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Macworld
Apple’s M3 chip has been out there for the reason that finish of October 2023. It options within the MacBook Professional M3 and iMac, and was just lately added to the MacBook Air, however it’s nonetheless absent from the Mac mini. How lengthy will we have now to attend for Apple to roll out the M3 to the remainder of the vary? Or will Apple skip it and resolve to launch a brand new Mac mini with an M4 chip?
This text is designed that will help you work out what’s taking place with the M3 and M3 Professional variations of the Mac mini–or if Apple skips the M3 collection and goes straight to M4. We’ve gathered all the data from rumors and reviews in a single spot and can present perception as to what’s possible and what’s not.
We’ll replace this text every time new info turns into out there.
Replace 4/11/24: The Mac mini could possibly be up to date with an M4 chip later this yr.
See our MacBook Professional M3 evaluate and our MacBook Professional M3 Professional evaluate. We even have an iMac M3 evaluate and M3 MacBook Air evaluate.
New Mac mini: Skipping the M3, straight to M4?
An April report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman mentioned that Apple plans to replace the Mac mini with an AI-enhanced M4 chip within the second half of 2024. Since we’re just a few months away from that, this might imply that Apple will skip the M3-series Mac mini altogether.
New Mac mini: Launch date
M4 Mac mini: Late 2024
Apple launched the M2 & M2 Professional Mac mini over a yr in the past in January 2023. Earlier than that, the M1 Mac mini was launched in November 2020. That’s over two years between the M1 and M2 Mac mini, however the Covid pandemic affected manufacturing. There needs to be no purpose for the launch of the M3 and M3 Professional Mac mini to be delayed, particularly for the reason that M3 and M3 Professional chips can be found in different fashions.
If Apple does proceed with an M3 Mac mini, we might see it this spring or at WWDC. In early August 2023, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was performing preliminary assessments on a M3 Mac mini, suggesting a brand new M3 mannequin is within the pipeline.
Gurman’s April 2024 report appears to point that Apple goes to skip the M3 and go straight to M4. He reported that the M4 Mac mini might arrive later this yr.
The M2 Professional Mac mini.
The M2 Professional Mac mini.
Jason Cross / Foundry
The M2 Professional Mac mini.
Jason Cross / Foundry
Jason Cross / Foundry
New Mac mini: Value
Value drops outdoors the U.S. are considerably seemingly.
Rumors concerning the M3/M4 Mac mini haven’t addressed costs and the value is unlikely to vary contained in the U.S. Nevertheless, we do hope that there shall be worth drops outdoors the U.S. to reverse worth hikes a couple of years in the past.
Apple has been adjusting costs following earlier worth hikes. When Apple has up to date Macs and iPhones since late 2023 it diminished some costs in areas outdoors the U.S. The U.Ok. costs of the M3 MacBook Air, for instance, ‘match’ the U.S. costs. For instance, the M2 MacBook Air now prices $999/£999. That’s a superb signal for the M3 Mac mini–it might observe the identical commonplace configuration costs of $599/£599 (at present £649) and $799/£799 (at present £849) when it’s lastly launched. In 2020, the M1 Mac mini had costs of $699/£699 and $899/£899.
New Mac mini: Processor and specs
M3: 3nm chip with 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 8GB unified reminiscence (16GB and 24GB choices)
M3 Professional: 11 or 12 core-CPU, 14 or 18 GPU cores, 18GB unified reminiscence (36GB choice)
M4: AI enhancements
We’ve a good thought of what to anticipate from the Mac mini M3 and M3 Professional as a result of we have now already seen these chips within the MacBook Professional, iMac, and MacBook Air. Apple is alleged to place an AI emphasis on the M4, so it might have comparable CPU and GPU specs because the M3, however with a bigger Neural Engine and extra unified reminiscence.
The brand new 3nm course of used for the M3 (and presumably for the M4) permits extra transistors to suit on a chip, which ought to present a efficiency increase. The M3 may even provide higher energy effectivity, so the temperature concerns required for the M1 or M2 Mac mini aren’t the identical because the M3, which might permit it to run quicker as a result of it doesn’t get as sizzling.
As well as, the M3 GPU is quicker and extra environment friendly and options Dynamic Caching, which is a brand new know-how that brings options like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading to the Mac.
As for the quantity of unified reminiscence, Apple nonetheless affords the usual configuration of 8GB for the M3 and choices for 16GB and 24GB, as with the M2. For the M3 Professional there may be as much as 36GB unified reminiscence out there, however the usual configuration is now 18GB reminiscence (up from 16GB).
For extra info examine how the totally different generations of Mac processors examine.
New Mac mini: Ports/Connectivity
Doubtless no change from the 2 Thunderbolt/USB-C configuration
When Apple launched the M1 Mac mini in 2020, the corporate reconfigured the ports in order that it had two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports as an alternative of the 4 that have been on the Intel-based Mac mini. Apple. Apple will seemingly persist with this port configuration with the M3 Mac mini, which additionally consists of two USB-A ports, a gigabit ethernet port, HDMI, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The M2 Mac mini already has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, however Apple might go for Wi-FI 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
Apple will seemingly not change the port configuration on the M3 Mac mini.
Apple will seemingly not change the port configuration on the M3 Mac mini.
Apple
Apple will seemingly not change the port configuration on the M3 Mac mini.
Apple
Apple
New Mac mini: Design
Doubtless no change to the compact field regardless of rumors on the contrary from a couple of years in the past.
Rumors of the M3/M4 Mac mini give attention to the M3 chip and lack details about the design. Apple will preserve the 7.75-by-7.75-by-1.41 inch (19.7-by-19.7-by-3.6 centimeter) exterior design. Due to the brand new 3nm M3, Apple might change how the internals are laid out, however customers gained’t must be involved with that.
Mac Mini
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