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M4 Mac Mini: News and Expected Price, Release Date, Specs; and More Rumors

Expect more performance from the M4 chip, at the same price

By
Sam Costello
Sam Costello
Sam Costello
Writer
  • Ithaca College
Sam Costello has been writing about tech since 2000. His writing has appeared in publications such as CNN.com, PC World, InfoWord, and many others.
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Published on July 15, 2024

Apple's next-generation Mac Mini is expected to be built around the Apple M4 chip, come in two versions, and cost the same as current models. This article collects all of the news and rumors about the Mac Mini M4, including its features, price, release date, and more.

What Is the M4 Mac Mini Release Date?

We don't know the M4 Mac Mini release date just yet, and Apple doesn't release new Mac Minis on a consistent schedule the way it does iPhones.

That said, Marc Gurman of Bloomberg—the most plugged-in of Apple reporters—says that the M4 Mac Mini will debut in late 2024 or early 2025. Apple often introduces new Macs in the fall (usually in October or November, after the latest iPhone has gone on sale), so this is a safe bet.

Lifewire's Release Date Estimate

We expect the M4 Mac Mini to become available in late 2024 or, at the latest, early 2025.

Pre-Order Information

The Mac Mini M4 will go on sale soon after its official announcement. We'll update this article with its on-sale date when that's available.

Mac Mini M4 Price Rumors

The Mac Mini M4 will likely cost about the same as current models. Apple often keeps the prices of new models of existing products the same year after year, so this makes sense.

If that holds true, expect the Mac Mini M4 to start at $599. The current entry-level model delivers an M2 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB hard drive for that price. At the high end, the current model costs $1,299 for an M2 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB hard drive. There's also likely to be a model at an in-between price point.

Mac Mini M4 Features

There aren't a lot of rumors about the Mac Mini M4's features, so we'll update this article as information becomes available. Many features of the Mac Mini are unlikely to change from the current model, however.

Some things to expect from the next-generation Mini are:

M4 Processor

As its name suggests, this Mac Mini will be built around Apple's next-generation M4 processor. That means that the Mac Mini will jump from using the M2 to the M4, without ever offering a model built using Apple's M3 chip.

Rumor has it that there will be two versions of the Mac Mini, one using the base M4 chip and one using the M4 Pro. This lineup is consistent with the current M2 models.

The M4 chip, which debuted in the 2024 iPad Pro, offers a 9-core CPU (Central Processing Unit; the main processor for the computer), 10-core GPU (Graphics Processing Unit; which is dedicated to graphics and AI), 16-core Neural Engine (a subsystem for AI and Machine Learning), and a Media Engine for A/V processing.

The M4 Pro model may offer more processor cores and higher performance than the base model.

Same Size and Weight

The rumor mill says the Mac Mini M4 will use the same enclosure, and thus have the same size and weight, as the current M2 models. If that's the case, that means the Mac Mini will continue to be a tiny powerhouse, weighing 2.6-2.8 pounds and being 7.75 inches wide, 7.75 inches deep, and 1.41 inches tall.

The Latest News About the Mac Mini M4

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