Apple just dropped fully redesigned Mac minis with the new M4 and M4 Pro chips in a more compact casing.

The compact, all-in-one desktop now packs the power of M4 and M4 Pro chips, hitting a key environmental milestone as Apple’s first carbon-neutral Mac.

Apple’s claiming up to 1.8x faster CPU performance and 2.2x faster GPU speeds over the M1 model, and the M4 Pro’s GPU doubles up on power compared to the base M4.

Plus, this lineup marks the Mac mini's debut of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and a beefed-up Neural Engine.

This is the first time in over 10 years that Apple has shaken things up in the Mac mini world with a chassis that’s only five by five inches. 

Inside, there’s a revamped thermal setup, channeling airflow through the base to keep things cool as it powers up.

On the ports front, the M4 Pro variant throws in two USB-C ports up front and three Thunderbolt 5 ports in the back, making this the first Mac to feature Thunderbolt 5 for blazing 120 Gb/s transfer speeds. The standard M4 model sticks with Thunderbolt 4.

As Apple’s first carbon-neutral Mac, the new M4 Mac mini starts at $599, with pre-orders open now and an official launch on November 8.

“The new Mac mini delivers gigantic performance in an unbelievably small design thanks to the power efficiency of Apple silicon and an innovative new thermal architecture,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering.

“Combined with the performance of M4 and the new M4 Pro chip, enhanced connectivity on both the front and back, and the arrival of Apple Intelligence, Mac mini is more capable and versatile than ever, and there is nothing else like it.”

When compared to the Mac mini with Intel Core i7, Mac mini with M4:

• Applies up to 2.8x more audio effect plugins in a Logic Pro project.
  
  

• Delivers up to 13.3x faster gaming performance in World of Warcraft: The War Within.
  
  

• Enhances photos with up to 33x faster image upscaling performance in Photomator.

   

When compared to the Mac mini with M1, Mac mini with M4:

• Performs spreadsheet calculations up to 1.7x faster in Microsoft Excel.
  
  

• Transcribes with on-device AI speech-to-text up to 2x faster in MacWhisper.
  
  

• Merges panoramic images up to 4.9x faster in Adobe Lightroom Classic.