Impressed with Mac Mini from a PC user

[Kimbie]

Moved house, currently my desk is in the dining/living room so rather than using my loud PC which would annoy the other half, grabbed a base M4 Mac Mini on Black Friday and have to say pretty impressed with it.

Also getting use to MacOS found fixes for most things and some software niggles, but still got some outstanding, but performance wise more than happy, WoW seems to run fine at 4K I do not really raid so seems fine for me, Steam games and Crossover games work all ok as well.

My plan was when get the garage converted over to my home office was to get a Studio but not sure if I need to get one.

Kimbie

 

[Cape Dave]

Moved house, currently my desk is in the dining/living room so rather than using my loud PC which would annoy the other half, grabbed a base M4 Mac Mini on Black Friday and have to say pretty impressed with it.

Also getting use to MacOS found fixes for most things and some software niggles, but still got some outstanding, but performance wise more than happy, WoW seems to run fine at 4K I do not really raid so seems fine for me, Steam games and Crossover games work all ok as well.

My plan was when get the garage converted over to my home office was to get a Studio but not sure if I need to get one.

Kimbie

The mini gets even more amazing over time 🙂 Enjoy!

 

[Kimbie]

I am enjoying it, not really missed Windows other than Outlook, and some keyboard shortcuts. I have outlook on MacOS but its the "new" version so missing some features and while I can fudge what I want in the Mail app its not ideal so just using OWA at the moment.

 

[eSaF-Eddie]

Best Apple product to date.

 

[Cape Dave]

I am enjoying it, not really missed Windows other than Outlook, and some keyboard shortcuts. I have outlook on MacOS but its the "new" version so missing some features and while I can fudge what I want in the Mail app its not ideal so just using OWA at the moment.

I learned how to give up Outlook. Best thing I ever did. Apple Mail sucks, but not nearly as bad as Outlook 🙂

 

[avro707]

I also have an M4 Pro Mac Mini which does the job of running Zwift and EXR (rowing).

Can’t argue with the performance versus size. A windows machine would certainly have superior GPU performance but would also be a lot bigger. It’s good enough for this job. 🙂

This machine doesn’t do anything else other than those two apps. The only thing I notice is that it does get very, very hot to touch at times when working.

 

[Kimbie]

Using OWA version is not too bad, just neither the new Outlook or Mail handle email in a way I want lol

 

[turbineseaplane]

My Mac Mini M4 is in my top 5 favorite Apple products of all time.

The value is off the charts.

 

[Cape Dave]

My Mac Mini M4 is in my top 5 favorite Apple products of all time.

The value is off the charts.

It really is like lightning in a bottle. A near perfect computer. That uses like near zero electricity. A serious accomplishment.

 

[macaddiict]

I am enjoying it, not really missed Windows other than Outlook, and some keyboard shortcuts. I have outlook on MacOS but it’s the "new" version so missing some features and while I can fudge what I want in the Mail app it’s not ideal so just using OWA at the moment.

Outlook on Mac OS X has never met my expectations, so if you used a lot of the Windows Outlook features, the web app is the best alternative. I do find apple’s mail to be a better app than Outlook if you want an app.

 

[Mrbobb]

BEST BUY of 2025.

 

[mitya]

Moved house, currently my desk is in the dining/living room so rather than using my loud PC which would annoy the other half, grabbed a base M4 Mac Mini on Black Friday and have to say pretty impressed with it.

Also getting use to MacOS found fixes for most things and some software niggles, but still got some outstanding, but performance wise more than happy, WoW seems to run fine at 4K I do not really raid so seems fine for me, Steam games and Crossover games work all ok as well.

My plan was when get the garage converted over to my home office was to get a Studio but not sure if I need to get one.

Kimbie

That’s awesome.

I’m a PC to Mac Mini convert as well. Intel one at first and then moved up to Apple Silicon.

I love it so much, I don’t think I’d ever buy another Windows system again.

 

[Palindrom]

Wait for the honeymoon phase to end and judge then again. Been there done that, although I still use the mini for everyday tasks and browsing, having built a new pc with rtx 5070 and ryzen 7800x3d, 32gb ram I just forget about gaming on the Mac except for some Indy stuff. And windows being louder is not really an issue with fans and cooling selected accordingly. I don’t event have a silent housing and it’s not really an issue.

Wow retail on wqhd is already struggling the mini m4 when graphics preset are around 7-10. just in a crowded city of the current expansion.

Mac mini m4 256gb 16gb ram.

It is still a nice piece of tech but don’t exegerate too much

 

[ResPublica]

My first Mac was a Mac mini G4 bought in 2005. It was hard to believe for visitors that an entire computer could fit in that tiny cube. Mac mini affordability has varied throughout the years, but the current one really beats almost anything in the industry.

 

[Kimbie]

Wait for the honeymoon phase to end and judge then again. Been there done that, although I still use the mini for everyday tasks and browsing, having built a new pc with rtx 5070 and ryzen 7800x3d, 32gb ram I just forget about gaming on the Mac except for some Indy stuff. And windows being louder is not really an issue with fans and cooling selected accordingly. I don’t event have a silent housing and it’s not really an issue.

Wow retail on wqhd is already struggling the mini m4 when graphics preset are around 7-10. just in a crowded city of the current expansion.

Mac mini m4 256gb 16gb ram.

It is still a nice piece of tech but don’t exegerate too much

I do not think I have exaggerated anything just my personal opinion of using the M4 Mini. For me I have had no issues in WoW, I turn a lot of the effects off and turn down settings that make no difference to the visual quality of the game but do impact performance.

My windows machine is 6 years old and is noisy with all the fans in it, even with fan curves tweaked. So far in my use case I have not found anything my PC can do better.

 

[eSaF-Eddie]

The only thing I notice is that it does get very, very hot to touch at times when working.

Hiya, I am not familiar with the apps Swift or EXR but I am very surprised by what you described when running those applications that the mini gets very, very hot to the touch.

At such a time does the fan operate at all? By my way of thinking, if that is the case as described, the speed of the inbuilt fan should be ramped up full blast to the point of very loud.

My mini albeit the 512GB (upgraded to 2TB) was noticeably silent to the point I thought the fan was not working.
I installed a third party app 'Mac Fan Control' where one can have the fan continually running at a predetermined speed or to activate at a particular temperature.

I have my fan constantly running at 1500 rpm and set to ramp up automatically at higher temps, the temp is at a steady 38 degrees with ambient room temp.
Running at 1500 rpm the fan is virtually silent. If as you said your mini is that hot, you need to check the fan is operating as should, the description 'very, very hot to the touch' does not sound right to me.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Wait for the honeymoon phase to end and judge then again. Been there done that, although I still use the mini for everyday tasks and browsing, having built a new pc with rtx 5070 and ryzen 7800x3d, 32gb ram I just forget about gaming on the Mac except for some Indy stuff. And windows being louder is not really an issue with fans and cooling selected accordingly. I don’t event have a silent housing and it’s not really an issue.

Wow retail on wqhd is already struggling the mini m4 when graphics preset are around 7-10. just in a crowded city of the current expansion.

Mac mini m4 256gb 16gb ram.

It is still a nice piece of tech but don’t exegerate too much

I have a very similar build to yours, although slightly older. Since getting a M4 Mini I've mostly stopped using my Windows PC. I still fire it up for certain games, but the M4 Mini is amazing and a computer that I appreciate just as much now, if not more than, compared to when I bought it shortly after release.

 

[eSaF-Eddie]

I would say my experience entails coming from the Hackintosh world where I was multi-booting Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe and Windows11 Pro but after the difficulties of installing Tahoe on an Intel Windows PC, I decided to delve into the genuine Apple realm and chose the Mac mini M4.

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an under statement, unlike the Hack, everything just work, boot up time to Desktop is just 5 seconds compared to the 30 seconds I was used to. So much is packed into such a small box that runs more efficient than my Intel Hackintosh.

I am very happy I made the switch, I am not a gamer so I cannot comment on the performance as others has claimed that is where a Windows machine out performs Apple. If that is the only downside, then I am not missing much.
Cheers.

 

[X86refugee]

OG-x86/Doomer from the 90's DIY before it really took off.
Pencil trick, BP6 'Dual core' etc.

Also got the MM round Black Friday, and Apple Tax?
$550 for something arguably similar to a Zen with a half-decent GFX?
MacOS seems a little more PITA than OSX, but for actually doing work vs piddling around eeking out 1% here and there and MS/Linux hassles, lightyears ahead.
If I want to game, seems SP titles will do fine.

Not sure Apple isn't following MS in making hack decisions for me vs how they used to be though. All the x86 folks still fighting the Holy War against Linux and Apple really come across as man-child troons now.

 

[MacCheetah3]

The only thing I notice is that it does get very, very hot to touch at times when working.

At such a time does the fan operate at all? By my way of thinking, if that is the case as described, the speed of the inbuilt fan should be ramped up full blast to the point of very loud.

My mini albeit the 512GB (upgraded to 2TB) was noticeably silent to the point I thought the fan was not working.
I installed a third party app 'Mac Fan Control' where one can have the fan continually running at a predetermined speed or to activate at a particular temperature.

I have my fan constantly running at 1500 rpm and set to ramp up automatically at higher temps, the temp is at a steady 38 degrees with ambient room temp.
Running at 1500 rpm the fan is virtually silent. If as you said your mini is that hot, you need to check the fan is operating as should, the description 'very, very hot to the touch' does not sound right to me.

Apple prioritizes quiet operation over squeezing out the last few performance percentages. It’s fine.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-getting-too-hot.2453320/post-33811660

I’ve also been doing FAH without any indication of problems.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macrumors-folding-team-update.2422045/post-34204201

Hiya, I am not familiar with the apps Swift or EXR but I am very surprised by what you described when running those applications that the mini gets very, very hot to the touch.

They’re visual apps with constant workout/exercise activity tracking and display. So, probably moderately CPU and GPU taxing.

Why Choose Zwift - Zwift

Zwift offers structured training, group rides, and races for the indoor cycling and running enthusiast. Explore our many courses and routes.

www.zwift.com

The App That Makes Indoor Rowing Fun

The App That Makes Indoor Rowing Fun

exrgame.com

And — again, if you looked at the first linked post — the M4 Mac mini’s power supply radiates the primary heat to the upper, outer shell. Think how warm/hot a laptop or mini PC (external) power ‘brick’ gets.

 

[Mrbobb]

Zwift is like a game, heavy graphics rendering.

Words on the street is, PC got a leg up on heavy gaming, with their dedicated GPU and big cases to manage the heat.

 

[eSaF-Eddie]

@MacCheetah3 , thanks for explaining the two apps you mentioned in your post.
I never power down the mini because of the inconvenience of the Power Button location, instead I let the machine go into Sleep Mode at the end of usage.

Since using this machine I have never experience the kind of temperature you described. Coming from the hobby of purchasing components and then building ones own machine, I was always chasing ways to run as cool and quiet as possible so I am conscious of how the performance is with this mini based on my past experiences.

Your temps would give me cause for concern, but being new to actual Macs maybe I am over reacting as I dare say those high temps are not prolonged and is only on those two apps.
Cheers.

 

[TechRunner]

I bought a base M1 Mini to "tide me over" and used it for over three years. The M-series Mini is one of my favorite Apple products of all time.

Enjoy your conversion to Mac!

 

[avro707]

Zwift is like a game, heavy graphics rendering.

Correct, Zwift in the highest detail can tax it. But it does well. I tend to put the detail down to 1440p rather than 4K ultra. The Mac Mini runs a little cooler that way.

Words on the street is, PC got a leg up on heavy gaming, with their dedicated GPU and big cases to manage the heat.

Oooh, you'll be lynched for saying that. 😉 Jokes aside, even the 2019 Mac Pro I run with a single W6800X 32GB MPX module in Windows 11 still amazes me, the cooling systems on that machine are enormous overkill, I've never had the fans crank up, the temperatures are always moderate. And when I look at for instance Flight Simulator 2020 running on it, that is still incredible:

A380-842 flight deck, sunrise over Europe
A380-842 flight deck at dawn
A380-842, flight deck systems
A380-800 Etihad, flight deck with sunlight
A380-842 Emirates - 50th Anniversary UAE

I have a VR headset so it's like you are sitting inside that flight deck - with the sounds (the flaps, the Trent 972 engines), the detail and all the systems. Yes, the real thing has been around for a while now, but it still is very sophisticated and modern.

 

[FrozenShivers]

Wait for the honeymoon phase to end and judge then again. Been there done that, although I still use the mini for everyday tasks and browsing, having built a new pc with rtx 5070 and ryzen 7800x3d, 32gb ram I just forget about gaming on the Mac except for some Indy stuff. And windows being louder is not really an issue with fans and cooling selected accordingly. I don’t event have a silent housing and it’s not really an issue.

Wow retail on wqhd is already struggling the mini m4 when graphics preset are around 7-10. just in a crowded city of the current expansion.

Mac mini m4 256gb 16gb ram.

It is still a nice piece of tech but don’t exegerate too much

I am a build your own gaming PC guy (have been for 20+ years). For general use as well as editing etc, the M4 Mini is ridiculous value, let's not be silly. I think everyone knows if you want to do high end gaming you go over to PC.