Tuesday, October 29th 2024
Apple's New Mac mini Sports up to an M4 Pro with 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU
Apple's much awaited M4-based Mac Mini is finally here. As previously indicated by analysts, the Mac mini has received a massive redesign - its first in over a decade. With an amazingly compact chassis that is significantly smaller than before, the Mac mini boasts impressive computing horsepower thanks to the M4 and M4 Pro chipsets, now starting with 16 GB of unified memory.
We are already quite familiar with the M4, which made its debut in the OLED iPad Pro last May. However, the M4 Pro is all-new, boasting up to a 14-core CPU with 10 P-cores and 4 E-cores along with up to a 20-core GPU. The standard M4 packs only 4 P-cores by comparison, and manages to quash Intel's Core Ultra 9 288V in synthetic benchmarks by as much as 60% while trading blows with AMD's Strix Point APUs. The M4 Pro features more than twice the number of P-cores, making it a suitable competitor for Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake-H lineup as well as AMD's Strix Halo.
The Mac mini gets rid of its USB-A ports, in favor of USB-C ones. The system boasts, for the first time, dual USB-C ports on the front along with a 3.5 mm headphone jack. At its back, the M4 variant rocks triple Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the M4 Pro variant boasts triple Thunderbolt 5 ports. Both the variants sport a single HDMI port along with up to a 10 G Ethernet port. Wireless connectivity is taken care of by Wi-Fi 6E as well as Bluetooth 5.3. With dimensions of 5" x 5" x 1.96" and a weight of 1.48 to 1.61 lbs, the Mac mini is undoubtedly 'mini' indeed.
The Mac mini with the M4 SoC, 16 GB of memory, and 256 GB of storage starts at $599. The M4 Pro variant is unsurprisingly quite expensive, coming in at $1,399 for the 12-core version with 24 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage.
Source:
Apple
We are already quite familiar with the M4, which made its debut in the OLED iPad Pro last May. However, the M4 Pro is all-new, boasting up to a 14-core CPU with 10 P-cores and 4 E-cores along with up to a 20-core GPU. The standard M4 packs only 4 P-cores by comparison, and manages to quash Intel's Core Ultra 9 288V in synthetic benchmarks by as much as 60% while trading blows with AMD's Strix Point APUs. The M4 Pro features more than twice the number of P-cores, making it a suitable competitor for Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake-H lineup as well as AMD's Strix Halo.
The Mac mini with the M4 SoC, 16 GB of memory, and 256 GB of storage starts at $599. The M4 Pro variant is unsurprisingly quite expensive, coming in at $1,399 for the 12-core version with 24 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage.
76 Comments on Apple's New Mac mini Sports up to an M4 Pro with 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU
It should also make used prices tank for the older e-waste models.
Storage that makes server SSD's look like a flash sale, not many (if any) upgrade options and closed ecosystem mean NO. I have used iMac's in the past, still own a Macbook pro from 2010 (currently under surgery for no charging), but the only Apple product worth buying (for me) is a simple and discounted iPad.
Did someone at Apple forget to use Photoshop's Fill command? Does it need that much cooling? Did someone drop the prototype and nobody noticed?
Two of the holes are the USB-C ports, just like on the Mac Studio that debuted two years ago.
The other is a 3.5mm headphone jack, sanely placed on the front (the one on the Mac Studio is stupidly placed on the back, just like the old Mac minis).
Apple has finally come to its senses in putting some ports on the front. It has been a long time coming (my first Mac mini was purchased in 2010). Now that Jony Ive is gone Apple can include some practicality in their industrial designs.
It's a computer first, not an objet d'art. And that's coming from me, someone who has had a Mac in the house for over 30 years.
1. It's Apple, only available in Apple devices and
2. No e/p-core mixture for me, thanks (only in my phone).
Price of every >16GB ram model before this would crash very hard though, and deserving so, who in their right mind buy a 8GB ram mini PC in year 2023? Because 8GB is like 16GB in mac?
Anyhow there are USB-C to USB-A hubs. Like everyone who has been computing for a long time, I still have plenty of USB-A peripherals. But I've noticed that these days, I'm using more peripherals that can be connected via USB-C.
My earbuds charging case, tablet, and notebook computer all take USB-C for power now. Once I switch to the iPhone 16, I won't need to travel with a Lightning cable. At some point in the not-too-distant future I will end up with a multiport USB-C only travel AC adapter. And then anything with a USB-A port or connector can stay at home.
Good riddance, it always seems like I need three tries to successfully connect any USB-A connector into a plug.
The upgrade pricing will never be a bargain for Apple. We know they love their fat margins which they will not achieve by giving us 1 TB SSD upgrade for fifty bucks.
For sure there are some tasks that I can easily accomplish on my M2 Pro that the Intel N100 struggles at.
The M4 Mac mini looks like a good Mac replacement, especially for those still on Intel-based minis and maybe those with the original M1 chip.
I will not be upgrading this cycle, I will stay with my M2 Mac mini and wait for the M5 (possibly the M6) to upgrade. That will give the peripheral manufacturers a chance to catch up and provide a new generation of accessories for the smaller form factor.
The hardware is pretty awesome, but until Apple changes their attitude it's all going to waste.
I honestly can't understand why Mac and PC has to be a zero sum game. It's not "us vs them." I have both, and I like both for my own reasons. We really need to stop looking at the worst examples of people as proof of our claims or as a reason to feel better about our own choices.