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Mac Mini With M4 Pro Features Three Thunderbolt 5 Ports

AppleTO said:
I hate to break this to you, but outside of enthusiast forums most Mac users have very little technical knowledge. That’s why most consumers buy them in the first place, other than looking ‘pretty’ or wanting to socially ‘show off’.
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Anyone purchasing Mac Minis and Mac Studios generally know their stuff. This take is just so … wrong.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
It's for headphones, which makes sense to me.

For audio out in the back: USB-C, hdmi/audio-out splitter, hdmi monitor with audio-out jack (like my Dell).
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But at the same time, with phones not having a jack anymore, it's more like that a user has usb-c headphones and home speakers with a jack. It would have made sense in 2019, but it doesn't in 2024.
 
Cervisia said:
But at the same time, with phones not having a jack anymore, it's more like that a user has usb-c headphones and home speakers with a jack. It would have made sense in 2019, but it doesn't in 2024.
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I think they should have put a jack on the front and the back

This arrangement was nicely fleshed out ages ago

Speakers connected all the time on the back and up front you can still plug in headphones (or a Microphone) and that will automatically switch to being the output (or input) when something is connected
 
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I'm guessing the TB5 ports are also USB4v2.0. I wonder if the front ports are also USB4v2.0 or just plain old USB4 (gotta love the non-nonsensical naming scheme!)

Edit - It's worse than I thought -the rear ports are only USB4 (40 Gbps) and the front ports are only USB3 (10 Gbps). Surprised that the TB5 ports don't also support USB4v2.0 speeds.
 
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I think we do need to see how well the cooling handles the M4 Pro in this little thing, including any throttling or noise concerns

All new case can mean "all new problems"
 
10anta said:
Can it be powered over Thunderbolt/USB-C?
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I wish it could, but probably not. The previous Mac Mini's had surprisingly high wattage power supplies (150 W I believe). It's likely that we're getting close with 140 W power delivery, but very few monitors will support that (the highest I've seen is 96 W and most are 60-65 W).

Edit - the specs page suggests this Mini actually has increased max power draw of 155 W!
 
turbineseaplane said:
I think they should have put a jack on the front and the back

This arrangement was nicely fleshed out ages ago

Speakers connected all the time on the back and up front you can still plug in headphones (or a Microphone) and that will automatically switch to being the output (or input) when something is connected
Click to expand...

A solution: usb-c to 3.5mm audio jack. Works great on Mac Studios and Mini. I use boom mic headsets with it all the time, as well as high-end headphones. (Not interested in an amp/dac sitting on the desk.)
 
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Velin said:
A solution: usb-c to 3.5mm audio jack. Works great on Mac Studios and Mini. I use boom mic headsets with it all the time, as well as high-end headphones. (Not interested in an amp/dac sitting on the desk.)
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Problem with that is that it steals from the very limited amount of ports
But otherwise, yes, I take your point
 
I don't like the 3.5mm jack in the front. If I want to have speakers plugged in, I now have a cable coming out the front. This is worse than the mouse charging port on the bottom, since I'll have speakers plugged in all the time, as opposed to once a month, like on the mouse.
 
iamgalt said:
I don't like the 3.5mm jack in the front. If I want to have speakers plugged in, I now have a cable coming out the front. This is worse than the mouse charging port on the bottom, since I'll have speakers plugged in all the time, as opposed to once a month, like on the mouse.
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This is on the front because the majority of people using it will be using it for headphones, rather than speakers.
 
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iamgalt said:
I don't like the 3.5mm jack in the front. If I want to have speakers plugged in, I now have a cable coming out the front. This is worse than the mouse charging port on the bottom, since I'll have speakers plugged in all the time, as opposed to once a month, like on the mouse.
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I just got a notice that my USBC to 3.5mm adapter is ready for pickup. Using it for the iphone but would work here too?
 
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turbineseaplane said:
Problem with that is that it steals from the very limited amount of ports
But otherwise, yes, I take your point
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there's an adapter for that too. That's why the front shouldn't have any ports. Want more? Plug in some adapters. Looking good and adapters are the Apple way.
 
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Cervisia said:
A fanless Intel N100 mini pc for the price of 8GB Mac ram would be even more sensible for Plex.
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Absolutely!

But, I also get the appeal of staying macOS only if one is more comfortable with that

(I personally run it all off my now 9 year old TrueNAS build -- people WAY overdo it on hardware needs for Plex)
 
How would one connect 3 studio displays and a thunderbolt 5 dock to the mac mini m4 pro with the intention of attaching a thunderbolt nvme enclosure to the dock?

Possible to attach a studio display somehow with the HDMI port on the mini, via a HDMI to thunderbolt 3/4/5 adapter? Is that even a thing? The current Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter can only support 3840x2160 at 60Hz.

I would prefer not to attach the studio display via the thunderbolt 5 dock if possible so I can dedicate all the bandwidth to the nvme enclosure.
 
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