It seems that the cat has been let out of the bag by none other than Amazon, which appears to have released details of the new Mac Mini before Apple had a chance to do so officially. Even though the listing disappeared within moments, the folks over at MacRumors were quick to take screenshots.
What’s New in the Tiny Mac Mini?
Even from the one picture that appeared online, it is apparent that the new Mac Mini continues to boast a silver aluminum exterior. Looking at the front, you get a couple of convenient USB-C connectors and what may well be a headphone jack if you are still wedded to your old-school headphones. Those USB-C ports are said to be Thunderbolt 4 compatible, so all your fancy peripherals should have blazing fast data transmission speeds.
This compact machine will integrate either a basic or professional variant of Apple’s freshly announced M4 chip. M4 chips come with advanced features which include up to 14 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores, a highly improved feature than before. Whether you’re a gamer or someone who streams content or anyone who just has the need to multitask, this Mac Mini seems more than capable of providing for those needs.
Size and Power
Here’s the rub—this new Mac Mini is reportedly going to be about the size of an Apple TV streamer! If true, then, it will arguably represent one of the smallest and most potent Macs in Apple’s catalog. Think of packing all that power into something that could conveniently rest on a desk’s edge without encroaching on the table. As MacRumors pointed out, it is small compared to the Mac Studio, and if scale is a concern, it’s a great option if you need the power without the heft.
Apple fans have expectations of what the M4 is capable of. This is a big jump from the M2 chip installed on the 2023 Mac Mini that was launched earlier. According to the reports it will provide a shot from 15.8 TOPS (trillions of operations per second) to as high as 38TOPS.
Memory and Storage: Plenty to Go Around
Apple is not cutting corners on memory or storage either with its smartphone. The new Mac Mini will offer up to 64 GB of RAM, as well as up to 8 TB of storage. That ought to be more than enough to keep tens of thousands of high definition images, multiple hours of videos, projects or the good old meme folders, if you like. But with all of this RAM, even the most reckless multitasker won’t have any issues with jumping from tab to tab and app to app.
Source The backside ports have still been a puzzle and have not created any problem.
As amusing as it was to look at the front ports, the backside of the Mac Mini is still a mystery for now. More Thunderbolt ports? HDMI? I suppose we’ll just have to wait for the full press release in order to find out exactly what other features are hidden within this compact device.
Announcement Coming Soon
There were strong rumors that Apple might make the first formal announcement for this new Mac Mini today. Well, if you are curious about the price and some other info, just wait for the next articles. This seems like it is going to redefine what it means to be portable, powerful and have that Apple sheen to it.
Final Thoughts
The new Mac Mini powered by the M4 Pro chip to me seems like the ultimate workhouse of a machine for performance enthusiasts who are fans of convenient small form factor devices. Depending on the type and intensity of your work, this Mini could perfectly do the job whether it is for heavy video editing or just a computer to have on the desk without being an eyesore.
