Apple's Much Smaller M4 Mac Mini Has All-New Thermal Architecture to Maximize Speed

The Mac mini received a major update today, with Apple introducing a slimmed down design that shaves more than two inches off of the size so it takes up less space on a desktop or in a rack. Despite the size change, the ‌Mac mini‌ uses Apple's most powerful M-series chips, including the new M4 Pro.

mac mini thermal architecture
Combining the smaller form factor and updated chips necessitated a redesigned thermal architecture. The foot of the ‌Mac mini‌ allows it to pull in air from the surrounding environment, and the air is able to circulate throughout before being vented back out through the bottom foot.

Apple says that air is guided to each level of the system, and that combined with the power efficiency of the M4 chips, the ‌Mac mini‌ can "breeze through intensive workloads at outrageous speeds."

The redesigned ‌Mac mini‌ measures in at five inches square and two inches tall. It's taller than the prior version, but it is 2.75 inches smaller. Rumors suggested that it could be as small as the Apple TV (which is 3.66 inches), but it ended up being a bit bigger than that.

The M4 Pro hasn't been benchmarked yet, but it has a 14-core CPU and up to a 20-core GPU, which is up to twice as powerful as the M4 GPU. 3D renders in Blender are up to 2.9x faster compared to the M2 Pro and motion graphics render up to 2x faster.

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

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Top Rated Comments

Macalway Avatar
14 weeks ago

Still not mini at all looks like a Mac Studio lmao
You okay?
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayryco Avatar
14 weeks ago
I only wish they would've added some sort of dust filter mesh that could be periodically removed and cleaned
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikeboss Avatar
14 weeks ago
Mac mini M4 and M4 Pro have different cooling (according to the environmental report).
M4 Pro is built with copper (heatpipe?) and the M4 has an aluminum heatsink.

https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/desktops/Mac_mini_PER_Oct2024.pdf



Attachment Image
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iCyprus Avatar
14 weeks ago
Okay this is what we expected! Count me in for the M4 PRO!! Well done Appleeeee
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Total Respray Avatar
14 weeks ago
“It's taller than the prior version, but it is 2.75 inches smaller.”

So it’s taller but smaller. Got it.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stiligFox Avatar
14 weeks ago

does it have an active cooling fan? The old Mac mini is fanless right? I don’t remember
It does! And no, the previous generation also had a fan, but it was a more straightforward flow over a CPU heat sync.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)