Mac mini M4 is smaller and faster than ever

Apple just dropped its fastest chip to date – the M4 Pro – and it has put it in its smallest Mac to date. The new Mac mini is is actually even smaller than the previous generations, getting its first redesign in over 10 years, and now features both USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the front.

The latest version of the Mac mini is just 12.7cm x 12.7cm x 5cm (5x5x2 inches), which is around 7cm (2.75in) in length and width than the 2023 version. It is fractionally taller, but will still fit neatly under your monitor.

The new M4 chip offers a significant increase in speed over previous models with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU as standard. The Lower spec 8-core version offered in the new iMac M4 isn't available here.

For serious performance, the Mac mini also comes with the option of the M4 Pro chip, which comes in two forms. The standard model features a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU, while the top version features a 14-core CPU and a 20-core GPU. These can support up to 64GB of memory and allows the use of Thunderbolt 5, which doubles the speed of Thunderbolt 4 to deliver up to 120Gb/s.

It will be interesting to see how the small and powerful new Mac mini compares to the Mac Studio models, with the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips. I suspect we will see updates to the Studio machines and the Mac Pro when the M4 Max and Ultra chips are revealed.

The base Mac mini M4 machines feature either 16GB or 24GB RAM and256GB or 512GB storage. However, all are configurable for more RAM and storage, with 32GB / 2TB maximum on the M4 models and 64GB / 8TB maximum on the M4 Pro model.

This powerful new chip also means great display support, with up to three displays at any one time. The M4 Pro can also support three displays but with higher resolutions.

The Mac mini M4 starts from £599 / $599 while the M4 Pro model starts from £1399 /$1399.