Believe it or not, the M4 Mac mini was released just over a year ago. Apple changed the footprint, design, and form factor to create a compact 5in x 5in x 2in aluminum box with a fan at the bottom. It was a nice upgrade from its predecessor. But, in all honesty, I was not expecting much. I figured it would be a fine computer, especially because Apple debuted it at a $599 price point ($499 now on Amazon). So I thought to myself, there has to be some limitation that everyday users would notice, right? But after using this for an entire year as my main desktop, it has completely distorted how I think about computers and what real value in tech should look like.
Before we jump in, be sure to check out my review below to get my hands on thoughts on the M4 Mac mini after one year of use:
Design and specs
As I mentioned earlier, although the design did change, it was not a drastic alteration. It got more compact, a bit taller, and feels like a smaller but denser package. At this point, it almost feels portable. If you look at it from the top down, it has the same corner radius as an Apple application. The size is excellent and fits on any surface, it’s easy to tuck away, you can stand it up, lay it flat, there are even cool casings that make it look like a mini Mac Pro! While you can spec up this Mac mini with the M4 Pro and 64GB of unified memory, I went with the absolute base model to see how it would hold up over time. With that version you get:
Base M4 chip
16GB of unified memory
256GB of SSD storage
Wifi 6E & Bluetooth 5.3
In terms of ports, you get:
Three Thunderbolt 4 ports (rear)
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