M4 Mac mini – This little machine Packs a Punch!

Hello readers, I apologize for the life events that have led to my partial absence. I do have quite a few new toys to write about today. We are going to focus on my new Desktop… well for the most part but we will get to that in a bit.

 

To launch this review I am going to ask you a question.

What if I told you for $500 USD (~$700CAD) I could sell you a desktop PC that is incredible for **nearly** every task you could throw at it while using next to no power and had incredibly modularity while running shockingly silently. If you are in the realm of Mac you would likely tell me, Well yeah I got that computer years ago its the M1 Mac mini and while indeed many of the principals are still indeed in use with this machine but come the year 2024 you now get damn near what that maxed out variant was EXCEPT it’s now the base model. With 5 Thunderbolt (optionally TB5!!) ports and Native multi monitor support (Without the need for display link) 

 

Even for users of the OG M1 Macs this is still a rather compelling upgrade. 

 

For nearly any task that is not traditional AAA gaming it is my favourite computer it is much like my M2 Air laptop I bought nearly 2 years ago now in the sense any task I could throw at it it handles with ease but with the now 16GB of ram standard it basically is able to shrug any task off like its nothing even in the sense of multitasking. This desktop has been a breath of fresh air that I had not experienced since 2020 when I bought the OG fleet of M1 series machines (Base model Mac mini & M1 Air). 

 

In honesty the things this Mac has been able to handle 

Work done in FCPX, DaVinci Resolve, Blender 3D//Cura (3D Modeling), Photoshop with multiple documents with a min of 30 Layers and effects per document while still being able to render large effects ie: lens blur with relative ease, Virtualization (XP was certain it was running off an i7 6700 given this is software based CPU emulation remarkable as well as parallels running standard Win 11 ARM for the odd application that doesn’t yet exist on MacOS (IE ImgBurn which is amusing as I am mostly sure I am the only one using Optical media on an M4 Mac mini) 

 

In conclusion: Yes this is one of the greatest and arguably one of the most important computers Apple has ever made. In addition to this being one of the best values Apple has made. In a way also demonstrates a new leaf Apple has turned in the sense that this is the most modular Mac Apple has made in years. Shockingly something as frustrating as disassembly to clear the fan has since become a far easier endeavor. One of the toughest questions I was asked was “Is it finally time for M1 Mini owners to move over?” And as a shock even to myself I instinctively say No… At least not yet, As wonderful as this is, the M1 mini still does everything that I would ask of this machine to do.  That being said if you are still on an Intel Mac even the 2018 mini and you are after a new computer. Or are looking to make the jump from windows and need something to introduce you to Mac. This is currently my favourite Mac.