Apple’s new Mac Mini may be coming with some design compromises
Apple’s Mac mini would possibly lastly be getting a brand new design, however it might come at the price of some compromises, in line with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his Energy On e-newsletter. In line with him, the upcoming M4 Mac mini will doubtless be ditching USB-A ports in favor of a radically decreased chassis dimension.
If the most recent Mac mini M4 rumors are true, a couple of totally different variations of the little desktop PC are incoming, headlined by the M4 Professional variant which, by all accounts, may very well be probably the most premium Mac mini but. Gurman says this mannequin might ship as quickly as October, and whilst you’ll must do with out USB-A ports, it is nonetheless packing a whopping 5 USB-C ports in addition to an ethernet port, HDMI port and headphone jack.
That is nice for a tool that is rumored to be very similarly-sized to an Apple TV, and you will not even have to hold round a separate energy brick as a result of, in line with Gurman, it’s going to have its personal inside energy provide.
With the iPhone 16’s unveiling coming quickly, Gurman states that neither the M4 or M4 Professional Mac mini can be introduced on the September 9 ‘It’s Glowtime’ Apple occasion, as an alternative being unveiled not less than a month later – so we can’t know something for certain till October on the earliest.
A worthy sacrifice?
It has been far too lengthy for the reason that Mac Mini’s design has seen adjustments – the units in our 2012 Apple Mac mini and Apple Mac mini (2023) opinions look almost similar – as acknowledged by Gurman, the final time we noticed a correct Mac mini design refresh was nearly 15 years in the past.
Whereas some customers would possibly assume it is a disgrace to go with out USB-A ports, we predict it is greater than value it. If it is true that the M4 Mac mini would be the dimension of an Apple TV, that may make it half as small because the 2023 mannequin – for context, an Apple TV’s dimensions are 93 x 93 x 31 mm (3.66 x 3.66 x 1.2 inches) in comparison with the M2 Mac mini’s 197 x 197 x 35.8 mm (7.75 x 7.75 x 1.41 inches).
Furthermore, USB-C is now fairly normal throughout units, however docks and hubs are available, so you need to nonetheless be nice in the event you’re not able to ditch your USB-A keyboard or mouse simply but. With the world now shifting away from the old-school USB port, we would not be shocked to see 2025’s Mac Professional and Mac Studio go with out, too.
