M4 Mac Mini: Frustratingly Great

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  • Опубліковано 28 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 128

  • @PeteMatheson
    @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому +3

    What're your thoughts on the M4 Mac Mini's this year? Is the power button in a stupid place? Is it forgivable? And are people actually buying the Apple SSD upgrades?!

    • @joelv4495
      @joelv4495 Місяць тому +2

      Overhyped. Yes the base model is an amazing value, but the second you tick an upgrade box the value proposition is killed.

    • @AlexDubois
      @AlexDubois Місяць тому

      @@PeteMatheson Demanding game is Rust…

    • @AlexDubois
      @AlexDubois Місяць тому

      The power button is there just so that there will be so many videos about it. The other obvious point is that they don’t want you to shut it down. Either for patching, some will say for some authorities to listen if required.😊

    • @TheQuickBooksChap
      @TheQuickBooksChap Місяць тому +1

      just wish we had an SD card slot - then it would be the perfect ingesting machine!

    • @jimcabezola3051
      @jimcabezola3051 Місяць тому

      Still keeping my two M1 Mac Minis (8GB/256GB) out of the landfill. Both are delightful.
      I've been experimenting with the ongoing trend of booting externally, running a user with its home folder, apps and data on an external SSD and all that jazz.
      It works (and no, I don't give a flying fig about not being able to run Apple Intelligence in this configuration). The Thunderbolt 3 enclosure seems fast enough for my needs.
      I find the whole idea of running a user, apps and data external very liberating, storage-wise. Will replace the chintzy 512GB NVME drive I found in my parts bin to a decent 4TB model soon.
      Both my M1 machines also run Asahi Linux (my main OS)...which runs quite a bit more warmly than the stock macOS.
      Having tried the external drive thing, I've been intrigued with the idea of upgrading to the base M4 Pro Mini JUST for its Thunderbolt 5 ports.
      I'm interested in what professional folks like you may have to say about those ports. Do you actually notice the difference in the smoothness and efficacy of your work flows as a result of using Thunderbolt 5 drives with your M4 Pros as opposed to using your Thunderbolt 4 drives with your M4?
      Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about that experience!

  • @goobfilmcast4239
    @goobfilmcast4239 Місяць тому +40

    I am the epitome of the base M4 Mac Mini buyer: Long-time non-pro Mac OS user. Until the appearance of Apple Silicon, my budget required that I buy 1 or 2 generation old Macs. Not anymore.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому +8

      M series chips are all incredible!

  • @overstim
    @overstim Місяць тому +47

    They put the power button there so no one would be dumb and mount it somewhere that would block ventilation.

    • @card_craft
      @card_craft Місяць тому +9

      That... actually makes sense, nice

    • @Lareo1964
      @Lareo1964 Місяць тому +2

      I dont switsch it off becaue of low power consumption. For me as PC user its a weird habit 😅

    • @anthrobug
      @anthrobug Місяць тому +1

      ​@@Lareo1964 Right? But I'm surprised the mini is working so well with my LG C1, turns it on and sleeps it like a monitor, so the power button brouhaha seems so ridiculous - Especially in light of @overstim's explanation!

    • @darylcheshire1618
      @darylcheshire1618 Місяць тому +1

      Mine sits under the monitor, it is so snug I have to pull it out to turn it on. But I’m not complaining.

  • @sigarner01
    @sigarner01 Місяць тому +11

    not had one single issue with the power button placement, just slightly lift it up and press it. That said mine is on top of my desk so it’s not covered up

    • @stephenvalente3296
      @stephenvalente3296 Місяць тому

      There's always something they reviewers have to moan about in a largely positive review item. And now we have the several week later regret videos elsewhere on UA-cam. Always the same cycle until the next product releases.

  • @hansyang1697
    @hansyang1697 Місяць тому +2

    Just got my Mac Mini M4 base model couple days ago with EDU discount. I have to say, I just love it.

  • @NoOne-uh9vu
    @NoOne-uh9vu Місяць тому +5

    I think absolutely everyone would gladly bite the bullet on the RAM if the ssd prices would reflect reality a bit more

  • @bryans8656
    @bryans8656 Місяць тому +2

    New subscriber here. I've had the base M4 Mac mini for four weeks and am very happy with it. I already had all the necessary peripherals from another setup, including a 2TB NVME external drive for storage and a modestly priced 4K monitor, so there were no additional expenses. The mini is taking the place of my M3 Pro MacBook Pro 14, and like you I'm considering trading that in for an M4 MacBook Air when they're released. I'm in no hurry with that though, my MBP is still an excellent travel device.

  • @jayd6098
    @jayd6098 Місяць тому +14

    I got the M4 Mini base model and it works perfectly without any issue. Now my Windows PC with 3080 graphics card is collecting dust.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      Nice! Assume you're not using it for gaming much at all?

    • @acizko92
      @acizko92 Місяць тому +1

      So you were a gamer? You know that the mac mini m4 is not a gaming machine and the m4 cant beat 3080?

  • @warriorway5287
    @warriorway5287 Місяць тому +2

    The button isn’t upside down, the logo is. You have to turn it over.

  • @Flamamacue
    @Flamamacue Місяць тому +2

    I think the real value of the M4 Mini's is the new base spec in either chip and falls away once you start customising. Either 16GB/M4 or 24GB/M4 Pro are great machines and will serve a lot of people.
    If you're needing to spec up, I suspect the M4 Max Studio will hit that sweet spot perfectly and be a much smarter buy than speccing up the M4 Pro. Likely 36GB base spec, much better GPU, the decoders/encoders etc etc for a little bit more. Very tempted to upgrade my M1 Pro but I think the M4 Studio will be worth waiting for.

  • @etiennesharp
    @etiennesharp Місяць тому +3

    Tempted but I can't really justify it as my M2 Mac Mini is still trucking along nicely and meets all of my everyday needs.

  • @kumiho1729
    @kumiho1729 Місяць тому +6

    This intro looked GREAT at 144p!

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      😅haha thanks !

    • @acizko92
      @acizko92 Місяць тому

      Remember to install Adobe Flash Player

  • @TheQuickBooksChap
    @TheQuickBooksChap Місяць тому +5

    Muse intro was 🔥🔥

  • @drivera717
    @drivera717 Місяць тому +1

    Enjoying your video format 🎉

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      Thank you! Still plenty of work to be done still! 😁

  • @NickPowellPhotography
    @NickPowellPhotography Місяць тому +1

    Absolutely amazing video!! Out of every single Mac Mini review I have seen, this is by FAR the most condidered for everyone. I am a professional 360 Virtual Tour photographer dealing with large 18x9k 16bit TIFF files, so I have recently purchased the more powerful M4 Pro chip with 64GB RAM and 512GB SSD (as I have external Thunderbolt 4 Nvme and Synology).
    I currently have a very powerful PC, so will be keen to see if it can keep up as I am very keen to switch to Mac 💪

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      Thank you so much!
      Great move with the external NVME + Synology. I might play around a little more with the Synology caching to see if I can improve editing directly from the NAS over 10Gb...
      I think the M4 Pro chip is pretty damn powerful - very close to the Mac Studio!

    • @NickPowellPhotography
      @NickPowellPhotography Місяць тому

      @ I only have the DS423+, so no 10Gb unfortunately. Time for more money to be spent I think. 😬😂

  • @nathanmcbride149
    @nathanmcbride149 Місяць тому +1

    Great intro, subscribed! ❤

  • @THE_GRIMDAWG
    @THE_GRIMDAWG Місяць тому +1

    great video mate! subbed! keep it up

  • @mannkeithc
    @mannkeithc 5 днів тому

    I bought a base model M4 Mac Mini and added two external 1 TB USB4 SSDs I had lying around, as I was fed paying Apple's extortionate upgrade option prices. The Black Magic read / write speed tests for both these USB4 drives were faster than the internal SSD. I configured my user account to have its home folder on one of the external drives, so the Mac Mini still boots from the internal drive, but large apps and files are stored on the external drives. The performance of this set-up was excellent, once I installed some third-party apps, MonitorControl and SoundSource, to manage the external display's settings and audio volume, including using the brightness and volume keys on my keyboard. I will use the money saved to buy a Windows 11 arm 64 tablet PC with user upgradeable internal storage.

  • @ilpoheikkila4773
    @ilpoheikkila4773 Місяць тому

    Great video again!

  • @spunicunifait2697
    @spunicunifait2697 Місяць тому +1

    What’s the big deal with the power button? Couldn’t I just flip the unit with the Apple Logo facing downwards, some rubbery feet, boom! Or would this cause thermal issues?

  • @unique93obr
    @unique93obr Місяць тому +2

    Apple should make their logo to act like turn on button... :)

  • @Games_and_Tech
    @Games_and_Tech Місяць тому +2

    the power button should be positioned on the front and it should include the fingerprint reader...

  • @ichigen511
    @ichigen511 Місяць тому +1

    8:33 makes no sense you show the specced out M4 Pro being slower than the base M4 model but say that it is a little bit faster. I'm so confused.

    • @Urosaurus
      @Urosaurus Місяць тому

      Perhaps the top spec model is throttling due to the extra cores? It only allows the base spec reach full potential? A heat sink trade-off in the new, smaller case?

  • @macbitz
    @macbitz Місяць тому +1

    I guess you have to consider that in order for Apple to do it's research and development and bring you things like the M4 & M4 Pro Mac Minis, the Apple Tax is what funds all this.

  • @PeterEmery
    @PeterEmery Місяць тому +6

    Invert it. Then the power button is on the top.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      🙃 Good point!

    • @acizko92
      @acizko92 Місяць тому +4

      If you turn the machine over, it works like an air purifier which collects dust

  • @romixsoundstudios
    @romixsoundstudios 15 днів тому

    I am upgrading my home studio, and my main concern about the Mac Mini is the fan noise. I saw a review showing that the M4 Pro is noisier than the M4 base model. Did you notice that?

  • @Urosaurus
    @Urosaurus Місяць тому

    I look forward to your buyers guide. I appreciate your work. As for the top spec model being slower - Perhaps the top spec model is throttling due to the extra cores? The Pro heatsink may only allow the base spec reach full potential? A heat sink trade-off in the new, smaller case?

  • @spectra89
    @spectra89 Місяць тому +3

    fire video

  • @snazzysailor
    @snazzysailor Місяць тому +1

    Try lowering refresh rate to say 120hz and try 3 monitors again.

  • @tonkyboy8920
    @tonkyboy8920 Місяць тому

    hi Pete, you said you access the mini remote? How do you do this? Screenshare? Or do you use any tool?

  • @trustes89
    @trustes89 Місяць тому +1

    the screens need to have a stream compression support, cant remember what its called, but if you have screens with the right support you can connect more screens aswell

  • @paulocon4842
    @paulocon4842 Місяць тому

    Ok which model do you recommend
    M4 mac mini with 32 GB RAM or m4 pro mac mini with
    24 GB RAM
    For editing 4K footage and after effects or fusion on davinci)

  • @glennclarke9442
    @glennclarke9442 28 днів тому

    What brand stand are your monitors on with the lights on it?

  • @Smittron
    @Smittron Місяць тому +1

    Nice video. A base model 16/512 configuration for $599 would convince me to buy.

  • @dahlhousestudios
    @dahlhousestudios Місяць тому

    Have you had any flakiness with external devices with the Mini? I have the M1 Max Studio and it randomly disengages with some external devices (NVMe; monitor). Great vid!

  • @l3ila7
    @l3ila7 Місяць тому +1

    What cord/dock are you running from LG ultra gear to mac to get the full 240hz?

  • @darylcheshire1618
    @darylcheshire1618 Місяць тому

    I run mine on a 43” monitor connected with the HDMI port, it defaults to 60 Hz, if I reboot it, I can select 144Hz. Sometimes I reboot it or leave it at 60Hz.

  • @nathansassaman9598
    @nathansassaman9598 Місяць тому

    Will the base model M2 Mac Mini with 8GB work with all the new features of Apple Intelligence?

  • @tattsenglee733
    @tattsenglee733 7 днів тому

    Roughly how long is a very very long time?

  • @derekrobillard7320
    @derekrobillard7320 Місяць тому +1

    Great vids! You mentioned the Dell U4025QW Thunderbolt hub monitor and that you had issues achieving full resolution and refresh rates when trying multiple monitors with the Dell. But were you able to achieve full 5K at 120 Hz on the Dell alone? I’d like to know more about the compatibility and which connections (and settings if any) will optimize display quality with the mini M4 Pro.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому +1

      Yes as a single screen, no issues at all!

    • @derekrobillard7320
      @derekrobillard7320 Місяць тому

      @@PeteMathesongood to know. Thanks for your input!

  • @emanggitulah4319
    @emanggitulah4319 Місяць тому +1

    Bought the Mac mini base model and tested some large CAD assemblies with fusion 360 and was very surprised how well it could manage that.
    Bottom line the value for that base model is amazing, but don't buy the upgrades.

  • @localbandreview
    @localbandreview Місяць тому +1

    I have the base model on a Samsung 49” 5k and a portable 1080p monitor I’ll try hooking up a 3rd. My main issue is it can end up looking like a cable monster without a hub.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      Yeah and there aren't a huge number of ports on the back after you start hooking up multiple screens + adapters etc !

  • @soulman902
    @soulman902 Місяць тому +2

    I did buy the same spec’d out M4 Pro that you had but it’s going to be my MacBook M1 Max replacement since that machine just sits on my desk and doesn’t get moved. I have an M2 MacBook Pro 14 inch for that. My M1 will find other uses though. Am I mad that Apple is selling storage for a stupid upgrade, yes, I think they need to lower the price and bring it inline with what they did with the 16GB base memory. It’s atrocious they’re selling Macs with 256GB still and charge $200 to go to $512 or $400 for 1TB. At least someone has an option potentially to fix this.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      Yeah it’s infuriating! Nice upgrade - and same kinda thoughts here with replacing my MacBook Pro with the Mini 👍🏼

  • @bernios3446
    @bernios3446 Місяць тому

    Yes, we need more "why I bought/ sold product XYZ" videos - what would I do if I didn't know what computer Pete (or any other influencer) bought yesterday? Ehhhhmmm - dunno..

  • @darylcheshire1618
    @darylcheshire1618 Місяць тому

    I have the M4 mini Pro and tried Cyberpunk 77 on Crossover and it ran at 25 FPS or 45 FPS with tweaking. It ran much faster on my Windows machine with the RTX3080. I think Crossover places too much overhead on the game. Apparently there will be a native Mac version of Cyberpunk 77 in 2025.
    To be fair, the game seemed playable if you ignore the FPS display.

  • @FRETW1ZARD
    @FRETW1ZARD Місяць тому

    Whats the tiny thumb drive stuck in that mac like a tick?

  • @AdmiralCecil
    @AdmiralCecil Місяць тому

    M4 base only supports 2 screens unless you spec'd up to the M4 Pro.

  • @back40canoe
    @back40canoe Місяць тому

    Not everyone needs SD reader so it makes sense to eliminate it. I'd rather have CF and many others would rather have CF express or Cfast

  • @Alex-sp3yo
    @Alex-sp3yo Місяць тому +1

    I don’t get it what is this video about? Since it was released every UA-camr has repeated phrases about the best-valued basic model. You could just wright it in twitter

  • @tezz7523
    @tezz7523 Місяць тому

    hay! I'm a stock trader, and doing heavy web browsing tab soo base model sufficient for me ??

  • @Tramveller
    @Tramveller Місяць тому

    Yeah, this is kinda why I moved away from Macintosh. Although the OS and the experience in general is great, the fact that the upgrades are unreasonably priced AND that there are no user replacable components is not very responsible. I guess Apple just meant money by wanting to appear as a "green" company xD

  • @darylcheshire1618
    @darylcheshire1618 Місяць тому

    place it upside-down to access the power button.

  • @makkakakugelsnibb5659
    @makkakakugelsnibb5659 Місяць тому

    update to sequoia 15.2 to get 240hz works great, need to do it in beta as of now

  • @Realist-m9c
    @Realist-m9c Місяць тому

    I had to do a few shutdown/restart cycles when my Caldigit and Qnap were having some issues on the first few days. Having to lift the back corner for restarts wasn’t an issue but it kinda felt like “this isn’t a Mac”. It’s a straight out bad design!

  • @tek_soup
    @tek_soup Місяць тому

    my Hackintosh i just built, 12 seconds, and it is not even dialed in, or overclocked. I9 10900K old school!

  • @JenkinsUSA
    @JenkinsUSA 17 днів тому

    I’m getting the base MM M4 with 32g and 512ssd. Intro AI / LLM work. 10gb Ethernet, at EOL it’ll have a purpose.

  • @gilcarag274
    @gilcarag274 Місяць тому

    Don’t need a dock to get USB A connection. An USB-C to USB-A will work perfectely…Also I don’t ever ever ever switch my iMac off….

  • @Philszen
    @Philszen Місяць тому +1

    Part of the 5% 💪

  • @77dris
    @77dris Місяць тому

    I've used the power button on my 2015 27" iMac probably ten times since I got it... about once per year. And who cares where the power button is on a mouse? Or even the charge port? Who wants to use a mouse plugged in?!! The magic mouse needs to be charged about 4x a YEAR with heavy use.

  • @JedEckert
    @JedEckert Місяць тому +1

    Maybe the Mac Mini will run 3 Apple Studio Displays.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      It probably will - but I also don't fancy spending that much on 3x Apple Studio displays 😬 lol

  • @SuperMachead1
    @SuperMachead1 Місяць тому +1

    Since the NAS has spinning hard drives….do you even get 1gb/s from it ?….seems like a huge bottleneck no ?..wouldn’t you need NVME drives to even come close to saturating 10gb Ethernet ?

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      It has a 2TB nvme cache. I think I just need to play with the config a little 👍🏼

    • @johngwheeler
      @johngwheeler Місяць тому

      A 6-bay NAS with modern HDDs in RAID-5 can get close to 1GB/s transfer speeds, so getting close to the 10Gbps network bandwidth which will always be lower than the theoretical maximum. Plus, as @PeteMatheson said, SSD caching can use the full network bandwidth.

  • @overstim
    @overstim Місяць тому +5

    You don't have to guess what monitor resolutions are supported, Apple puts it right on their product page. It's not secret.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому +1

      Yes but seeing support for 8k displays doesn’t necessarily apply when trying to connect to 57” 240hz displays and I get a lot of questions on all my monitor videos with unusual resolutions :)

    • @kasakka
      @kasakka Місяць тому

      Wrong. It's vague and applies only to Apple's own displays. How do you translate 8K support to 8Kx2K or 5Kx2K, both of which can have severe scaling issues on the base Mac Mini and even the Pro and Max models.

  • @MaxOut931
    @MaxOut931 Місяць тому +1

    It’s awesome

  • @aldotorre8802
    @aldotorre8802 Місяць тому

    Apple already announce 2 triple A games coming this spring, so yeah they are coming and you will need all the juice you can get.

  • @HoundDogMech
    @HoundDogMech Місяць тому

    POWER BUTTON issued Solved I placed my M4 Mac Mini Basic up side down Bake side facing right because all the major cabling comes from the right side, But then I/m trying to run a Windows Laptop & the Mac Mini on the same Monitor using the samewireless Key Board & Mouse thru a switcher for both computers.

  • @chidorirasenganz
    @chidorirasenganz Місяць тому +1

    Crossover isn’t that complicated. You install Crossover, install Steam then launch your games lol

  • @distiking
    @distiking Місяць тому

    Even if it was 2x as cheap, efficient and powerful i wouldn't buy it because i don't need mac os only device.

  • @JesusPursuit
    @JesusPursuit Місяць тому

    Better than M2 Max studio??? Hmmm idk 🤷‍♂️

  • @ahmedelgabry2780
    @ahmedelgabry2780 Місяць тому +2

    That into tho

  • @kjeksklaus7944
    @kjeksklaus7944 Місяць тому

    i'm leaving the mac world for WINDOWS, yes get that. I have a massive apple eco system but for my main computer i'm going PC. It's not the hardware, its the limitations of software for my use cases now.

    • @kjeksklaus7944
      @kjeksklaus7944 Місяць тому

      what are you using for your own photo back ups also please? I couldn't get the name

  • @newQns
    @newQns Місяць тому +2

    Counter Strike 2(!) is barely older than 1 year. xD

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому +1

      Ohhhhhhh, haha fair! I lost touch with CS naming when they started changing to CS Go etc

    • @newQns
      @newQns Місяць тому

      @@PeteMatheson No problem, I thought so. But I wanted to tell you nevertheless. :-) Thanks for the video!

  • @rickkarrer8370
    @rickkarrer8370 Місяць тому

    I'm only a minute in and going to at least like the video for using a Muse song.

  • @bioglassmusic
    @bioglassmusic 28 днів тому

    drives are replaceable . you just void warranty. company making drives for them.

  • @umanoid1523
    @umanoid1523 Місяць тому

    Apples base price have always been nonsense and anti consumer.. the base model now has a decent amount of ram but the HD? You always have to upgrade to make it useful either paying the apple tax or buying a third party HD. Apple makes ewaste at this point. They aren’t environmentally friendly. I’ve been an apple advocate since 1992 and having non upgradable machines from them is infuriating..

  • @nataliealliepage7155
    @nataliealliepage7155 Місяць тому +1

    My predictions:
    1. There will only be an M4 Max Mac Studio... the Ultra will only be in the Pro tower.
    2. There will also be an M4 Quad or some non-SOC standard for those who REALLY want a fast computer.

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      I reckon they'll just stick with the Mac Studio going forward - they're kinda the same thing now?

    • @chidorirasenganz
      @chidorirasenganz Місяць тому

      Nah the Studio will get the Max and the Ultra and the Pro will get the Ultra and the “Extreme” (2 Ultras). That way they have a desktop Mac for every chip

  • @carlangasa4622
    @carlangasa4622 Місяць тому

    no joke if this thing ran my fps games like valorant, the finals, csgo etc. I would sell my pc and just get this and be happy. But thats still some years away sadly

  • @Realist-m9c
    @Realist-m9c Місяць тому

    Complaining about upgrade prices is like telling the Porsche dealer you don’t want factory upgrade options. Macs are expensive, they have been since the VERY first mac that Jobs for sold $666.66

  • @mario_luis_dev
    @mario_luis_dev Місяць тому

    This is precisely what happens when ppl who don't know much about computers review them.... Just because you have a platform doesn't mean you're qualified to talk about these things... The benchmarks you're bringing up on this video are GPU-bound... You will not see any major differences in these units. Even an M1 Max from years ago will yield better results for these benchmarks than the M4 Pro chip.

    • @ericd7709
      @ericd7709 Місяць тому

      @@mario_luis_dev Someone on another UA-cam review pointed out that exporting to 4:2:2 prores is like zero effort you need to export it to an h.265 to give it some encoding and compression work to do?

  • @jayd6098
    @jayd6098 Місяць тому +1

    It's interested that your editor in New Zeland remotely access to do his editing. How is the lag when doing remote access?

    • @PeteMatheson
      @PeteMatheson  Місяць тому

      That's what we're working on still. I've heard of other channels doing it successfully.
      The only issue we're working on now is the input lag - early days though!
      Currently he just sync's everything locally via Google drive.