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M4 Mac mini vs. M2 Mac mini: What are the differences?

M4 Mac Mini vs. M2 Mac mini

M4 Mac mini vs. M2 Mac mini: price and specs

Starting at just $599, the M4 Mac mini is one of the more affordable Macs, by virtue of not including a display of any kind. Here are the specs you get for $599:

  • Apple M4 chip

  • 256GB storage

  • 16GB RAM

Obviously, there are different variants of the M4 Mac mini, and those increase in price as you bolt better specs onto it. Storage can go all the way up to 2TB, while RAM can go all the way up to 32GB. There are many different possible final prices depending on your configuration, but bumping storage and RAM all the way up balloons the total cost to $1,799.

The M4 Mac mini is priced the same as the M2 model was at launch, so there's no huge advantage in that regard. However, you are getting a better value. For example, the M4 chip is more powerful than the M2 chip. Plus, M4 owners get 16GB of base RAM (the M2 model's starting configuration only came with 8GB). A newer chip and twice as much memory for the same price is not a bad deal.

M4 Mac mini vs. M2 Mac mini: design

While the internal specs aren't too shocking nor out of this world, the M4 Mac mini has some noteworthy exterior design changes.

M4 Mac mini with a monitor
M4 Mac mini attached to a monitor Credit: Apple

Most crucially, it's much smaller than the M2 model. Here are the precise measurements for both machines:

M4: 2 inches x 5 inches x 5 inches (HWD)

M2: 1.41 inches x 7.75 inches x 7.75 inches (HWD)

The M2 model might have been slightly shorter from a height perspective, but it was much bigger and more bulky than the M4 model. At 1.5 pounds, the M4 model is also a full pound lighter than the M2 Mac mini.

Unfortunately, the power button is still on the bottom of the M4 Mac mini. Why does Apple keep doing this?

M4 Mac mini vs. M2 Mac mini: Ports

Mac mini M4 ports
Ports! Credit: Apple

The port situation is where things get a bit more interesting.

Believe it or not, there's actually a distinct advantage to getting the M2 Mac mini: It has two USB type-A ports on the back, while the M4 model has none. That's really the only advantage, though, as the rest of the port selection on the M4 mini is solid:

  • Two USB-C ports on the front

  • Headphone jack on the front

  • Three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back

  • HDMI 2.1 on the back

  • Ethernet on the back

For those taking score, that's one more Thunderbolt 4 port than the M2 model. Plus, you're getting HDMI 2.1 instead of just HDMI 2.0. In addition, the USB-C and headphone jacks have been moved around to the front of the device on the M4 model (they sat on the rear end of the M2 Mac mini). That should be more convenient, ideally.

M4 Mac mini vs. M2 Mac mini: Performance

This one is tricky because we haven't actually used the M4 Mac mini yet. However, we have tested the M4 chip inside the iPad Pro, and it was incredibly impressive in terms of performance and battery life.

Plus, the big RAM boost for the base model should give it some performance improvements over its M2 counterpart. In terms of granular tech details, the M4 chip has 10 CPU cores (as opposed to eight on M2) and support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing. That could make this a decent gaming machine for the games that actually support Mac, if nothing else.

M4 Mac mini vs. M2 Mac mini: Which should you buy?

At this moment in time, it doesn't seem like there are very many reasons to get an M2 Mac mini over the M4 model.

Barring any temporary discounts or impending price changes we don't know about yet, the two computers cost the same amount of money. However, the M4 model gives you more port flexibility by moving some of them around, theoretically better performance, and a whole new chip to play with. The only reason to get an M2 would be a significant price drop or a desperate need for USB type-A ports.



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