Mac Mini M4 analysis: so small and so powerful, it seems incredible

This has always caught my attention The Mac Mini phenomenon. A small computer with good features, but affordable enough that many people can have a Mac at home. This is also a great alternative for the company to access the Apple ecosystem at a lower price. WITH Mac Mini M4 This premise is a positive step thanks to a new design, much more power, more expandability and a very small size. But this is not a limitation. In fact, what this product can do has quite surprised me in a good way.

He Mac Mini M4 now it is much smaller. It was time! After switching from Intel chips to Apple Silicon, the company maintained the Mac Mini’s exterior design for two generations: M1 and M2/M2 Pro. But with the M4 and M4 Pro, we finally have a much smaller device. It now looks more like a Mac Studio Mini, rather than an even smaller version of the previous generation Mac Mini.

The new Mac Mini M4 measures 12.7 cm wide, 12.7 cm deep and 5 cm high. The M4 version weighs 0.67 kg, while the M4 Pro version weighs 0.73 kg. This is definitely a product Really Mini.

But will the new smaller size affect the performance of the Mac Mini M4? Here come the surprises.

Mac Mini M4: the power of Mac Studio

Once I finished setting up the Mac Mini M4 review Apple sent me, I ran the usual benchmark tests to get a feel for the hardware’s capabilities. The version I have is practically the top of the line, namely the M4 Pro chip with a 14-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine and 48GB of memory. Price for reference – 2359 euros or 50,000 Mexican pesos – this information will be updated later.

This Mac Mini M4 delivers results that I can only describe as impressive. In single-core mode, the result is 3919, and in multi-core mode – 22155. For comparison, the Mac Studio M2 Ultra shows 2777 points in single-core mode and 21355 in multi-core mode.

That is: starting today you can buy the Mac Mini M4 Pro, a tiny device that takes up almost no space on your desk, is completely silent, but it has as much or more power than the Mac Studio M2 Ultra.. This has three readings: first, Apple’s progress in power and performance in such short periods of time, and the fact that it is possible in such a small size, is both amazing.

Second – and this is why the Mac Mini’s price is relevant – today you can buy a device that has the same power as the Mac Studio M2 Ultra. half price. A few months ago we stopped confused with the power and speed of Mac Studio. Now you can get the same thing in a Mac Mini for €2,360. Come on, you have a professional workstation with very high performance, with much more power than a device for which a few years ago you had to invest at least 5000 or 6000 euros to get the same thing, what were the prices of Mac Pro with processors Intel.

So I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the best professional equipment you can buy today. The price/quality ratio is unparalleled. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it.

During my testing days, I worked with Premiere Pro, editing 4K 10-bit MP4 videos at about 200 megabytes per second and recording them on a Sony FX3 or Sony FX30. Thanks to the M4 Pro, I can navigate through my timeline seamlessly, viewing clips in full quality and working without experiencing any lag.

For content creators, especially video creators, who want access to a high-performance product but don’t want to spend large sums of money, the Mac Mini M4 Pro is the ideal device. Plus, I tested it next to a nano-texture studio display and it’s a dream.

I can say the same about the photo editing I do in Lightroom. If Premiere Pro comes out like a shotphoto editing and more. For such tasks, the basic Mac Mini M4, in my opinion, is more than enough. That’s why if you typically work with applications like Word, make presentations in Keynote or PowerPoint, or spend a lot of time answering emails and browsing the web, you’ll only need the basic version of the device.

Part of the secret to the incredible power of the new Mac Mini M4 lies in the device’s thermal architecture. Like the Mac Studio, the basic design allows for greater airflow and exhaust, and the multi-level internal design helps maintain slightly cooler temperatures.

Despite this, I almost never heard the fan, and it only happened during certain moments of very high-performance work, such as when exporting a long video at 4K resolution and 10-bit color depth. However, it’s certainly not loud. You can barely hear it.

But this is primarily due to the improvements and quantum leaps that Apple has made since it used its own chips in its Macs.. They managed to squeeze out power per watt that we thought was impossible a few years ago. For reference, the M4 chip delivers nearly twice the power of the M1 and 2.2 times the graphics performance of the M1 Mac Mini.

But for me, combining the size of the new Mac Mini with the power of the M4 Pro is where the magic happens. Performance is impressive with 12 or 14 CPU cores and up to 20 GPU cores. It is 1.6 times faster than M2 Pro and 1.5 times faster graphics performance than M2 Pro.

With the M4 and M4 Pro, Mac Mini now supports up to three displays: two at up to 6K@60Hz via Thunderbolt, and one at up to 5K@60Hz either via Thunderbolt or 4K. resolution at 60 Hz via HDMI port.

If you connect an 8K monitor to a Mac Mini that maxes out at 60Hz, it supports a second monitor at up to 5K resolution at 60Hz via the Thunderbolt port.

It also supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is useful for some applications and video games.

More connectivity and storage options

The Mac Mini, although smaller in size, now has more ports. Apple has listened to its customers (though it took a decade) and is finally prioritizing function over form with two USB-C ports and one USB-C port. Jack 3.5mm jack on the front of the device. They finally realized that no matter how beautiful their products look, they should not lose functionality. You no longer have to fiddle with the back of the device to connect the cable.

Three more Thunderbolt ports are located on the rear panel. These are version 4 for the Mac Mini M4 and version 5 for the Mac Mini M4 Pro. Thunderbolt 4 supports data transfer rates of up to 40 Gbps, and Thunderbolt 5 supports data transfer rates of up to 120 Gbps. The latter is especially important for professionals working with high-capacity storage, who need the highest possible data transfer speeds.

The Mac Mini M4 has one Ethernet port and can be upgraded from 1 to 10, which I’m sure will become a popular option for farms. render high performance, in large audiovisual studios and for use as servers in data centers.

In terms of memory, the Mac Mini now comes with 16 GB of base unified memory in the M4 version and 24 GB of base memory in the M4 Pro version. This is to ensure that it supports Apple Intelligence from the moment it launches alongside macOS Sequoia.

What about a button to turn the equipment on and off? Apple has decided to move the device’s on/off button to the bottom of the device. Some people thought this was a mistake, but the reality is that we almost never use this button. And if you need it, just place your finger in the upper left corner of the device, you will immediately find it. The Mac Mini M4 doesn’t need to be flipped over.

Wide range of configurations

Apple offers a wide range of configuration options for both the Mac Mini M4 and Mac Mini m4 Pro. In terms of chips, the M4 Pro can be equipped with a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU or 14-core and 20-core GPU. It is possible to choose unified memory: 16 GB, 24 GB and 32 GB in the case of the M4 and 24 GB, 48 GB and 64 GB in the case of the M4 Pro.

In terms of storage, the Mac Mini M4 can be equipped with SSD capacities ranging from 256GB to 2TB, while the Mac Mini M4 Pro can be equipped with SSD capacities ranging from 512GB to 8TB. I recommend going for something that’s not very expensive, like 2TB, and buying external SSDs with a Thunderbolt 5 port – if you buy the version with the M4 Pro – which will be cheaper in the long run.

In short, the device’s very small size doesn’t diminish the capabilities or configuration options of the Mac Mini. You can go from a basic device costing €700 to one designed for high-performance professional work, with more memory and more storage, for just over €5,400. And the most amazing thing is that in both cases the device is equally small and silent.

Mac Mini M4: The most affordable Mac becomes much more powerful and at the same time even smaller

With a new design, expanded connectivity, multiple configuration options, and the addition of the M4 and M4 Pro, the most affordable Mac becomes much more powerful and smaller at the same time.

The Mac Mini with the M4 chip is ideal for those who want to buy a Mac but are on a budget. This is the most cost-effective way to access the Apple ecosystem. On the other hand, the Mac Mini with the M4 Pro chip is a very powerful workstation with high capabilities and simply unbeatable value for money.

All this in a very small size. It seems incredible that such a small and quiet computer can provide so much power. Once again, the great innovation behind Apple Silicon, the chips that power All company devices, including Mac.