Apple Mac mini (M4 Pro) review: a silver box of magic

The Mac mini has been the neglected stepchild of the Mac lineup for many years. Though Apple’s kept it around and up-to-date internally, it’s been well over a decade since the design has been touched. In light of the transition to Apple Silicon, I’ve been waiting for a proper redesign of this iconic desktop PC that takes advantage of the new hardware.

That’s exactly what the M4 Mac mini is, and it’s a glorious moment for this mini PC to shine. New looks aside, the M4 Mac mini, especially the M4 Pro configuration I reviewed, is a remarkably powerful little computer for the price, especially given the new memory options.

Specs and configurations

The Mac mini’s $599 price point makes it the most affordable Mac in the entire lineup. That remains true, even with the redesign, M4 chip, and extra memory. That’s right — the Mac mini has a minimum of 16GB of RAM now, despite starting at just $599. Compared to the previous model, the M2 Pro Mac mini, you’re saving $200 right off the bat. That’s a pretty incredible value, no matter how you slice it.

The $1,399 M4 Pro model is the opposite. It’s a small price increase over the previous-gen M2 Pro Mac mini, which started at $1,299. The difference, however, is a small bump in memory, going from 16GB to the new 24GB starting configuration. The $1,399 M4 Pro Mac mini also comes with 512GB of RAM, a 12-core CPU, and a 16-core GPU. That’s an expensive computer, but remember, that’s still $600 less than the M4 Pro MacBook Pro.

My review unit has the two extra CPU cores and four extra GPU cores, as well as the upgraded 48GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. At $2,600, it’s no longer all that affordable, but you’re probably set for many, many years with a configuration like that.

Design

The M4 Mac mini marks a new era for Apple’s smallest and most economical Mac.

In many ways, the new Mac mini is just a shrunken-down version of the Mac Studio. The strip of black by the ports on the old Mac mini is gone, as is the large vent. It’s 2 inches smaller in each direction and is significantly lighter — but the designs share a lot in common. And it makes a lot of sense. Apple’s not doing anything overly flashy here, it’s mostly  just a little silver box, meant to blend in rather than stand out. But the size really is impressive.

Cutting the footprint is smart, because if you’re low on desk space, you would probably happily trade some length or width for height. The Mac mini fits great right under a monitor for port access or can even be positioned back behind it.

The elephant in the room, of course, is the power button. Located on the bottom of the device, it requires you to lift the entire thing up to reach it. I don’t care how few times you use that button, putting it on the bottom is just silly. It’s not that it’s heavy or overly cumbersome to tilt up when reaching for the power button, but you can’t expect me to remember what side the thing is on.

I promise that a boatload of people will have to consult the manual just to get this thing powered up for the first time. That’s not exactly a welcoming way to get to know your new computer. Let’s not forget that, in theory, the Mac mini is many people’s introduction to the Mac ecosystem. I get why Apple didn’t love the slightly awkward placement of the power button on the old Mac mini, but this solution can’t have been the best option.

There’s a completely new internal design as well, but it doesn’t change the fact that nothing is easily accessible or removable. There are no memory or storage upgrades in the future for the Mac mini, so make sure to get what you need upfront.

Ports

The previous Mac mini had a lot of ports, but the M4 model makes them more convenient. There are two USB-C ports up front for easy access, along with a headphone jack and a power indicator. That’s another feature borrowed from the Mac Studio.

On the back, you’ll find HDMI 2.1, a 10Gb Ethernet jack, power jack, and three USB-C ports. Those USB-C ports aren’t just any USB-C ports, though — they’re Thunderbolt 5. It’s only available on the M4 Pro model, while the base M4 still uses Thunderbolt 4. This is true of the split between the M4 and M4 Pro on the MacBook Pro too. Thunderbolt 5 brings slightly better external display support, now allowing for up to three 6K 60Hz displays.

Interestingly, the previous M2 Pro Mac mini had four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-A ports. The USB-A ports are gone, but so is one of the Thunderbolt ports. In exchange for one Thunderbolt port, you get two basic USB-C ports upfront. I would probably still prefer to keep USB-A around for the occasional peripheral that I need to connect, but I’ll happily trade it for the convenience of the forward-facing ports.

Lastly, I get why the M4 model may not have needed an SD card slot, but it’s noticeably missing on the M4 Pro model. I love how convenient the SD card slot is on the Mac Studio, and it would have been a perfect addition to the M4 Pro, especially given how powerful it is.

You get Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E for wireless connectivity.

Audio

The Mac mini has always included a built-in speaker, but outside of the system sounds, they probably aren’t used too often. But you know what? I gave it a shot, curious to see if Apple had upgraded them, and it’s not half bad. It’s nowhere near a MacBook Pro or Studio Display, but they’re no worse than what you get on Windows laptops or typical internal monitor speakers.

I’m not saying you’re going to want to listen to music if you have headphones or external speakers around, but there’s a surprising amount of depth to the sound. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s one of the small touches — something Apple could have easily left out or phoned in.

Performance

The M2 Pro Mac mini was a big deal. It was the first time the “Pro” chip was ever made available outside of the MacBook Pro, and the fact that it was squeezed into such a compact PC felt impossible. Skip ahead a year and a half, and Apple skipped the M3 generation on the Mac mini entirely, and now I can see why.

The M4 Pro that I reviewed has two extra CPU cores and four extra GPU cores, which costs an extra $200. I can’t tell you if it’s worth the extra money, but I can say that the unit I tested was thoroughly impressive. There are huge gains in single-core performance, solid improvements to multi-core performance, and even a jump in GPU performance.

I mean, just look at that improvement in single-core performance in Cinebench R24. That’s a 28% increase over the M2 Ultra and 16% over the M3 Max. Apple has been dominating in single-core performance ever since the M1, but it’s incredible to see how it continues to hold that lead over the competition. Because Cinebench tests sustained workloads, you’ll see that the Mac Studio still beats the Mac mini in multi-core performance. No surprise there.

But over on Geekbench 6, which tests faster, more bursty tasks, the M4 Pro in the Mac mini has a clear and decisive win over both the M2 Ultra Mac Studio and M3 Max MacBook Pro. Those are $4,000 computers being beat by a $1,400 one. The M4 Pro Mac mini shows record-breaking single-core performance in both Cinebench R24 and Geekbench 6. Just to be clear, this is even faster than flagship desktop chips like the Core i9-14900K.

I tested the M4 Pro in two devices this week, actually, both the Mac mini and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. The two chips performed similarly in both devices, though the Mac mini did get considerably louder. The chassis of the Mac mini also got quite warm to the touch during testing.

I should note that any Pro or Max chips come with different energy modes: Low Power, Automatic, and High Power, which can be set in System Settings. Historically, Apple has always tuned the Low Power mode down quite a bit, leaving a large disparity in performance to achieve a cooler, quieter, and longer-lasting experience — especially when on battery. This is different from how Windows power settings work, as they are more subtle.

But with the M4 Pro, there’s even a bigger gap than in the past. In my testing in Low Power mode, the Mac mini drops performance significantly. Again, in Cinebench, High Power mode delivered 55% faster multi-core performance. On the M3 Max MacBook Pro I’ve tested, that increase in performance is only 33% by comparison.

Of course, the Automatic mode is on by default, which is what most people will use, but it’s interesting to see Apple tweak how extremely these modes throttle performance.

Graphics

There’s been a lot of talk about the gaming potential of the M4 Pro Mac mini. We’ll get into whether that is a good way to think about this Mac mini, but the M4 Pro certainly gets a bump up in terms of graphics. It’s a big leap over the M2 Pro Mac mini, of course, and nestles in right under the performance of the M3 Max, according to my testing.

Like in the CPU tests, the M4 Pro handily beats the M2 Ultra in GPU performance. That is hugely impressive because the Mac Studio has a 60-core GPU. That goes to show just how big of a leap forward in GPU performance that there has been in the M3 and M4 generations. I will note, again, that my review unit had four extra GPU cores, so your mileage may vary on the 16-core model.

For starters, let’s look at the Cinebench R24 GPU test. The M4 Pro beats many of the creator-based RTX 4070 laptops out there, such as the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra and Acer Swift X 14, and falls just behind the Dell XPS 16.

One of the few Mac games that have a built-in benchmark, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, shows the M4 Pro falling just behind the M3 Max, but still able to average 81 frames per second (fps) in 1200p at the Highest graphics preset.

I also installed Baldur’s Gate 3, one of the biggest flagship titles to have come to the Mac recently. As it was on the M3 Max, the M4 Pro handles it beautifully. To try out the ray tracing capabilities, which have been billed as twice as fast in the M4, I installed Myst. And while you can certainly turn ray tracing on and get decent frame rates using MetalFX upscaling, I didn’t find the it worth the sacrifice in performance.

So no, it’s a bit of a stretch to outright call this a proper gaming PC. There’s no one-to-one comparison available, but the M4 Pro’s GPU comes in just under the performance of the desktop RTX 4060. Now, you can buy a gaming PC with an RTX 4060 for far less than $1,399, of course, but it’ll be about three or four times as large.

One of the only solid alternatives is the Asus ROG NUC, which just happens to also start at $1,399 with an RTX 4060, though with not as much RAM. It’s also a bit larger than the Mac mini.

But really, perhaps comparing it to the PC experience is a bit unfair. It’s pretty close to on par with the current generation of consoles, despite the diminutive size by comparison. This doesn’t feel like the climax of Apple’s grand gaming strategy — far from it. But it’s another step forward.

Is it worth it?

The benefit of going with a Mac mini instead of an iMac or MacBook Pro is twofold. First, it’s the price. You’re getting all the performance as you would on those devices (or even more in some cases) without the extra expense. Look at the $599 base model, for example. That pricing means that it’ll continue to be the most entry-level Mac, even under the MacBook Air. The second advantage is versatility. If you have already have a monitor you like and want to save the extra cash, or perhaps have a certain other display in mind that you like, such as a ultrawide monitor, the Mac mini is a great choice.

You can certainly just buy a MacBook and dock it while at home (or in the office), but if you aren’t traveling for work and have something like an iPad instead, the Mac mini is cleaner, more cost-effective solution.

With that out of the way, I can say without a doubt that the M4 Pro Mac mini is a fantastic little computer. If you can get over the power button’s placement, you’ll find lots to love about the redesigned chassis and huge performance under the hood. It’s not a “proper gaming PC” as some have suggested, but it’s got a lot more GPU performance than you might assume.

And the base model is a must-buy. I don’t need to have tested the exact configuration to know that the M4 Mac mini is absolute steal at $599, and unlike anything else you can find at that price. Just beware that adding storage gets expensive, as is typical for Apple.