Apple Mac Mini Will Get Even Mini
Morrissey Technology – Apple is said to be overhauling the design of the upcoming Mac Mini, and this will be the first major design change since 2010. In this overhaul, Apple will reduce the dimensions of the Mac Mini, to the point that it could possibly be called Apple’s smallest desktop computer. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, citing insider sources, the new Mac Mini will be similar in dimensions to the Apple TV, only slightly thicker.
Currently, Apple is testing a new Mac Mini design that has at least three USB-C ports and an HDMI, and the casing is still made of aluminum. Apart from design, the 2024 Mac Mini will also use the M4 chip, which is expected to be used gradually in the Mac product line, both desktops and laptops. The M4 was first released on the iPad Pro, and will later also be available on the Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac Studio.
The last Mac Mini released by Apple is the 2023 release, which has two variants. One is with the M2 chip and the other is with the M2 Pro. This step will also be continued on the 2024 Mac Mini, which will use the M4 and M4 Pro chips, but the Pro variant will only be available after October 2024. Previously it was reported that the iPad Pro received a significant performance increase after being updated from the M2 chip to the M4.
When tested, the M4 chip with the 10-core variant recorded an average single-core score of 3,695 and an average multi-core score of 14,550 from the results of 10 benchmarks. Judging from the single-core score, the M4 chip is much faster than the MacBook Pro with the M3 Max chip. The M4 chip’s multi-core score also nearly matches the M2 Max chip. For comparison, here are the single-core and multi-core scores of all Apple M-series chips released in the last two years:
- M4: 3.695/14.550
- M3: 3.087/11.702
- M3 Pro: 3.112/15.286
- M3 Max: 3.128/20.957
- M2: 2.540/9.360
- M2 Pro: 2.651/14.295
- M2 Max: 2.802/14.800
When compared to the iPad Pro which uses the M2 chip, the M4 version of the iPad Pro has 46% faster single-core performance and 55% faster multi-core performance.