The correct orientation of the Mac Mini

[PaulD-UK]

@metanoiaway “I wouldn't put it vertical, it can cause thermal paste to migrate to one corner thus making the cpu run hotter as it's no longer evenly distributed on the surface.”

Doesn’t happen with iMacs/Mac Pros, over the ~20 years that they have been vertical.

 

[Stiksi]

Naturally, users of the mini include those who enjoy tinkering and making the best of our "assigned" corners, are wondering if that hinge is functional, and also imagining what's on the other side. 😁

Yes, the hinge is functional, but it hides all the mess. There's the DAS, a USB hub and a bad heat channel for the egpu's side fan. Luckily it mostly uses the rear exhaust. When I play a particularly GPU intensive game, I tend to open the door a bit to let it breathe easier.

I've still not done proper cable management in there, I'll get to it eventually but some of the cables will still be replaced with more suitable length versions. The most eagle-eyed might pick up that I did some managing on the door between the shots. The one I left unzipped is my "rogue" usb-c cable, that I use for connecting temporary external drives etc.

The stickers in the bottom of the top shelf are from a previous cable routing, they're velcro and stapled to the shelf.

I apologize for the lack of context in the images. I wanted to share this project, but I also take online privacy a bit too seriously to show more of the home.

 

[Populus]

I was about to open a thread specifically about the M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini orientation for the best thermal efficiency, but I think I’ll follow on this thread. MR mods will probably be thankful for it.

i wouldn't put it vertical, it can cause thermal paste to migrate to one corner thus making the cpu run hotter as it's no longer evenly distributed on the surface.

will it happen on this m4 mac minis? i don't know, but it happens on PS5, so better be safe...

Okay, I hadn’t thought about this, honestly. Yeah, it could well be a factor to consider, but I think the M4 & M4 Pro on the Mac mini have regular solid thermal paste. I highly doubt it will move.

However, I was considering putting it horizontally under my table, and now I’m not so sure because… do you know where the power supply is? Exactly, it is mounted right on the inner side of the aluminium case, right under the top of the case. And it is mostly passively cooled through that aluminum case so… putting it right under the desk, where the table would difficult the refrigeration by heat radiation of the top of the case, could cause the power supply to die prematurely by overheating.

Actually, I’d be really careful with maximizing the heat dissipation of the top of the aluminium case, because if you think about it, most of the heat not only from the power supply but also from the SoC, ends up on the top of the case. And as I said, the power supply is embedded there, and from what I’ve seen on some teardowns, some of the components of that power supply (I’m not sure if the condensers or capacitors) are now lower quality than in previous generations. They aren’t bad, mind you, but they used to be from the best brand that is known, and on this generation it’s a more “regular” brand. And all the heat not dissipated through the heat pipe is going right there.

Furthermore, while testing my M4 Pro Mac mini with some stressing tasks, the top of the case became really, like really hot, which somehow worries me a bit. Maybe the regular M4, with a less power demanding SoC, doesn’t suffer so much heat accumulation there, I don’t know.

For all that said, I’m not convinced of placing my new M4 Pro Mac mini under the table, even tho I’ve found a nice 3D printed screwable one.

So now I’m wondering how and where to put the mini… because if I put it sideways, the radiated heat will go to the side located at the top, instead of going to the top of the case where the power supply is… 🤔

 

[Stiksi]

Furthermore, while testing my M4 Pro Mac mini with some stressing tasks, the top of the case became really, like really hot, which somehow worries me a bit. Maybe the regular M4, with a less power demanding SoC, doesn’t suffer so much heat accumulation there, I don’t know.

For all that said, I’m not convinced of placing my new M4 Pro Mac mini under the table, even tho I’ve found a nice 3D printed screwable one.

So now I’m wondering how and where to put the mini… because if I put it sideways, the radiated heat will go to the side located at the top, instead of going to the top of the case where the power supply is… 🤔

Kind of sounds like you should just turn it upside down. All the heat rises towards the exhaust. But as others pointed out, the minis are designed to be used vertically in server farms, so it shouldn’t be a problem. And you can always just try it out temporarily in the orientation you want under the desk and keep an eye on the PSU temp with something like iStat menus.

If you do try it out, let us know what happened to the temps, at least I would love to hear how it turned out!