The Mac mini is an adorable box that resembles an oversized Apple TV. But what’s more impressive is that it’s significantly faster than before, thanks to Apple’s M4 and M4 Pro chips, and it still starts ant $599. Once again, the Mac mini redefines what a desktop can be, Engadget reported.
While Apple my have started the tiny PC trend with the original Mac mini in 2005, it’s certainly not alone today. Intel’s NUC line survived execution and is now being spearheaded by ASUS, but those boxes are still expensive and relatively niche. HP sells “Elite Mini” desktops for businesses, but they mainly exist to make IT workers’ lives easier.
Apple’s smaller Mac mini is lighter than ever, thanks to the M4 and M4 Pro chips, and it’s a better deal with 16GB of RAM to start.
The Mac mini, meanwhile, has for years been an affordable gateway into the world of Apple desktops. Now, it’s the cheapest way to get a taste of Apple Silicon, especially if you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
The Mac mini’s redesign case is less than half the size of the previous version, so you won’t have to devote as much desk space to it. It also features front connectivity for the first time — two USB-C ports and a headphone jack — something that previously required upgrading to the $1,999 Mac Studio.
Why wouldn’t you want the new Mac mini? The Verge reported. Over the last several days of testing Apple’s redesigned desktop Mac, I’ve been impressed by all this power and potential crammed into this very compact machine.
For a starting price of $599 and with 16GB of RAM now standard, the M4 Mac mini has immediately become the best value for most computing tasks today, and if my M1 MacBook Air is anything to go by, the mini won’t feel slow (or anything close to it) for at least the next four or five years, Chris Welch reported.
But most people won’t need to spend anywhere near that amount. The regular M4 edition offers a lot in its own right and would be my recommendation for anyone who wants a dependable desktop Mac — especially if you’ve already settled on a monitor and/or keyboard that you love.
TechCrunch reported: For years, the mini was the odd man out in the Mac desktop lineup. Apple has given plenty of love to the iMac over the years. The Mac Pro has had a few false starts, but the company is clearly committed to offering a true professional-grade desktop experience.
The Studio is the new kid on the block, addressing a wide range of price points, from under $2,000 to upwards of $5,000.
In my opinion, it is good that Apple is now supporting the Mac mini right now. It would be nice to see people adopting that model and using it.