Rumor has it that Apple will announce a range of Mac devices this week (the company has already indicated this) and while I don’t know what the company has in store, it’s likely we’ll see new MacBook Pros and an iMac 2024, all powered by the M4 chip that launched with the iPad Pro earlier this year.
While these are undoubtedly exciting products, there is one rumor that has me eager to see what Apple announces: an M4-powered Mac mini.
Yes, despite all the promises of new MacBooks and iMacs, I really believe an M4 Mac mini will be the most exciting launch (if it ever happens).
I ❤️ the Mac mini
Why? Well, after a rather scary bit of Monday morning calculation, I discovered that I’ve been reviewing and writing about laptops and PCs for almost twenty years. And over the (many) years of doing this, I’ve gotten a sense of when new releases are iterative updates, and when they’re really exciting.
If the rumors are true, the new MacBooks and iMacs fall into the first category: iterative updates. There probably won’t be any new designs (both have undergone major redesigns in recent years), with the biggest changes being the addition of the M4 chip.
I have nothing against the M4 chip. Ever since I tested the iPad Pro earlier this year, I’ve been desperate to see what it’s capable of on a Mac device that can run much more ambitious software. But Apple’s rapid release schedule for its M-Class chips (there have been four major releases since the M1 launched four years ago) means generational leaps rarely make a big difference.
If you have an M3-powered MacBook Pro or iMac, you won’t see a performance boost big enough to make an upgrade to an M4 version worthwhile. Oh well, I use a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro chip for music production and video editing, and if Apple announces an identical-looking M4 Pro model, I’m just not interested in upgrading since the M2 Pro remains so good (and only two years old), that it still does everything I need.
Why is the Mac mini different? After all, there is an excellent Mac mini M2 model out there (which got a rare five stars from me in my review), and it’s also likely (despite some rumors to the contrary) that it will come with the same design.
For starters, I really think the Mac mini M2 is one of the best devices Apple has ever made. This small, discrete PC can be placed virtually anywhere, and with the choice of M2 or M2 Pro chip you get an impressively powerful package in a virtually silent little PC.
While the MacBook Pro and iMac have Windows 11 competitors, there simply isn’t a small form factor Windows PC that even comes close to the Mac mini.
And, unlike those other two products, there hasn’t been an M3 version, meaning the jump between an M2 Mac mini and an M4 Mac mini will be much clearer.
The idea that you can hide a Mac mini behind a monitor or TV is incredibly exciting, especially considering the gaming improvements on the M4 chip. This upcoming Mac mini, if it exists, could be the closest thing we have to an Apple console.
Then there is the price. The current Mac mini starts at $599 / £649 / AU$999, making it by far the cheapest way to enter the Mac ecosystem. If a Mac mini is announced alongside MacBook Pros and a new iMac, it will offer the same level of performance as the other devices with an M4 chip, but at a fraction of the price.
It also means that the idea of upgrading isn’t so intimidating. If you spent more than $1,000 on a MacBook or iMac, you probably need something, unless you’re rich Real specifically to encourage you to consider an upgrade. If you spent $599, the threshold for an upgrade that makes financial sense is significantly lower.
That assumes Apple will keep the price the same, which may be too much of an assumption these days. But even the idea of a compact PC that costs around €600 and offers enough power to play modern games like Resident Evil 4 Remasteris incredibly exciting – and that’s why in a week that promises a lot of announcements from Apple, it’ll be the new Mac mini I’m excited to see announced. So the waiting game begins…