Next Apple Mac mini could be Mac mini-er

Apple is planning to revamp the Mac mini by significantly cutting the physical footprint, according to a new report from a well connected Apple insider.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reckons the next-gen Mac mini model will be closer in size to an Apple TV puck than the slab-like Mac mini, which has looked the same for a significant period of time now.

The Mac product is billed as a great and affordable way for macOS fans to make use of their existing monitor and accessories and enables a certain amount of portability.

However, being able to effectively slide a Mac computer into a coat pocket would represent a new era of portability for the device. Gurman does say the next Mac mini, due in 2024 would be a little taller than the existing counterpart, making it a little boxier over all.

In his report, Gurman says “the device will be far smaller than its predecessor, approaching the size of an Apple TV set-top box.”

The 2024 model could also have a plethora of ports, including a trio of USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, while benefiting from Apple’s next-generation M4 suite of Apple Silicon chips that first featured in the brand new iPad Pro.

Gurman says Apple will, as expected, begin to fit its Mac products with those chips as it looks to stay ahead of Qualcomm with Apple Intelligence enabled chipsets.

According to the report, the Mac mini M4 would retain the current aluminium shell and silver colour and be available in October, a time of year that Apple is often mind to release new models. Apple last upgraded the Mac mini with an M2 model in 2023. That Mac had an M2 chip.