Have you seen the new M4 Mac mini reviews?

I just took 30 minutes to set up my newly arrived M4 Mac Mini Pro (including migration time from a Crucial X9 TM drive) used on my previous M2 Mac mini Pro, also running Sequoia. The new mini ships with a custom build of Sequoia v15 and one will need to apply a v15.1 software update.

The new M4 mini is smaller than the pictures would suggest, and there is no clearance to insert a finger beneath it to access the power button on the bottom. One either needs to place the unit on its side with the power button conveniently accessible or be prepared to tilt it upward each time to power it on. This is a void waiting to be filled so someone on Ebay will be offering a rocker switch to work the problem.

Because the fan is on the bottom of the unit, that nixes the older Wi-Fi antenna location, and although this unit still hunts transmission (Tx) on Wi-Fi connections, it returns more frequently to the 1200 - 1400 Mbps range with a 5Ghz/160Mhz Wi-Fi 6 connection. The Broadcom BCM 4388C2 radio seems faster overall and may be better suited to work with the Synology RT6600ax router in the other room. This is also evident when screen sharing my 2020 Core i7 iMac over that Wi-Fi connection. A Windows 11 Pro Parallels (20.1) guest seems far more interactively fast than with my M2 mini. Same story with the Ubuntu 24.04.1 guest.

This 14-core, 20 GPU M4 Pro chip solves the Pages v14.2 launching lag, but not that of Word v16.90.2 which is still lethargic. Safari 18.1, Firefox 132.0.1, and Brave 1.71.123 all launch immediately.

woodmeister50 wrote:

The MacStudio and the MacPro have replaceable SSDs but there are no third party products for them. Apple has done something on the logic board design or firmware that blocks devices not specifically shipped for a unit. Would highly doubt that the new Mini will be any different knowing Apple.

Apple Silicon Macs, and Intel-based Macs with T2 security chips, encrypt and decrypt most of the contents of their internal SSDs in real time.

Normally, this is like having a deadbolt lock on your front door, but leaving the key in the lock for anyone to use. However, I'm pretty sure that the Erase All Content and Settings feature (which is only available on Macs which have those chips) takes advantage of it to do a quick, secure "erase", as follows:

• Tell the Apple Silicon chip or T2 chip to forget the old encryption keys and use new ones.
• Do a "quick erase" that basically just indicates that all of the space on the SSD is free for reuse.

Even if someone figures out a way to read the old data, they now will not have the keys with which to decrypt it.

That also means that that any new flash module needs to have its contents initialized to be on the same page as the T2 security chip or the Apple Silicon chip with regards to encryption keys. If you install one of Apple's SSD upgrade kit in a M2 Ultra Mac Pro, you need help afterwards from another Mac just to get to the point where you can start reinstalling macOS and your data. This also likely applies to servicing of a M4 or M4 Pro Mac mini.

Ars Technica review:

https://arstechnica.com/apple/2024/11/review-m4-and-m4-pro-mac-minis-are-probably-apples-best-mac-minis-ever/

Thanks for the insight.

As for the power button being situated at the bottom, if you were to set the Mini upright with the back facing away from you, would that look unappealing? Or might it not be ideal for the fan's performance when positioned vertically?

Maybe you could write a short review for all of us? Thanks!

there is no clearance to insert a finger beneath it to access the power button on the bottom. One either needs to place the unit on its side with the power button conveniently accessible or be prepared to tilt it upward each time to power it on.

Does it help for this "problem" if some circular thick object is placed under the Mac's fan area so it is raised enough for the finger to access the power button?

Ian R. Brown wrote:

I notice he manages to crack the base plastic casing on the way in!

However, there are 2 surprises.

The SSD is now 2 NAND and it is replaceable! It's actually clipped in place and can be removed easily. There may not be any replacements now but the after-market will soon get ready producing them so you will be able to upgrade the SSD for very little money.

The MacStudio and the MacPro have replaceable SSDs but there are no third party products for them. Apple has done something on the logic board design or firmware that blocks devices not specifically shipped for a unit. Would highly doubt that the new Mini will be any different knowing Apple.

However, it would indicated that if the SSD fails, Apple would have the means to replace it without the need to purchase an entire logic board.

For further info:

"...why you can’t simply swap them out"

Not really! There'd be a lot of chaps taking apart the Mac mini, and possibly the other Macs as well. I’m quite fond of the Mac mini's internals and its design. This is the first Mac mini I'm purchasing, and with its 16GB of RAM and the base price, it's an absolute treat! 👍

The particular review you chose to link to is by Marques Brownlee who is a long time Apple reviewer and influencer. There are number of these types, including iJustine who is yet another longtime reviewer and influencer. They make money with their reviews and also happen to be particularly found of Apple products. They all have internal contacts within Apple and often get hardware previews before launch.

There are also number of tech journalists who are on Apple’s naughty list. Leo La Porte, a podcaster and creator of Mac Break Weekly used to be on Apple’s nice guy list but was caught clandestinely streaming a live Apple event in the Apple Theatre. Apple no longer will give him the time of day. He never gets invited to Apple press conferences like other journalists do.

I'm sure within the next few weeks there will be many more Youtube reviews worth watching.

Let’s hope Ian posts every link promptly after they are published on YT 😅

Just to add to your great review I tested mine (base Pro model) and the BlackMagic speed test was 4300/5100 write/read and the Geekbench score was 3826/20497.