Continuing with day two of its "week of announcements" instead of a formal event, Apple revealed a revamp of the Mac Mini and Mac Mini Pro with the new M4 and M4 Pro chips respectively, while also touting it as the first carbon-neutral Mac.
The redesigned Mac Mini lives up to its name by being significantly smaller, measuring just 5 x 5 inches -- easily fitting into the palm of your hand or on a desktop (for reference, the previous Mac Mini measured 7.75 x 7.75 inches).
Inside, the device is supercharged with Apple's latest M4 and M4 Pro processors, which Apple says can deliver 1.8x faster CPU performance and 2.2x faster GPU performance than the previous model, which has the M2 chip. It also features 16GB of unified memory and starts at $599, which was the same price as the previous model when it was released.
The new Mac Mini also comes with front and back ports, including a new Thunderbolt 5 port, which aims to provide blazing-fast transfer speeds in conjunction with the M4 chip. On the back of the M4 Mac Mini, there are three additional Thunderbolt 4 ports, whereas the back of the Mac Mini M4 Pro has three Thunderbolt 5 ports. Both also come with a Gigabit Ethernet port and HDMI port.
Obviously, you're going to need to hook up a display to this little powerhouse, and Apple made sure it was more than capable of increasing support for external monitors. The Mac Mini with the M4 can support up to two 6K displays and up to one 5K display, whereas the Mac Mini with the M4 Pro can support up to three 6K displays running at 60Hz, supporting a total of 60 million pixels.
Regarding the device's designation as the first carbon-neutral Mac, Apple says that it was able to reduce carbon emissions used in the sourcing of its materials by 80% and constructed the device with over 50% recycled content overall.
Announced yesterday and starting at $1,299, the new iMac comes with 16GB of unified memory and is available for pre-order now, with general availability starting November 8th. Apple says the new M4 iMacs are 1.7 times faster than the current version while pushing 2.1 times faster for demanding workflows like gaming and video editing. Here are the main features:
Apple is overhauling its lineup of Macs with several new models armed with the M4. A few of them will be available as soon as this year, but updates to the MacBook Air lineup and iMac Pro Studio models won't likely be coming until early next year.
Despite the M4's first appearance in the new iPad Pros in May of this year, Apple has been rather quiet regarding the M4 chip, instead centering the conversation around Apple Intelligence -- the company's AI model -- at WWDC and later with its integration in the iPhone 16.
Now is the logical time to make the announcement. Around this time last year, Apple announced the M3 processors on MacBook Pros and the 24-inch iMac. However, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported earlier this month, Apple is shifting away from the annual product upgrade cycle, opening the door for smaller, more frequent software rollouts and product launches.
Apple's M4 iPad Pro is the only device in the lineup with the latest processor...for now.
Rumors are inconclusive about an M4 chip in a new Mac Studio and Mac Pro, but it seems likely those won't be announced until more accessible core consumer products get the new chip.
Additionally, Gurman reports that the M4 chip isn't likely to be available in the MacBook Air line of laptops until the first part of next year. The iPad Air 11 and 13-inch models will likely also see the new chip early in 2025, along with peripherals such as a new Magic Keyboard.
Apple's "week of announcements" is being anchored by product news for its MacBook and Mac desktop lineups, but that won't be the only thing unveiled. The latest iOS version, 18.1, was also just released, including call recording and transcription features powered by Apple Intelligence.
New Apple devices with the next-gen M4 chip would propel Apple forward in the AI race currently playing out on PCs with the explosion of Windows' Copilot+ products and Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD processors. Here's to hoping the Cupertino giant brings the firepower going into what will be a bustling holiday shopping season.