at 700 euros, difficult to do better

So here it is finally, the new Mac mini M4 is here! It's still just as cute with its new design, still just as attractive with an entry price of 699 euros, even faster with its new M4 chip and its 16 GB of RAM for the basic configuration. On paper, it goes without saying that this is one of the most exciting Macs released in a long time, if only in terms of its value for money. But does it hold up with use? Answer in this complete test.

Design: almost flawless

Since 2010, the design of the Mac mini has not changed. We already thought it was tiny with its very flattened profile, the new M4 model pushes miniaturization a little further. To do this, it extends slightly upwards and adopts a profile which will remind you, depending on your references, of a miniaturized Mac Studio or an Apple TV 4K.

Without making an aesthetic judgment, we must recognize that in the minimalist style that it tries to achieve, the Mac mini hits something with a certain brilliance. This small, perfectly square aluminum box with rounded corners and very pronounced edges, placed on a very thin black base to let the heat pass through, all topped with an apple and only pierced with a few connector elements. It's very successful.

On the front, when you turn it on, you will see a small diode on the right, right next to a 3.5mm jack port. The left part accommodates two USB-C ports (USB 3 up to 10 Gbit/s). They are complemented by three other USB-C ports on the back (Thunderbolt 4 in M4 and Thunderbolt 5 in M4 Pro). Still on the back, we benefit from an Ethernet port (1 Gbit/s) and an HDMI port. If you wish, a 10 Gbit/s Ethernet port is available for 115 euros.

There is still an absence that is felt: we would not have been against a small port for MicroSD card or a USB-A port. The Mac comes with a power cord.

The discord button

Right after the Mac mini was announced, many people criticized the location of the power button. In fact, it is, so to speak, hidden under the shell of the Mac mini. We can confirm that it is impossible to access without lifting the device, which is always a bit strange. We find ourselves moving all the cables, undoing our perfectly aligned setup…

Let's not beat around the bush: this is undoubtedly a bad design choice on an ergonomic level, to better favor the design on an aesthetic level. This being said, we should not give too much importance to this bad choice. The Mac works very well in standby, in normal use, you will only have to press it twice, when turning it on for the first time and to activate Bluetooth.

Performance: small, but VERY muscular

The Mac mini integrates, depending on the configuration, the M4 or M4 Pro chip, 16 to 24 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 to 512 GB of storage.

Here is the model we tested: M4, 24 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.

Unsurprisingly, for all classic office uses, the Mac mini performs with flying colors. We experienced no slowdown of any kind or performance issues on a daily basis.

Let us add that during the entire duration of our test, we almost never heard the fan of the Mac mini M4 blowing, except during a benchmark.

Before diving into the benchmarks, let's take a moment to look at some technical findings from 01Lab. When idle, on the desk and with the screen on, the device consumes very little, between 1.8 and 2 W.

Once launched on various tasks, we measured a peak at 64 W and an average use around 55 W. The thermal amplitude turns out to be very satisfactory with a measurement of the temperature outside which goes from 22.2 ° C at 30.7°C.

On pure CPU power, based on Geekbench 6, we can see Apple Silicon's considerable lead. This is particularly expressed in the solo-core performance. With 10 CPU cores, and therefore 2 less than the Snapdragon X Elite, it still manages to surpass it in multi-core. Impressive.

When testing the Mac mini M2 in 2023, we somewhat regretted that the integrated storage lacked a little speed. For the model we tested, with 512 GB of storage, the problem seems largely resolved, particularly on writing where the Mac mini M4 outperforms its competitors by a large margin and almost doubles the performance of the M2.

The situation of the games

Despite Apple's many promises in this area during its conferences, the Mac mini M4 is still not a machine designed for video games. And this despite the power promised by the M4 chip.

Power that must be put into perspective. We launched a few native games to test it out. On Valheim2021 title, the Mac mini manages to be fluid at 60 FPS in balanced settings with QHD definition. In 4K, it drops to 40 FPS on average. Quality mode, which pushes all details to the maximum, cannot shoot above 24 FPS.

We also launched Resident Evil 4 in its App Store version. Here again, this partnership with Capcom was widely highlighted during the Cupertino giant's various conferences, but the result is not necessarily famous. If by playing with the settings, we manage to obtain a relatively smooth image in 1080p, the numerous graphic artifacts, particularly in the character's hair, are far from convincing.

Some people will tell us that you don't buy a Mac to play. But all the same, with its attractive price, it's a safe bet that the Mac mini will end up being the family machine par excellence in many homes.

Software: MacOS Sequoia

The Mac mini comes with macOS 15 (Sequoia). The Apple brand does not commit to a specific update duration for this device, but Macs generally benefit from 6 to 7 years of updates. The system takes up 19.02 GB of storage.

There is no particular specificity compared to any Mac. We find the profusion of shortcuts and very powerful functionalities such as the creation of dedicated large screen spaces for one or two applications, very simplified application installation (even if you will always have to drag the apps into the folder of application). Also include the ability to reopen all windows left open after turning off the Mac.

Some new features specific to MacOS Sequoia caught our eye. Let us mention the organization of the applications in mosaic which proved to be very practical. Just like the new password application which makes it easier to juggle between a third-party password manager.

Apple intelligence: the big promise

As of this writing, the Mac mini M4 (2024) does not yet offer the Apple Intelligence suite of AI features. This is not available in Europe. However, it is possible to activate an improved version of Siri if you switch your Mac to English.

Too bad, because the NPU integrated into the M4 chip is one of the great new features of Apple's chip, very close apart from that to the M3. Buying the Mac mini M4 in 2024 therefore means making a bet on the future and hoping that the integration of Apple Intelligence will satisfy you. For our part, we test products based on what we have at the time of testing, so we cannot take this promise into account.

Accessories

For this test, we used a Studio Display (5K screen at 1749 euros), the new Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and USB-C socket (229 euros), the new Magic TrackPad with USB-C (169 euros) and the Magic Mouse with USB-C (119 euros).

We mainly used the TrackPad instead of the mouse, for two reasons. The mouse seemed too flat or not rounded enough. The idea of ​​removing the wheel and replacing it with swipes is good on paper, but with the shape of the mouse, it seemed unpleasant to us.

Second reason to prefer the TrackPad in our eyes, it integrates an extremely powerful shortcut system. Depending on whether you apply one finger, two fingers or three fingers, you will not have the same results. In two days, we were so won over that when we switched back to a Windows device with a trackpad for a few hours, we found ourselves accidentally trying to perform certain gestures.

The mouse was essentially useful for navigating the game. It offers the same type of shortcuts as the TrackPad and depending on everyone's habits, it is likely that it will suit you more.

As for the Apple Studio Display, although its calibration and 5K definition are very pleasant, it seems difficult to recommend it with a Mac mini, unless you pay more than twice the price of your computer for its screen.

Mac mini M4 (2024) price and availability

Here are the configurations for the Mac mini M4:

• 699 euros, 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage;
• 929 euros, 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage;
• 1159 euros, 24 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.

256 GB of storage seems a bit tight. In our test, we already filled almost 180 GB of storage with apps. We would therefore tend to recommend the 512 GB model.

There is also a fourth version equipped with an M4 Pro, with 24 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage for 1649 euros.

Various options allow you to move away from the basic configurations: 32 GB of RAM for 460 euros more, 2 TB of storage for 920 euros more.

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