M4 Mac Mini is Apple's First Carbon Neutral Mac

With the launch of the M4 Mac mini, Apple says it has reached a milestone in its overarching environmental goal of total carbon neutrality by 2030. The Mac mini is Apple's first carbon neutral Mac to date, and it joins the carbon neutral Series 10 Apple Watch models.

m4 mac mini carbon neutral
The ‌Mac mini‌ is made from more than 50 percent recycled content overall, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in its enclosure, 100 percent recycled gold plating in its circuit boards, and 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets.

Apple claims that the electricity that was used to manufacture the ‌Mac mini‌ is sourced from 100 percent renewable electricity, and the company says that its worldwide clean energy projects address 100 percent of the electricity that customers use to power their ‌Mac mini‌ devices.

Apple updated its shipping methods, and 50 percent of ‌Mac mini‌ computers by weight are shipped using non-air modes of transportation, like ocean freight, from the factory to their next destination. According to Apple, these changes have cut the carbon footprint of the Mac by more than 80 percent, and to make up the remaining emissions, Apple "applies high-quality carbon credits from nature based products" such as those from the Restore Fund. The Restore Fund uses funds from Apple and other companies to invest in carbon removal projects such as reforesting.

‌Mac mini‌ packaging is fiber based, which Apple says brings it closer to its goal of eliminating plastic from packaging by 2025.


Back in 2020, Apple announced that it was committing to being 100 percent carbon neutral across its entire supply chain by 2030, with net zero climate impact for every Apple product sold. Apple plans to reduce emissions by 75 percent compared with 2015, while using carbon removal solutions for the remaining 25 percent of its carbon footprint.

Apple's global corporate operations are already carbon neutral, and Apple has been making changes as it works toward hitting its 2030 goal.

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Neutral)
Related Forum: Mac mini

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Users Report Static Speaker Noise While Charging

Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging. There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With a Rough iPhone Fold Mockup

Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
macbook air march 2020

Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September. The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...

Top Rated Comments

turbineseaplane Avatar
15 months ago
We would use even less carbon if we could internally upgrade the storage ourselves.
Score: 79 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BabyBoii Avatar
15 months ago
does anyone actually care about this?
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
15 months ago

does anyone actually care about this?
I appreciate it, but until we can upgrade and repair said devices ourselves, it’s mostly lip service.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phuklok1 Avatar
15 months ago
this kind of marketing nonsense makes me angry. as a long time apple user why don't they actually do something for the environment like stop force obsoleting perfectly good equipment.

for example, i have a 1st gen ipad pro which i spent a ton on and it is still very fast in almost everything. At this point it is mostly used for just web browsing. it has tons more power than needed for this, but apple locks safari to the OS for no reason other than to screw over its customers. this means that since the device is stuck on ios 16, safari gets no updates and has an increasingly out of date webkit which fewer and fewer websites will work with. why? why put users at risk or create landfill with perfectly good equipment? i'm not even asking to update the entire OS, just stop locking basic apps to the OS.

help reduce e-waste and separate the browser from the os for crying out loud so it can be updated even if support of the device is stopped - you know like almost every other device out there! and backport this so the millions of devices out there can still be used for simple things (for which they have way than enough power to do)

instead we get things like no stickers, or whatever other nonsense the marketing department comes up with.

people have gotten used to treating computing devices as disposable items like a paper cup (and electronics do harm the environment, from mining, to water usage, e-waste disposal, toxic chemicals in manufacturing, etc). the idea of upgrade-ability to keep an item useful which used to be the norm is completely gone and apple sadly spearheaded this change (along with feature rationing).
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
videosoul Avatar
15 months ago

does anyone actually care about this?
Yes, very much so.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
15 months ago

I appreciate it, but until we can upgrade and repair said devices ourselves, it’s mostly lip service.
Since they aren’t really doing much meaningful change on iPhones, how about they introduce a new design where the battery is the entire back and can quickly and easily come off and be swapped?

That’s the kind of environmental move and innovation I would readily applaud.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)