Apple Introduces New Mac Mini for Music Production, Video Editing & More: Where to Pre-Order the Device

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

On Tuesday (Oct. 29), Apple unveiled a faster, more compact Mac mini designed for music production, video editing, writing and other creative tasks in addition to daily projects.

Measuring at just 5 x 5 inches, Apple’s redesigned Mac mini offers 1.8 times faster CPU performance and two times faster GPU performance than the M1 chip, 16GB of memory, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU and connection ports on the front and back. The new Mac mini also connects to iPhone and offers mirroring abilities through macOS Sequoia.

Apple’s first “carbon neutral Mac with an over 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across its materials,” retails for $599 and will be released on Nov. 8. (Eligible teachers and students can save $100 off the new Mac mini at Apple.) Need more power? The M4 Pro ($1,399) features up to 14-core CPU and up to 20-core GPU.  

By comparison, M4 Mac mini outpaces Intel Core i7 delivering better graphics, faster gaming performance (in World of Warcraft: The War Within) and faster audio effects in Logic Pro (nearly three times as fast as Mac Mini with M1).

Compared to the M1 chip, the new Mac mini transcribes up to two times faster when using AI speech-to-text in MacWhisper. Other tasks with M4 such as spreadsheet calculations are up to 1.7 times faster in Microsoft Excel.

“The new Mac mini delivers gigantic performance in an unbelievably small design thanks to the power efficiency of Apple silicon and an innovative new thermal architecture,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. “Combined with the performance of M4 and the new M4 Pro chip, enhanced connectivity on both the front and back, and the arrival of Apple Intelligence, Mac mini is more capable and versatile than ever, and there is nothing else like it.”

The new Mac Mini is available for pre-order online at Amazon and Apple.com.