Apple Debuts New Macs And More: Here’s What To Know

For the first time since 2010, the Mac Mini is getting a redesign. The new Mac Mini (M4) is smaller than before and offers more powerful specifications that make it the best compact desktop Apple has ever released. Not only that, it retains its affordable price tag, allowing customers to get a powerful Mac without having to spend a ton of cash. According to Apple, the new Mac Mini is less than half the size of the previous generation model, with a footprint of only 5 by 5 inches. It actually looks a lot like the Mac Studio, but shrunken down in size. Apple says that the smaller size is enabled by the super-efficient Apple Silicon chips.

Speaking of chips, the new Mac Mini represents the launch of the new M4 Pro chip, expanding the M4 lineup beyond the base M4 that was previously available in the iPad Pro and iMac. While the new Mac Mini is also available with the base M4 chip, buying it with an M4 Pro will enable Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for faster data transfer, and Apple says that the M4 Pro has the world’s fastest single-threaded performance, along with up to 14 cores, including 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. The GPU on the M4 Pro is two times as powerful as that in the M4, which will help with both graphics use and Apple Intelligence. The port selection on the new Mac Mini is excellent, too. On the back of the computer, you’ll get three Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 ports, depending on whether you get the M4 or the M4 Pro, alongside an HDMI and ethernet port. No matter which model you get, there are two USB-C ports on the front, which is hugely helpful for day-to-day connectivity that isn’t permanently in place. 

The Mac Mini with the M4 chip starts at $599. The base model comes with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and can be upgraded to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. The M4 Pro Mac Mini is more expensive, starting at $1,399. That model, however, comes with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, upgradeable to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage.

The first of Apple’s “Week of Mac” announcements was a new iMac. The iMac was dramatically redesigned early in the rollout of M-series chips, but since then has kind of been forgotten. That changes today, with an iMac that keeps the same colorful design as before, but with a series of new features that make it the most powerful Apple desktop available. Notably, the new iMac gets Apple’s M4 chip—its best base M-series chip to date, and a relatively big upgrade over the previous iMac’s processing power. That’s along with a new 12MP Center Stage camera, and up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports. The base model of the new iMac has an M4 chip with an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU. If you need more power, there’s an option for a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU option, which should perform slightly better. RAM ranges from 16GB to 32GB. Lastly, it comes in a few new colors, expanding on the lineup of already vibrant options.

Alongside the new iMac, some of Apple’s accessories are also getting an update. The Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse that come with the iMac may retain their overall design, but now offer a USB-C port. Yes, that means the Magic Mouse has finally been updated, but only to include a USB-C port on the bottom. The M4 iMac starts at $1,199 and increases in price depending on the features you choose. You can get it for pre-order right now, with shipping beginning November 8.