I will wait for reviews from people who use their own money to buy the device instead of the ones having early access by their relationship with Apple.
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Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Reviews: Smaller Design and Pro Performance Make for Major Upgrade
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With Apple Silicon, the clear market for the Mac Pro are people who need internal, high-bandwidth 8-16 lane PCIe4 slots for specialist A/V, networking or large, fast internal SSDs - where external TB3-to-PCIe3 housings with only 4 lanes don't cut the mustard.
That's a small niche - but a pretty clear one. However, I'm sure it will be shrinking - TB5 will bring PCIe4 support to external enclosures and maybe narrow the gap a bit.
There were rumours that Apple are working on a new workstation/server-class processor - something the current Apple Silicon range isn't really ideal for - which could see the Mac Pro take off on a new angle - but it sounded like the focus would be on AI server/training workloads rather than the traditional content creation stuff.
Meanwhile, Apple could at least have made the storage in the Mac Studio expandable - it is already in plug-in modules and can be replaced like-for-like but Apple seem to be artificially blocking the possibility of upgrades (it sounds like you can upgrade if you can track down unapproved third-party module PCBs and surface mount your own flash chips... yeah...) - offering other upgrades seems to be a weaker argument as the all-in-one SoC arrangement does have it's advantages & there's not a lot to upgrade that isn't part of the SoC. Otherwise, I think the internals of the Studio are more "pro" than the Mini - the repair manual that you can now download shows that - while not for the faint-hearted - you can take it apart without fighting glue or needing exotic tools and lots of likely-to-break things like sockets are on replaceable daughter-boards. I hope that, when the Studio gets updated, it keeps that feature, along with the full complement of ports (the Mini Pro has lost a TB port, the regular Mini seems to leave a SoC TB controller unused) and no genius form-over-function moves like power buttons hidden underneath.
For anyone doing basic stuff at home on a desktop who does not necessary want DIY compatibility the mini is the way to go at that price. Throw in an external drive and you are good to go.
Well, the MacBook Pro did have USB-C/Thunderbolt power as well with earlier models. But I agree that there are lots of USB-C cables out there that have plugs that heat up easy at medium load or just simply lack E-mark circuits (causing damage).
Personally I would have liked Thunderbolt-PD. Using that I could power the mini with my monitor. And with the right firmware it might even be possible to turn both mini and monitor on/off with the switch on the monitor.
With a decent NAS and 10GB ethernet its also very good.
I’m in that camp. Despite the software limitations, my iPad Pro (11” M1) meets 95% of my mobile computing needs. I never use my MBP away from my desk. Additionally, I’ve also started PC gaming and currently have a gaming laptop and my MBP connected to the same monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I’m planning on upgrading to a Mac mini to save desk space.
I’m using the same 4K monitor for my mini, a gaming PC, and a Switch. Fortunately it has three inputs, so I don’t have to swap cables.
I remember I came back home quite loaded with alcohol when I saw on Macrumors this was announced.
Went to the Apple page and placed an order instantly on the base mini.
Next day when I woke up, I knew I will be regretting it.
Then I checked the value and decided this is the best alcohol impulse purchase of my life!
Now I am waiting and excited for the delivery tomorrow.
Went to the Apple page and placed an order instantly on the base mini.
Next day when I woke up, I knew I will be regretting it.
Then I checked the value and decided this is the best alcohol impulse purchase of my life!
Now I am waiting and excited for the delivery tomorrow.
The market has been entirely clear since Apple discontinued the 27” iMac with the end of Intel. It’s for anyone who wants a Mac desktop with a monitor larger than 24”… it addresses a much larger market than the Mac Studio due to price, and is probably the easiest desktop to understand who would be interested in it.
There are other use cases that it works best for as well, but tech crunch is a lost cause if they can’t understand this most obvious one. Apple even spelled it out for the media back when the M1 Mac Mini launched.
That, and it makes upgrades cheaper because we're not throwing away the monitor and keyboard every time we upgrade.
You're probably correct. The dongle thing is a nice idea, but a single solution for power and display would be preferred.
Well it's that time again when Mac Rumors posts links to biased Youtubers again 
I have a Mini coming to replace an M1 Mini that's functioning as a server. I didn't need to upgrade, but with a trade-in, the new Mini was only $289 after tax. I could have sold the M1 Mini and maybe made more, but it's not worth my time to maybe get another $50 - $80. $290 is not bad for an upgrade that will last many years to come.
Exactly - plug one of these into your HDMI TV or surplus PC display, add any old keyboard and mouse and you've got a Mac for $600 - and if you do shell out for a Studio Display + Tragic Keyboard and Mouse (each to their own, I suppose) to get closer to the old iMac experience then you'll likely be able to roll them over to your next Mac.
The bump to 16GB RAM has made the base Mini much more viable - sad they didn't get rid of the equally pathetic 256GB base storage. It's not that everybody needs these things on day 1 - but it's only Apple's ridiculous ~4x actual cost upgrade prices that make people want to cut those corners.
The $1600 (+ $200 for 1TB SSD), 14-core M4 Pro Mini is pretty competitive vs the $2400 MacBook Pro with the same processing clout... and, in the past, when I've used a MacBook Pro as my daily driver I've always had a decent large display and full-size keyboard & mouse on my main desk anyway so that's hardly an additional cost.
However, if you need portability then Apple Silicon has seen the end of the days when the desktops had significantly faster processors and GPUs - so it's going to reduce the number of people buying a laptop for mobility and a desktop for performance. That's probably part of why Apple have gone to offering Minis/Studios and a Studio Display that is also attractive as a docking station for laptops rather than larger iMacs.
Downsides are the loss of a 4th TB/USB port on the M4 Pro Mini and the loss of a potential 4th TB port on the M4 Mini (since the M4 can now support 4) and front ports that have come at the expense of rear ports (rather than extras, as on the Studio).
The silly power button is a silly idea from silly town - but probably not a dealbreaker, and the only reason we'll still be arguing about it in a year is that every time it gets mentioned, rather than just say "yeah, it's silly, but not the end of the world" 10 hardcore fanboys will post laughable "justifications" for it. Even if the only reason you ever need it is to pair the keyboard (see original article), even that makes having it underneath stupid.
I won't be buying one because I expect to get at least another year out of my M1 Max Studio - but, honestly, the M4 Pro Mini would be the sensible replacement and - even more honestly - the straight M4 would probably do the job (but the extra cost of adding a sensible 512GB or 1TB SSD stings and reduces the chance that I might grab one as a second system anyway).
I'll be debating whether or not to jump on a Pro Mini while I wait for an M4 Studio. Especially to see people discuss Linux / Windows virtualization on these, so I can finally kick my gigantic Windows box to the curb.
Don't you like your mom?
She doesn't want a new computer! I almost had her willing to upgrade when the multicolored m1 imacs came out.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Bootlicking with first "reviews" is very profitable... thus these will drown in praise & gush so as not to risk losing "first reviews" options in the future. What makes it profitable? Check their eyeballs numbers in 2 or 3 days. Millions of views pays them lots of advertising revenue. It's a lucrative, marketing symbiotic relationship.
Meanwhile, the real reviews will come in about a week or two after real people who BUY one get to actually possess it, use it for a few days, etc. Those will likely have far fewer eyeballs, and thus probably not be in it for the money. Those will give you pros & cons lists instead of just pros & more pros lists.
To not look like practical "payola" facilitators, a few of these pre-"reviews" will typically point out something that can seem like a little shortcoming... immediately followed by a "but..." and then some comments that immediately undermine the apparent shortcoming like:
"I really don't like the power button on the bottom. That seems like the worst place to put it... but... the reality is that most people rarely turn these off... just put them to sleep when done using them. In fact, since I booted this up the first day, I haven't needed to touch that button again... so I guess it's no big deal at all."
Real reviews will investigate big questions like did the "shrinkage" to micro case size introduce throttling faster than the old design? How fast does it kick in? Etc.
Buyers could wait for real reviews or simply buy and thoroughly test them first hand to decide if they are "keep" or "don't keep" within the return window. If you discover something that leans towards the latter but are unsure, real reviews will be appearing at about the same time to probably confirm whatever you think you've discovered or possibly offer some remedy.
Enjoy your new Mac Minis. I hope it is as great in EVERY way as these "friends of Apple" always imply.
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Anyone seen a review of SSD speeds between the 256GB and 512GB model yet?
Yes very out of touch. Desktop Macs revenue share compare to Mac notebooks has been shrinking fast for 20 years(Apple used to have breakdowns in their 10-ks showing the decline). Apple said 20% of Mac users were desktop back in 2017. When people wonder what Macbooks get updated every year thats the reason.....they make more far more money.
Probably the last time Mac desktops were more dominate was around the end of the dot.com bubble era from what I remember looking up the revenue.