Dave Gershgorn/NYT WirecutterTop pickThe Mac mini offers excellent performance, and the system’s fan is whisper-quiet even when you’re editing photos or videos or compiling code.Processor:Apple M4Storage:256 GB proprietary SSDMemory:16 GBSize:5 by 5 by 2 inchesFront ports:two USB-C, headphone jackWireless:Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3Rear ports:three USB-C, one HDMI, one Ethernet, power jackExpansion:noneThe Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) is fast, tiny, and silent in its operation, all of which make it the best mini PC we’ve tested. Apple’s M4 processor is the same chip that powers the iPad Pro, the iMac, and all new MacBooks, and in our tests it proved to be fast enough for work or school projects. We opened dozens of tabs, typed documents, and streamed video on the new Mac mini, and it significantly slowed down only when we opened more than a dozen tabs at once or exported minutes-long high-resolution video.It has a fast processor that’s great for everyday tasks. The 2024 Mac mini’s M4 processor makes it about as fast as the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air, so it’s great for web browsing, document and spreadsheet work, and casual photo editing. It’s also usable in a pinch for professional tasks such as app development and video editing. If you plan to use it mainly as a day-to-day computer, the basic, $800 version with 16 GB of memory would work just fine. Apple has increased the cost of memory, so it now costs $200 to upgrade the M4 Mac mini to just 24 GB, rather than the 32 GB previously offered at that price. Unless you know you need extra memory for running local AI models or multitasking on professional apps, you can save the money and stick with 16 GB. Apple’s storage upgrades are similarly expensive, so we recommend buying an external hard drive or a portable SSD rather than paying Apple’s prices.It has more ports than a MacBook. The M4 Mac mini has five USB-C ports, three of which are located on its back; it has the other two USB-C ports, plus a headphone jack, on the front. Previous Mac mini models had only rear ports, and the M4 version’s layout makes it way easier for you to plug in flash drives or other accessories. The M4 Mac mini also has an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and an AC power jack. Dave Gershgorn/NYT WirecutterIt supports up to three displays. If you’re the multi-monitor menace at your office, note that the M4 Mac mini can now power up to three 5K displays, rather than the two monitors that previous versions supported.Apple’s storage upgrades are expensive, so we recommend buying an external hard drive or a portable SSD rather than paying Apple’s prices.It’s the smallest Mac mini yet. Apple redesigned the M4 Mac mini to be significantly smaller than previous generations, at just 5 inches wide, 5 inches deep, and 2 inches tall. It practically disappears on a desk and is short enough to fit under a monitor. Unfortunately, as part of this redesign, Apple moved the power button to the underside of the computer, which is pretty inconvenient. Dave Gershgorn/NYT WirecutterThe M4 Mac mini (top) has a much smaller footprint than earlier models, such as the M2 Mac mini. Dave Gershgorn/NYT Wirecutter Dave Gershgorn/NYT WirecutterIt runs silently. The M4 version of the Mac mini is barely audible even when you’re playing a game or encoding video files. Apple’s processors, originally designed to fit into small, fanless iPhones and iPads, are more efficient than Intel’s, so they generate less heat and use less power. In laptops like the MacBook Air, you get longer battery life as a result. In a desktop computer like the Mac mini, the system doesn’t need a loud fan, and your power bills will be a little lower.It comes with Apple’s standard one-year warranty. Extending that coverage to three years with AppleCare+ costs $99; doing so also adds accidental-damage protection and three years of “priority access to tech support.”Flaws but not dealbreakersIt just got more expensive. Apple has raised the price of the 256 GB M4 Mac mini by $200, due in part to the global chip shortage and the mini PC’s success. The company also increased the price of memory upgrades to the Mac mini; adding an extra 8 GB of RAM now costs $200, which previously sufficed for purchasing an additional 16 GB. We still think the base, $800 Mac mini is worth the cost, mainly because you don’t have great Windows options at that price.You cannot repair or upgrade the Mac mini at home. Apple’s choice to make its devices non-upgradable means that if you run out of storage on your Mac mini, you won’t be able to swap out its storage drive to gain more space. Your only options at that point are to buy an external hard drive (though some synced iCloud services like iMessage cannot be stored on external devices), to buy Apple’s cloud storage for a monthly cost, or to buy a new Mac mini. If you’re interested in a repairable mini PC, we recommend checking out the Beelink SER8, another mini PC worth considering.Apple offers paltry storage capacities for entry-level devices. Part of what makes Apple devices compelling is the suite of great applications that sync across them all, such as iMessage and Photos. Unfortunately, the size of Apple’s default storage drives hasn’t grown as quickly as the number of photos that people take and send to their friends. And larger drives are extremely costly, adding hundreds of dollars over the typical market price to the cost of the Mac mini. Long-term Apple users who have years’ worth of saved photos, videos, and messages and who don’t want to pay for iCloud must now pay a premium to store all that data on their own drives.
Source link