A small form factor computer isn’t new. Intel did PCs in a stick that just plugged into a TV at one point that was cool.
But for most people a “desktop PC” is a big box – and I mean big box on the desk, next to a monitor with a keyboard and mouse attached.
Apple’s Mac mini has been perhaps the sleeper product of the Apple range for more than a decade and this week it gets a makeover, a complete redesign.
I think this new design makes the Mac mini the most appealing desktop computer option on the market – perhaps outside the “all-in-one” form factors from Apple, HP and others.
If you own a monitor already, and have a keyboard and mouse, why buy all those again when you can just replace the guts of the computer and get a whole new experience?
The 2024 Mac mini features Apple’s latest M4 silicon, which, to the average user, is far more than you’ll ever need. Just like most of us are driving cars with power and performance that we rarely if ever use, the Mac mini with M4 is ready to do almost anything you could think of, but most users will make it their home PC for Facebook, work from home, email and maybe some streaming.
Of course, you can put your foot down. In my testing I did some audio and video editing and while slower than my high performance Mac Studio and large format gaming PC for the same tasks, it did the job utterly perfectly. For clarity the Mac mini starts at $999, the Mac Studio starts at $3299 and my gaming PC is purpose built and cost me something like $6000. So I’m not suggesting it’s a comparison – just saying the Mac mini most certainly can do the tasks you ask of it. No drama.
Switching to Mac mini in 2024 will require you to abandon all your USB-A accessories, be that a keyboard, mouse, external hard drive, webcam or otherwise. This is packed with USB-C connections, so you’re going to have to upgrade or get adaptors.
It’s honestly remarkable to fathom that this tiny little unit is doing the things a device probably 20 times its size used to do for most people. Just coming from one generation old Mac mini to this the device is less than half the size.
If you’re old enough to have CDs lying around, stack five CDs in their cases on top of one another and that’s bigger than the Mac mini.
So much potential, in such a small device. It really is like a genie in a bottle.
I love the Mac mini, and think that this new generation should give it a boost in sales – anyone with a monitor on their desk can get the very latest performance and capabilities – including Apple Intelligence when it launches here – from just $999.
The new Mac mini goes on sale today.
