Apple’s new Mac Mini may come with some design compromises
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s Mac mini is finally getting a new design, but it could come at the cost of some compromises. Power On NewsletterAccording to him, the upcoming M4 Mac mini will likely no longer have USB-A ports, but will instead have a much smaller chassis.
If the latest Mac mini M4 rumors are true, a few different versions of the pint-sized desktop PC are coming, led by the M4 Pro variant which, by all accounts, could be the most premium Mac mini yet. Gurman says this model could ship as early as October, and while you’ll have to make do with no USB-A ports, it still sports a whopping five USB-C ports, plus an Ethernet port, HDMI, and a headphone jack.
That’s huge for a device that’s said to be about the same size as an Apple TV. Plus, you won’t need to carry around a separate adapter, as Gurman says the device has its own internal power supply.
With the iPhone 16 reveal approaching, Gurman suggests that neither the M4 nor M4 Pro Mac mini will be announced at Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event on September 9, but instead will be revealed a month later. So we won’t know for sure until October.
A worthy sacrifice?
It’s been far too long since the Mac Mini’s design has changed. The devices in our reviews of the 2012 Apple Mac mini and the Apple Mac mini (2023) look nearly identical. According to Gurman, the last time we saw a significant redesign of the Mac Mini was nearly 15 years ago.
While some users might balk at the lack of USB-A ports, we think it’s more than worth it. If it’s true that the M4 Mac mini will be the size of an Apple TV, it’ll be half the size of the 2023 model – for comparison, the Apple TV’s dimensions are 93 x 93 x 31mm (3.66 x 3.66 x 1.2 inches) compared to the M2 Mac mini’s 197 x 197 x 35.8mm (7.75 x 7.75 x 1.41 inches).
Additionally, USB-C is now pretty standard across all devices, but docks and hubs are readily available, so you should still be fine if you’re not ready to ditch your USB-A keyboard or mouse. As the world moves away from the old-school USB port, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the 2025 Mac Pro and Mac Studio do the same.
