Mac mini M4 – 4 reasons to buy and 3 reasons to skip

by Junna Base November 12, 2024

The Mac mini M4 is finally here and this little computer not only has a completely new design, but is also smaller and more compact than its predecessor. Thanks to Apple, it’s now even faster M4 chip The base model comes standard with 16GB of storage. These and other upgrades make the Mac mini M4 one of the best mini PCs You can buy it today, especially if you prefer using macOS to Windows.

Still, not everyone will be happy with all the changes Apple has made to the new Mac mini. Whether you’re thinking about upgrading Mac mini M2 or you think about it Purchasing your very first Mac or mini PC, here’s everything you need to know about the Mac mini M4, along with four reasons why you might want to get one and three reasons why it might make more sense to go for Apple’s latest Mac Avoid it and buy something else instead.

Mac mini M4: reasons to buy

The smallest Mac yet

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

At just 5 x 5 x 2 inches, the Mac mini M4 is the smallest Mac yet, but don’t let its small size fool you. This is a very powerful and capable computer.

Unlike the previous model, which was both wider and shorter at 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches, this new Mac mini is narrower and slightly taller. This and another major design change make the Mac mini M4 look almost like a miniature version of the Mac mini M4 Mac Studio.

In practice, however, the Mac mini M4’s smaller size means it now takes up less space on your desk. Likewise if you are the type of person who enjoys doing this Take a mini PC with you when traveling or even when commuting back and forth between the office and home, this new Mac mini is much easier to slip into a backpack. It still has an internal power adapter, so you can easily carry the power cable with you without having to worry about lugging around a bulky power adapter.

Excellent performance all around

A desk setup built around the Mac mini M4 with a studio display, mechanical keyboard, trackball mouse and other accessories

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Because Apple completely skipped it M3 chip and went straight from M2 to M4 with the Mac mini, owners of the previous model will immediately notice a significant increase in performance if they decide to upgrade. For example, I used the Mac mini M2 as my daily drive for a week before launch, and after setting up this new model, I was blown away by how much faster it was.

From opening apps to surfing the web to simply navigating macOS SequoiaEverything felt much snappier on the latest Mac mini. In addition to the new M4 chip, Apple has also given the base model of the Mac mini M4 another upgrade and increased the memory from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM. With the base model of the Mac mini M2, opening Activity Monitor always made me nervous as I was always one or two browser tabs away from using all the available memory. This is no longer the case with the Mac mini M4, as the additional RAM gives you a little more flexibility.

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CPU performance tests
Header cell – column 0	M2	M4
Geekbench 6.3 single core	2600	3838
Geekbench 6.3 Multicore	10066	14838

As you can see in the table above, the new Mac mini with Apple’s M4 chip performed significantly better in both single-core and multi-core performance tests using the Geekbench 6 benchmark. However, if you want even more performance, additional RAM, and a larger SSD, you can always upgrade to the base model of the Mac mini M4 Pro instead.

It finally has front ports

The front ports of the Mac mini M4

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

In addition to the smaller size, Apple made another big change to the Mac mini M4 as part of the redesign: It now has ports on the front. Previously, only the Mac Studio had ports on the front and the Mac mini only had ports on the back. This meant you had to reach around the back to connect one of them best iPhones or even a pair of wired headphones.

On the front of the Mac mini M4 there are two USB-C ports, a headphone jack and a small white power LED next to it. While you can’t use these front ports to connect an external display, they’re perfect for when you need to charge your keyboard, mouse, or other peripherals. An audio jack on the front makes sense for headphones, but not for them best computer speakers. Fortunately, many monitors have built-in speakers, as do Apple’s much more expensive ones Studio display.

Perfect for multitasking

A three-monitor setup with Mac mini M4

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

On the back of the Mac mini M4 are a Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI port, and not two, but three Thunderbolt 4 ports. The number of ports and their arrangement are identical on the Mac mini M4 Pro, but instead of Thunderbolt 4 it is faster Thunderbolt 5 Ports. No matter which version of this new Mac mini you get, you can connect up to three displays at the same time.

I first set up my review unit with Apple’s Studio Display before adding one Portable touchscreen monitor underneath. From there I added a Portable monitor with two screens alongside that and after downloading and installing a DisplayLink driver, I essentially had four displays to work with. It’s also worth noting that both of these portable monitors were not plugged into a power outlet and were instead powered entirely by the Mac mini M4.

Depending on the resolution and frame rate of your monitors, you may only be able to run two at a time on the Mac mini M4. However, this only applies to high 6K or 8K monitors. If you use 4K displays or lower, you can easily run three of them at the same time.

Mac mini M4: Reasons to skip

Awkward placement of the power button

Lift the Mac mini M4 to press its power button

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Previous versions of the Mac mini had a power button on the right back of the device, but that’s no longer the case with this new model. Instead, Apple has placed the power button on the bottom of the Mac mini M4. While there is a small gap between the bottom of the case and the fan underneath, it’s not nearly large enough to slide a finger under. This means that you have to pick up the Mac mini M4 every time you want to turn it on.

This is quite strange on Apple’s part, but it was apparently done this way due to the smaller size of the Mac mini M4. If you turn off your computer at the end of the day, get used to putting it to sleep overnight instead. Personally, it took a while, but after about a week I got used to this change.

If the placement of the Mac mini M4 power button is crucial for you, don’t worry as workarounds are already being developed. For example, the 3D printing community created a prototype that allows you to turn on the device without lifting it, and I’m sure Mac accessory manufacturers are also already working on their own solutions to this problem.

Upgrades aren’t cheap

The Mac mini M4 lies unpacked on a desk

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

With the Mac mini M4 you get 16GB of RAM instead of 8GB on the base model. However, it still comes with a smaller 256GB SSD rather than a 512GB SSD like the Mac mini M4 Pro. You can use an external SSD to get around these storage limitations, and there’s always iCloud cloud storage too.

Apple hasn’t changed pricing for RAM and storage upgrades, and with the Mac mini M4, moving up to the next tier costs $200 for both. Meanwhile, upgrades to the Mac mini M4 Pro are even more expensive, as the increase in RAM and storage becomes more significant with each level. However, upgrading both models’ Gigabit Ethernet port to a 10 Gigabit port costs $100.

Since Apple increased the minimum amount of RAM in the base Mac mini M4, most people probably won’t feel the need to upgrade as much as they did with the previous model. Still, you’ll want to consider your workload and its needs before configuring your Mac mini M4 or Mac mini M4 Pro.

Far from a gaming PC

Play Bioshock Remastered on Mac mini M4 with a trackball mouse and keyboard

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Apple has really praised the gaming performance of its M4 chips, but I would recommend you temper your expectations when gaming on the Mac mini M4 or Mac mini M4 Pro. While you can play many different games on both devices, in our testing we found that older games performed best, but even some of them didn’t run at a consistent 60fps at 1080p.

For example, on the Mac mini M4 with an upgraded 512GB SSD, Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at 40 fps and Civilization VI managed to hit 52 fps. However, things looked different on the Mac mini M4 Pro: both games ran at more than 80 fps. In recent years Mac gaming has made significant progress, but if gaming is your primary focus, you’ll be better served with one of these best gaming PCs instead.

This is also worth mentioning Xbox Game Pass and other cloud gaming services work on Mac and with Wi-Fi 6E With support on both the standard and Pro Mac mini M4, you should have a lag-free experience provided you use either one best wireless routers or one of the best mesh WiFi systems.

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Gaming benchmarks (in FPS, @ 1080p)
Header cell – column 0	Mac mini M4	Mac mini M4 Pro
Borderlands 3	10/25	44.62
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40	83
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm	52.48	89,310
Total War: Warhammer III	24.6	46.1

Mac mini M4: Outlook

The Mac mini M4 is a huge improvement over its predecessor thanks to Apple’s M4 chips and the fact that the base model now has twice as much storage. Plus, it’s one of the nicest Macs around and takes up even less space on your desk. The new ports on the front are a nice touch too, making the Mac mini M4 more comfortable to use, even if you have to lift it off your desk to turn it on.

If you’re coming from a Mac mini M2 or even an older Mac mini M1, switching to this new model will be a big performance boost. Alternatively, if you’re thinking about buying the previous version at a discount now that the Mac mini M4 is here, I’d say it’s worth spending a little more on this newer model.

Now that the Mac mini has received a major upgrade and a complete redesign, it will be interesting to see what Apple does with the Mac Studio. If you use your desktop Mac for photo editing, video editing, or other more demanding tasks, it’s probably worth waiting for the next Mac Studio instead of getting a Mac mini M4.

However, for most people, the Mac mini M4 is one of the best mini PCs you can get right now if you want to continue using macOS instead of switching to Windows.