Mighty Mini

Apple’s Mac mini has, for almost two decades, remained as the cheapest way to buy your way into the Mac ecosystem, as long as you were willing you bring your own display, keyboard and mouse. The premise remains the same with the latest Mac mini with the M4 chip, but unlike entry-level models of the past which left a lot to be desired in terms of headroom for future growth, the Mac mini this year may be the best value Mac we’ve seen in years.

With the pile of receipts and old to-do-notes that invariably forms on my table every now and then, it’s easy to forget the new Mac mini is even there at all…it’s that small. Apple has shrunk down the design even further – down from 7.7x7.7 inches to 5x5 inches - to something that fits onto your palm, into virtually any desk or entertainment center setup…or if you want, into your bag to carry back and forth between your home and office. The proportions are akin to an Apple TV box, while retaining the same design language of the Mac Studio and previous minis. No color options like the iMac, sadly. It’s more convenient to operate as well, with the headphone jack and a pair of USB-C ports in the front, and the rest – an Ethernet jack, HDMI and three Thunderbolt 4 ports – around the rear. You can connect up to three displays simultaneously, and if you upgrade to the M4 Pro-sporting Mac mini, you’ll get the faster Thunderbolt 5 ports. There’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, to connect your peripherals, none of which have to be Apple branded – just bring along your favorite keyboard and mouse. The power button is on one of the bottom corners, instead of the rear, but as someone who barely powers off the Mac, it didn’t matter much to me.

Don’t let its diminutive size fool you, though. Despite the miniaturisation at work, the mini sports an active fan-cooled system, which allows the M4 chip to run at full speed for sustained periods of time. This is the same chip you’ll find in the pricier iMac and new base-level MacBook Pro, and for all intents and purposes, this chip will be plenty sufficient for most average users. Performance is smooth and slick, with apps launching quickly while multitasking between a frankly ludicrous number of Safari tabs, work apps and streaming music.

Gaming is fast becoming a realistic proposition on the Mac, with an increasing number of games being optimized for Mac and features like hardware-accelerated ray tracing for more realistic graphics now supported on the mini. I had a blast playing Resident Evil 4 on the mini tucked away in my entertainment center, and never once did I hear the fans kick in. Push it to work on more demanding workloads like video editing and the mighty mini shows it's absolutely ready for the task, with video editing exports taking less time than the M3-packing iMac I tested just last year. Thanks to the base mini now sporting 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage, the entry-level model is an easy recommendation for anyone who wants an entry-level Mac setup.

The mini’s biggest strength – all of this performance and connectivity – at this rather compelling sub-60,000 pricing also reveals its biggest weakness. Bumping up the mini to add more storage or memory gets significantly pricier very fast, and before you know it, you’re in base MacBook Air territory or considering picking up the M4 Pro version of the mini, at the very least.

That’s not something most regular folks need to consider, though – Apple’s mini-est upgrade has turned out to be its mightiest yet this year, and anyone looking for their first Mac, one that is suited even for heavy multitasking and modest creative workloads will get a massive bang for their buck.

Rating: 9/10

Price: Rs. 59,900 onwards