You just might have to do a double-take if you see one of these in person. Coming in at a remarkable 5″ by 5″ by 2″ (12.7/12.7/5.0 cm), the third-generation Apple Silicon-based Mac mini resembles a footprint akin to an Apple TV 4K. This is a brand new design for the Mac mini, the first since 2010. Including a size a reduction, the visible exterior changes are: (In front): 2x USB-C style v3.0 10Gb/s ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. On the back, there are 3x USB-C style Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI, Ethernet, and Power.

For $599, you get a 10-core CPU. 4x 4.4Ghz clocked performance cores, 6x 2.85 GHz efficiency cores, brand new LPDDR5X-7500 3750MHz SDRAM (M4 Pro has 4266 MHz LPDDR5X-8533 SDRAM), memory bandwidth is bumped to 120 GB/s over the M2’s 100GB/s, and the base configuration comes with 16GB. You no longer need to spend additional money for RAM, and as-is, the M4 Mac Mini is a great bang for your buck. The M4 in the Mac mini is slightly better than the one in the M4 iMac, having 2 extra efficiency cores. The M4 Pro only has 4 efficient cores across the board, rather than 6.

New Thermal System

With a new redesign comes a new thermal system – with the advent of increasingly power efficient CPUs, a thermal architecture was designed around the 3nm arm-based M4/M4 Pro. The airflow goes through the different layers of the machine, and is all ventilated at the base of the Mac mini. Cool air goes in the front 2/3 of the machine, snakes it’s way through, and goes out the bottom 1/3 rear of the vent holes.

Introduction of Thunderbolt 5 to the Mac

The M4 Pro Mac mini ($1399) includes Thunderbolt 5, and is the first Mac to carry it. Only the M4 Pro has Thunderbolt 5, the M4 still has Thunderbolt 4. The difference is in USB 4v2. The rear ports on the M4 can do up to 40 Gb/s, whereas the ones on the M4 Pro can do up to 80 Gb/s.

• Support for up to 80 Gb/s bi-directional bandwidth
• Support for up to 120 Gb/s “Bandwidth Boost” oriented toward display experiences
  • (In Bandwidth boost mode, Transmit is 120 Gb/s, Receive is 40 Gb/s)
• Support for USB 4 v2 (80 Gb/s)

Apple Intelligence

macOS Sequoia and later supports Apple intelligence on any Mac with Apple Silicon. This feature is also available on any iPad with an M-chip, as well as iOS devices running 18 and later with an A17 Pro chip or better (iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max, or all iPhone 16 models+). While device capability has increased over the years, it’s theorized by some that older devices don’t have enough RAM to properly run Apple Intelligence.

Details

• Announced 2024.10.29
• Model Identifier: (Information to be filled in once reports trickle in)
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• Model: –
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• Order Number: –
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Mac OS

• Requires macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later

Core System

Note: M4 Pro chip specs are incomplete, and will be filled as information trickles in. Missing information will be marked “-“.

• M4 ($599): 10 Cores, 4x 4.4 GHz “M4” High Performance Cores: 768K L1i, 512K L1d, 64MB L2, 8MB System Level Cache
  • 6x 2.85 GHz “M4” energy efficient cores: 768K L1i, 320k L1d, 24MB L2, 8 MB SLC
• 16-Core Neural Engine
• 16/24 GB 3750 MHz LPDDR5-7500 SDRAM
  • 120 GB/s Memory Bandwidth
• M4 Pro ($1399): 12 Cores, 8x 4.4 Ghz “M4 Pro” High Performance cores, 1.5 MB L1i, 1 MB L1d, – L2 cache, – L3 cache,
  • 4x 2.85 GHz “M4 Pro” energy efficient cores: 512K L1, 16MB L2, – MB SLC
• M4 Pro ($1599): 14 Cores, 10x 4.4 Ghz “M4 Pro” High Performance cores, 1.92 MB L1i, 1.28 MB L1d, – L2 cache, – L3 cache,
  • 4x 2.85 GHz “M4 Pro” energy efficient cores: 512K L1, 16MB L2, – MB SLC

Memory

•  M4: 3750 MHz LPDDR5-7500 SDRAM
  • 120 GB/s Memory Bandwidth on M4 Models
• M4 Pro: 4266 MHz LPDDR5X-8533 SDRAM
  • 267 GB/s Memory Bandwidth on M4 Pro models**
  • (Apple says M4 Pro Memory Bandwidth is 75% faster than the M3 pro, on which is 153 GB/s.)*
• M4 ($599): 16GB Standard, Configurable to 24GB (+$200), or 32GB (+$400)
• M4 Pro ($1399): 24GB Standard, Configurable to 48GB (+$400), or 64GB (+$600)

Video

• M4 ($599): Integrated Apple M4 with 10-Core Metal 3 Hardware Accelerated GPU
  • Simultaneously supports up to 3x displays at the same time.
  • 2x 6K @60Hz via TB4 + 1x 5K @60Hz via TB4 OR 4K60 via HDMI
  • Or up to two displays: 1x 5K60 via TB4, 1x 8K60 OR 1x 4K240 via TB4/HDMI
• M4 Pro ($1399): Integrated Apple M4 with 16/20-Core Metal 3 Hardware Accelerated GPU
  • Simultaneously supports up to 3x displays at the same time
  • 3x 6K60Hz via TB4 OR HDMI
  • OR up to 2x: 1x 6K60 via TB + 1x 8K60 OR 1x 4K240 via TB/HDMI
• Thunderbolt 4 “digital video output” native displayport output over USB-C.
  • All other connections including TB requires adapters.
• Thunderbolt 5 requires the M4 Pro model.
• Both M4 and M4 Pro can support/run 1x 8K60 or 4K240 via HDMI.

Drives

• Drive Bus: 256GB Base, PCIe SSD, 2x 128GB NANDs in Parallel
• Configurable to: 512GB (+$200), 1 TB (+$400), and 2TB (+$800) on the base model
  • On the $1399+ model only: 512GB base, 1TB (+$200), 2TB (+$600), 4TB (+$1200), and 8TB (+$2400)

Expansion

• Wifi 6E (802.11a/b/g/n/ac)
• Bluetooth 5.3
• Three USB-C style Thunderbolt 4 Ports on M4 (rear), (Thunderbolt 5 on M4 Pro)
  • Support for: USB 4 (up to 40 Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)
  • Support for: USB 4v2 (up to 80 Gb/s), rear ports only on M4 Pro
• Two USB-C style USB 3.0 ports (Up to 10 Gb/s) on front
• Gigabit Ethernet (10g ethernet +$100)
• HDMI
• 3.5mm headphone jack (front)
• Built-In Speaker

Included Peripherals

• Mac Mini
• Power Cord

Physical

• Size:W/D/H 5 x 5 x 2 in/12.7 x 12.7 x 5 cm
• M4 Weight: 1.5 lb./0.67 kg
• M4 Pro Weight: 1.6 lb./0.73 kg