The Mac mini will celebrate its 20th birthday in January. And I think the M4 version of the Mac mini is far and away the most appealing one the company has ever made.
When it was introduced during the white plastic heyday of peak iPod-era Apple, the Mac mini was pitched as the cheapest way to buy into the Mac ecosystem. It was $499. And despite some fluctuation (as high as $799 for the entry-level 2018 mini, $599 for this year's refresh), the Mac mini has stayed the cheapest entry-level Mac ever since.
But the entry-level models always left a lot to be desired. The first Mac mini launched with just 256MB of RAM, a pretty anemic amount even by the standards of the day. The first Intel Mac mini in 2006 came with a single-core Core Solo processor, literally the last single-core Mac Apple ever released and the only single-core Intel Mac. The 2018 Mac mini's Core i3 processor left a lot to be desired for the price. The 8GB of RAM included in the basic M1 and M2 Mac minis was fine for many things but left very little headroom for future growth.
Apple's addition of 16GB RAM to the basic $1,299 model makes it a whole lot more appealing for the vast majority of people who just want to take the computer out of the box and plunk it on a desk and be done. New USB-C accessories eliminate some of the last few Lightning ports still skulking around in Apple's lineup. The color options continue to be eye-catching in a way that evokes the original multicolored plastic ones without departing too far from the modern aluminum-and-glass Apple aesthetic. The $200 nano-texture display option, included in the review loaner that Apple sent us, is lovely, though I lightly resent having to pay more for a matte screen.
The back of the iMac, where the color is the most visible.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
New USB-C accessories. Yes, the charging port is still on the bottom.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
A mildly improved 12MP webcam with a wide enough field of view to support Desk View mode in macOS.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
For models with an Ethernet port, it's still on the power brick, not the back of the machine.
Credit:
Andrew Cunningham
This is all I really have to say about this iMac, because it's externally nearly identical to the M1 and M3 versions of the same machine that Apple has been selling for three years now. The M4 isn't record-setting fast, but it is quick enough for the kinds of browsing and emailing and office stuff that most people will want to use it for—the fully enabled 10-core version is usually around as fast as a recent Intel Core i5/Core Ultra 5 or an AMD Ryzen 5 desktop CPU, though using just a fraction of the power, and with a respectable integrated GPU that's faster than anything Intel or AMD is shipping in that department.
Apple's week of Mac announcements has wrapped up this morning with the launch of the new M4 MacBook Pros, and we now have a full picture of the M4 chip lineup that will drive the Mac for the next year or so (excepting the M4 Ultra, if we end up getting one).
Because Apple staggered its product and chip announcements, we've gathered some basic specs from all versions of the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max to help compare them to the outgoing M2 and M3 chip families, including the slightly cut-down versions that Apple sells in the cheaper new Macs. We've also rounded up some of Apple's performance claims, so people with older Macs can see exactly what they're getting if they upgrade (Apple still likes to use the M1 as a baseline, acknowledging that the year-over-year gains are sometimes minor and that many people are still getting by just fine with some version of the M1 chip).
At least as far as the Mac is concerned, Apple has technically released six different chips this week under three different brand names. The M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max all have one slightly cut-down entry-level version with fewer CPU and GPU cores and one more-expensive, fully enabled version.
Generally, in the places where Apple offers both versions of each chip, you can upgrade to the better CPU/GPU without also having to pay for more RAM or anything else. But the M4 Max is an exception—buying the fully enabled M3 Max also requires you to pay for a jump from 36GB to 48GB of memory, making the total cost an additional $500. Apple's site lists it, somewhat misleadingly, as a $300 addition, but toggling the selection also automatically selects the $200 RAM upgrade.
Apple is following the M4 iMac and the redesigned Mac mini updates with one more major refresh this week: a new lineup of M4 MacBook Pros. These updates mostly follow the template set by last year's M3 MacBook Pro refresh: there's a 14-inch $1,599 base model with the standard M4, and then beefed up 14- and 16-inch versions with the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors that also offer more RAM, storage, an optional nano-texture display finish, and other amenities for power users.
All three versions of the M4 MacBook Pro are available for preorder today and begin arriving November 8, the same date as the new iMac and Mac mini refreshes.
New chips, same designs
Even without the M4's improvements, the new $1,599 MacBook Pro addresses the biggest gripe about the original: it upgrades the base model from 8GB to 16GB of RAM without increasing the price. If this was the only change Apple made, it would have been a good upgrade (and the company has taken exactly that approach to updating the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs, which also start with 16GB beginning today). Base storage still starts at 512GB.
The week of Mac announcements chugs along, as Apple introduces the latest addition to its line of first-party silicon. The new M4 is debuting as an upgradeable option for the just-announced palm-size Mac Mini. The Pro follows the May release of the original M4. That chip bucked the standard Apple Silicon cycle by debuting on […]
Apple's week of Mac announcements continues today, and as expected, we're getting a substantial new update to the Mac mini. Apple's least-expensive Mac, the mini, is being updated with new M4 processors, plus a smaller design that looks like a cross between an Apple TV box and a Mac Studio—this is the mini's first major design change since the original aluminum version was released in 2010. The mini is also Apple's first device to ship with the M4 Pro processor, a beefed-up version of the M4 with more CPU and GPU cores, and it's also the Mac mini's first update since the M2 models came out in early 2023.
The cheapest Mac mini will still run you $599, which includes 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage; as with yesterday's iMac update, this is the first time since 2012 that Apple has boosted the amount of RAM in an entry-level Mac. It's a welcome upgrade for every new Mac in the lineup that's getting it, but the $200 that Apple previously charged for the 16GB upgrade makes an even bigger difference to someone shopping for a $599 system than it does for someone who can afford a $999 or $1,299 computer.
The M4 Pro Mac mini starts at $1,399, a $100 increase from the M2 Pro version. Both models go up for preorder today and will begin arriving on November 8.
Processor aside, the biggest functional upgrade to the base model may be the bump from 8GB to 16GB of RAM, the first time Apple has bumped up the RAM in a base-model Mac since 2012. The base iMac's price is staying the same at $1,299, effectively saving you $200 compared to the M1 and M3 models. Base storage remains the same at 256GB, though it is at least possible to add external storage; there's no way to add RAM to a Mac after you've bought it.
The new iMacs also come with tweaked versions of the existing Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad accessories that use USB-C ports for charging rather than Lightning ports. These were some of the last remaining Lightning products in Apple's lineup; the iPhone SE and iPhone 14 are still keeping Lightning alive for now.
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