We've been covering the best deals and lowest prices on Apple's Mac mini range for quite some time now, starting with the best Mac mini (M1) deals, followed by the lowest Mac mini M2 prices. But now there's been a leap in performance with the addition of the latest Mac mini M4 (and M4 Pro) model.
Wondering what's so great about this mini desktop? It's actually one of Apple's top-value products, and undoubtedly one of the most reasonably priced devices in the mini PC market for creatives – which is unusual given Apple's track record of high price tags. You can get the Mac mini (M4) at a starting price of $599 / £599.
The best Mac mini (M4) prices
Mac mini (M4)
The first carbon-neutral Mac on the market
CPU: Apple M4 Chip 10-core | Graphics: 10-core GPU / 16-core Neural Engine | RAM: 16GB - up to 32GB | Storage: 256GB - up to 2TB | Weight : 1.5 pounds (0.67 kg) | Ports: USB-C X2 / 3.5mm jack / Ethernet port / HDMI / 3X Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports
Great value
Powerful performance
Apple Intelligence compatible
No Thunderbolt 5
The Mac mini has had a few different iterations and upgrades over the years, but this M4 model is the first-ever carbon-neutral Mac from Apple, which marks an important environmental milestone for the company. It packs an incredible amount of power and upgraded performance (up to 1.8x faster CPU performance and 2.2x faster GPU performance over the M1 model) into a small package, measuring just 5 by 5 inches.
The starting price for a Mac mini M4 is $599 / £599, which increases to as high as $999 / £999 for the top-spec models with an upgraded 24GB of RAM, and higher storage options up to 2TB. Primarily, this desktop is intended for creatives with demanding workloads and can handle a multitude of peripherals, creative software, and whatever else you intend to throw at it.
It has a built-in speaker, a very generous amount of ports, and its design while a little chunkier looking than previous models is overall much more compact and space-saving than your typical desktop.
Let's talk connectivity: the Mac mini can support up to three displays: two with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz, one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz using Thunderbolt connection, or one display at 4K resolution with 60Hz using HDMI. If you only need two displays, this can stretch to 8K resolution at 60Hz. There's also support for native DisplayPort 1.4 output over USB-C.
The best Mac mini (M4 Pro) prices
Mac mini (M4 Pro)
The first carbon-neutral Mac on the market
CPU: Apple M4 Chip 12-core (up to 14) | Graphics: 16-core GPU (up to 20) / 16-core Neural Engine | RAM: 24GB - up to 64GB | Storage: 512GB - up to 8TB | Weight : 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) | Ports: USB-C X2 / 3.5mm jack / Gigabit Ethernet port / HDMI / 3X Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports
Thunderbolt 5 ports
Apple Intelligence
Suer advanced specs
Overpowered for most users
Expensive (over double the M4 price)
If the Mac mini with the M4 chip isn't enough power for you (seriously?) then you can always take it up a notch and opt for the mega M4 Pro chip iteration instead. I'll be honest, I can't imagine a workload so power-intensive or performance-heavy that you would need this kind of power but hey, don't let me talk you out of it.
The Mac mini M4 Pro is priced at an eye-watering $1399 / £1,399 – but this isn't a bad price at all considering the pro-level specs and performance that you get for this price. It has all of the impressive features of its sibling but has been juiced up to the max with Thunderbolt 5 compatibility for pro-level performance. It has (according to Apple) the world’s fastest CPU core with lightning-fast single-threaded performance while being twice as powerful as the GPU in the standard M4.
With Thunderbolt 5 digital video output, the M4 Pro Mac mini boasts support for one display at up to 8K resolution with 60Hz at 240Hz, as well as native DisplayPort 2.1 output over USB‑C. Convinced yet?
FAQS
Should I get the Mac mini M4 or M4 Pro?
Great question. This all depends on your level or workload, how much power and performance you think you will need out of your Mac mini, how much you're willing to spend, and how appealing Thunderbolt 5 connectivity sounds to you.
There's a pretty big price difference between the standard M4 Mac Mini ($599 / £599) and the Mac mini M4 Pro ($1399 / £1,399). You could get two Mac mini M4 models for the price of just one M4 Pro iteration, but you get double the power with the added cost of the M4 Pro, so keep this in mind.
