Apple Event October 2024 – Forbes Verified

For the first time since 2010, the Mac Mini is getting a redesign. The new Mac Mini (M4) is smaller than before and offers more powerful specifications, making it the best compact desktop Apple has ever released. Additionally, it maintains its affordable price, allowing customers to get a powerful Mac without having to spend a lot of money. Apple says the new Mac Mini is less than half the size of the previous generation model, with a footprint of just 5 x 5 inches. It actually looks a lot like the Mac Studio, but is smaller. Apple says the smaller size is made possible by super-efficient Apple Silicon chips.

Speaking of chips, the new Mac Mini marks the introduction of the new M4 Pro chip, expanding the M4 lineup beyond the base M4 previously available in the iPad Pro and iMac. While the new Mac Mini is also available with the base M4 chip, purchasing it with an M4 Pro enables Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for faster data transfers, and Apple says the M4 Pro has the world's fastest single-threaded performance offers, together with up to 14 cores, of which 10 are performance cores and 4 are efficiency cores. The M4 Pro's GPU is twice as powerful as the M4, which helps with both graphics usage and Apple Intelligence. The port selection of the new Mac Mini is also excellent. On the back of the computer you'll find three Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 ports, depending on whether you get the M4 or M4 Pro, as well as an HDMI and an Ethernet port. Regardless of which model you buy, there are two USB-C ports on the front, which is hugely helpful for everyday connectivity that isn't permanent.

The Mac Mini with the M4 chip starts at $599. The base model has 16GB RAM and 256GB storage and can be upgraded to 32GB RAM and 2TB storage. The M4 Pro Mac Mini is more expensive, starting at $1,399. However, this model comes with 24GB RAM and 512GB storage, expandable to 64GB RAM and 8TB storage.

The first announcement of Apple's Week of the Mac was a new iMac. The iMac was given a major overhaul when the M-series chips were introduced, but has somehow been forgotten since then. That's changing today, with an iMac that retains the same colorful design as before but packs a number of new features that make it the most powerful Apple desktop on the market. Notably, the new iMac gets Apple's M4 chip – the best basic M-series chip to date and a relatively big improvement over the previous iMac's processing power. There is also a new 12-megapixel center stage camera and up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports. The base model of the new iMac features an M4 chip with an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU. If you need more performance, there is a 10-core CPU option and a 10-core GPU option that should perform slightly better. The RAM ranges from 16GB to 32GB. Finally, it's available in a few new colors, expanding the range of already vibrant options.

In addition to the new iMac, some Apple accessories are also receiving an update. The Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse that come with the iMac retain their overall design, but now offer a USB-C port. Yes, that means the Magic Mouse has finally been updated, but only with a USB-C port on the bottom. The M4 iMac starts at $1,199 and increases in price depending on the features you choose. You can pre-order it now, with shipping starting November 8th.