Last year on October 29th 2024, Apple unveiled a totally redesigned Mac mini, alongside the M4 iMac, and the new M4/M4 Pro/M4 Max MacBook Pros. It features a new chip with a 3-nanometer fabrication process, a new thermal system to go along with it, upgradeable internal storage, new ports on the front, and more noteworthy highlights.
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What sparked the idea to get this?

Rockin’ out with a fully maxed 2018 mini whilst simultaneously using a 15-Inch M4 MacBook Air, side by side, all the while never taking the ‘Book anywhere for anything, and eyeing it like a desktop. Seeing how the M4 chip performed on the new 15-Inch M4 MacBook Air earlier this year, it’s about time.
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• The primary device I used to write articles and get work done was the 2018 mini. Needed the kind of oomph the M4 Air has, but.. not in a ‘Book.
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• Cost-effectiveness: The M4 Mac mini has among the best price-to-performance ratio of mostly anything on the market.
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• The M4 chip jumps to 3750 MHz LPDDR5X-7500 RAM! That’s a huge step up from 2666 MHz DDR4. Also Thunderbolt 4.
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Setting it up

This just so happened to be the nearest keyboard and mouse set. Switching over to thunderbolt 3 from ethernet made the transfer way, way faster – there wasn’t any competition.
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• A software update was needed in order to use Migration Assistant.
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Using thunderbolt to migrate

Between plugging it all in, updating the software to Sequoia 15.7.2, and later transferring ~350 GB via Thunderbolt, it took less than an hour and a half. Now the M4 mini has everything from the 2018 mini, it’s ready to upgrade to Tahoe. Can’t wait to see what this new mini can do!

…and now, the desktop!

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