Apple Silicon has proven to be a top performer in productivity-related workloads, often getting the better of their biggest rivals: AMD and Intel. The smaller size equates to fewer I/O ports, which can be worked aroundwith USB Hubs.
The Good Side
The best specs can be found within the base variant, which packs a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, and 16GB RAM. This is a major upgrade from the last generation’s base 8GB RAM. It also gets three rearThunderbolt 4 portsfor connecting displays and data transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. The higher-end M4 Pro version gets 24GB RAM, 512GB internal storage, and three Thunderbolt 5 ports with astounding data transfer speeds of up to 120Gbps, all for $1399. Both the chips exceed expectations in synthetic benchmarks, where the base M4 beats the M2 Max and comes very close to the M3 Max in terms of GPU performance. The Mac Mini brings a perfect blend of price and performance for anyonewho is into video editingand looking for an upgrade.
The Ugly Side
It is not all roses for the Mac Mini, as some hardware choices from Apple aren’t the wisest. Firstly, the base storage of 256GB is not enough for most users, and Apple has been called out by the tech community. Making it worse is Apple’s price-gauging tactics when it comes to even the slightest of upgrades. Imagine paying $200 extra to be bumped up to the 512GB variant! Thankfully,internal SSDsaren’t exorbitantly priced anymore, and a decent 2TB Gen 4 SSD will only set you back about $120, with the external SSD casing included. If you’re looking to be doing a lot of high-resolution,long-format video editing, 3D rendering, machine learning, scientific computation, or other heavy tasks, then the previous generation’s M3 Max chip is better value compared to the M4 Pro.
Apple Mac Mini (M4, 2024)
The M4 Mac Mini of 2024 is a budget powerhouse of a PC from Apple that outperforms some of the previous generation Apple Silicon processors. The base variant is a compelling option for someone looking to get into video editing on a Mac or just wanting a reliable PC for just under $600. It comes with 16GB RAM, 256GB internal storage, 1 HDMI port, 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2 USB-C ports, and a 3.5mm audio port.
Final Thoughts
The M4 Mac Mini is undoubtedly a capable and compact computer for most users. With a couple of thoughtful additions to the specs, this can handle stressful and intensive multitasking sessions without breaking a sweat. This is a boon for the power user who can pop this tiny machine into their backpack and have unparalleled computational prowess within their palm, literally and figuratively.
