The 2024 Mac Mini is smaller than ever, however nonetheless packs in M4 efficiency — making for a machine that may very well be one of the best deal in computing.
Execs
- Very small
- Cheap
- Beautiful efficiency for the value
- Strong port choice
- Entrance-facing ports!
| Purchase From | Listing Worth | Sale Worth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $599 | $599 | See It |
It’s been a very long time because the Mac Mini obtained a complete redesign. The tiniest Mac kind of stored the identical design between 2010 and now, getting some totally different ports and colours from time to time, however foregoing the large modifications that we’ve come to anticipate from different Mac fashions each few years. To a sure extent, it is smart — loads of clients use Mac Minis in racks or different settings, and altering up the design means shaking up an entire trade of mounts and equipment. However, 13 years later, it’s lastly time, and alongside the addition of the M4 chip, the brand new Mac Mini lastly has a brand new design.
The brand new design doesn’t appear to imply a better worth although. The Mac Mini continues to be the most cost effective Mac — and with the ability of the M4 behind it, it’s a stellar deal. In reality, I believe the 2024 Mac Mini may be one of the best deal in computing proper now, providing higher efficiency than the rest in its worth vary.
Right here’s what makes the Mac Mini (2024) such a stellar machine.
Mac Mini (2024) specs
| Dimensions | 5.0 x 5.0 x 2.0 inches |
| Chipset | Apple M4, Apple M4 Professional |
| Reminiscence | 16GB, 24GB, 32GB, 48GB, 64GB |
| Storage | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB |
| Ports | 3x Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5, Gigabit Ethernet or 10Gb Ethernet, HDMI, 2x USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Colours | Silver |
| Worth | $599+ |
So very mini
Simply probably the most fascinating factor concerning the 2024 Mac Mini is its design. That’s as a result of it’s the primary redesign of the pc in a few years, and whereas it’d be hard-pressed to say that the Mac Mini actually desperately wanted a redesign, the modifications that Apple has made are welcome. Why? Effectively, the brand new Mac Mini is smaller than ever, and certainly, it’s impressively tiny.
It has a footprint of solely 5 x 5 inches, and whereas it’s a little taller than the earlier technology fashions at 2 inches tall, it simply feels a lot smaller usually. It simply suits within the palm of my hand, and it’s very straightforward to place in a bag or backpack. Critically, the brand new Mac Mini may simply disappear in your desk, and contemplating its dimension, it must be very straightforward to put off desk, too.
Apple has made a considerably controversial change to the Mac Mini design by inserting the ability button on the underside of the pc. For some, this gained’t be an enormous difficulty. There are many individuals who merely at all times preserve their pc on and restart it via software program when wanted. Others are barely extra old fashioned and may flip their pc off each night time, that means they’ll have to hit that energy button within the morning once they get to their desk. How a lot you care will doubtless rely on which kind of person you might be. Personally, I’m the previous. It’s fairly uncommon that I want to make use of the bodily energy button on a Mac Mini, besides, maybe, within the occasion of an influence outage. In these uncommon events, it’s not an enormous deal to raise the Mac Mini barely to hit the button on the underside.
One design aspect I do want was totally different, although, is the colour. Apple’s strategy to paint has been getting a bit extra constant over the previous few years. Its consumer-focused fashions are colourful and vibrant, whereas its so-called “professional” gadgets are constructed to be modern and professional-looking. I definitely want these professional gadgets have been colourful too, however no less than the consistency is there. That mentioned, even on the professional gadgets, there are no less than a couple of choices, resembling Silver and House Black on the MacBook Professional. The Mac Mini, however, is simply out there in silver. I believe it might have been tremendous cool to see a inexperienced Mac Mini, however even with out vibrant colours like that, I no less than want a House Grey or House Black mannequin was out there. It’s actually not an enormous deal, particularly contemplating how small the Mac Mini is — however colourful choices would have been good.
Mac Mini (2024) ports
Maybe the one limitation related to constructing a smaller machine is that there’s not as a lot room for ports. Fortunately, the port choice on the Mac Mini continues to be fairly good, and Apple has made one change that can considerably influence day-to-day use. For the 2024 Mac Mini, there are ports on the entrance, making it simpler to entry them when wanted for gadgets and peripherals that don’t at all times should be plugged in.
The ports do fluctuate barely relying on which Mac Mini mannequin you get. On the again of the pc are three USB-C ports, which help Thunderbolt 4 on the M4 Mac Mini and Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Professional. That’s alongside an HDMI port and a gigabit Ethernet port that may be upgraded to 10-gigabit Ethernet.
Regardless of which mannequin you get, the entrance of the Mac Mini options two USB-C ports, which sadly solely help USB 3 speeds. More often than not, this gained’t be an enormous deal, as you’ll in all probability use them for issues like charging or primary peripherals. Nonetheless, since these are doubtless the ports you’ll use for file transfers from gadgets like exterior exhausting drives, quicker ports may need been useful. That mentioned, I’m simply blissful there are front-facing ports on the Mac Mini.
Final however not least, the entrance additionally features a headphone jack. This can be a choice some may love and others may hate. To be used with precise headphones, it’s nice that the jack is front-facing. However when you plan to make use of your Mac Mini with audio system, a rear-facing port would doubtless be extra handy. Finally, I believe this was the correct transfer by Apple, because it’s simpler to have a completely put in adapter or dongle on the again of the machine relatively than having to make use of one each time you plug in a pair of headphones.
In fact, notably lacking from the Mac Mini are USB-A ports. However actually, who didn’t see this coming? Different Apple computer systems haven’t had USB-A for a while, aside from the Mac Studio, which I anticipate may eliminate them within the subsequent technology as properly. Regardless, when you want USB-A, you’ll have to make use of a hub or adapter with the 2024 Mac Mini.
All in all, the port choice on the brand new Mac Mini is fairly good, particularly contemplating the scale of the pc. Certain, extra ports are at all times good, and if Apple had included extra Thunderbolt ports on the again, it may need been useful. Personally, I exploit nearly the entire ports on my Mac Studio always, so when testing the Mac Mini, I had to make use of hubs for some peripherals. That’s not an enormous deal, although, and there are many inexpensive USB hubs that may broaden the port choice if wanted.
Big efficiency for the value
The factor that basically stands out to me concerning the 2024 Mac Mini is its efficiency. That’s not surprising. We already knew how the M4 chip performs, contemplating we’ve had an iPad with one for a while now. However the Mac Mini is even cheaper than that iPad. And albeit, it blows the rest in its worth vary out of the water.
Only a be aware, the evaluate Mac Mini I’m testing doesn’t have the M4; it has the M4 Professional, which you’ll need to pay additional for. Nonetheless, I did take a look at an M4 iMac and located it to carry out excellently. That degree of efficiency in a pc priced just like the Mac Mini, to me, is astounding.
The M4 is greater than adequate for all productiveness use instances, together with browser-based apps, internet processing, and emails. Nonetheless, extra demanding customers, like graphic designers or video editors who want higher GPU efficiency, will doubtless need to improve to a higher-performance chip, such because the M4 Professional. The Mac Mini doesn’t help the M4 Max, so if you need that chip, you’re at the moment restricted to the MacBook Professional, as Apple hasn’t refreshed the Mac Studio but.
The bottom mannequin of the Mac Mini comes with the M4 chip, that includes a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. The subsequent step up is the M4 Professional, which has a 12-core CPU and a 16-core GPU. Nonetheless, there’s additionally an choice to improve to a 14-core CPU and a 20-core GPU within the M4 Professional, which is the mannequin we’ve got.
The pc provides between 16GB and 64GB of RAM, and our evaluate mannequin is provided with 48GB. It additionally has a 10-gigabit Ethernet connection, though we primarily used the Mac Mini via Wi-Fi.
I do want the bottom mannequin’s storage was a bit larger although. 256GB is a bit low, and 512GB within the base mannequin would have been good. It’s not an enormous deal, particularly for many who use cloud storage lots, however even the iMac has 512GB within the base mannequin.
So, how does the Mac Mini we examined—the best-performing Mac Mini you will get—carry out? Extraordinarily properly. It dealt with productiveness use instances with ease. My writing and reviewing workflow, which incorporates some picture enhancing in Adobe Lightroom, was snappy and fast, and I by no means skilled any stuttering or lag.
I additionally really feel assured talking to the bottom mannequin Mac Mini, on condition that I examined the iMac and iPad Professional with comparable outcomes. Use instances like mine are greater than dealt with by the M4 chip, and I believe that will likely be true of the overwhelming majority of customers. Even those that use their pc for lighter picture enhancing and a few inventive duties are prone to discover that the M4 is okay for his or her wants.
Conclusions
The brand new Mac Mini is an unimaginable machine, and once more, one of the best pc deal going proper now. In case you have $600 to spend on a desktop pc, and don’t thoughts offering or shopping for your personal monitor, keyboard, and mouse, the Mac Mini is definitely the best way to go. People who don’t need the trouble of offering peripherals ought to nonetheless think about the iMac, however needless to say you’ll pay greater than double to get it.
The competitors
In the event you’re available in the market for the Mac Mini, you could be contemplating it in opposition to different Apple desktop computer systems. The iMac and Mac Studio are each nice machines, however even the iMac is double the value of the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini, put merely, is one of the best desktop pc below $1,000 proper now, for many customers who aren’t players.
Do you have to purchase the Mac Mini (2024)?
Sure. It’s a superb pc at a really compelling worth.
