Apple has just unveiled a new powerful version of its Mac mini, powered by the M4 Pro chip. Designed for demanding users, this configuration promises professional-level performance in a compact form factor. The Mac mini is therefore the first device to feature an M4 Pro chip, after the introduction of the M4 on the iPad Pro a few months ago.
An M4 Pro chip designed for intensive workloads
The heart of this new Mac mini is of course the M4 Pro chip. An evolution of the M4, it has up to 14 CPU cores, including 10 high-performance cores and 4 high-energy efficiency cores. Enough to offer exceptional single-threaded and multi-threaded performance.
On the GPU side, the M4 Pro chip can have up to 20 cores, twice as many as the standard M4. Doubled graphics power, which allows the Mac mini to manage hardware-accelerated ray tracing for the first time. The M4 Pro’s Neural Engine is also 3 times faster than that of the Mac mini M1, boosting the execution of artificial intelligence models.
All this is cooled thanks to a new internal system.
Even more memory and bandwidth
To accompany this raw power, the Mac mini M4 Pro can be equipped with up to 64 GB of unified memory (€690 option). The memory bandwidth reaches 273 GB/s, double that of any AI chip for PC. Ideal for accelerating artificial intelligence workloads.
Apple has also integrated the new Thunderbolt 5 standard, which allows data transfers of up to 120 Gb/s. The throughput is thus more than doubled compared to Thunderbolt 4. These new features are exclusive to the Pro version of the M4.
Increased performance in professional apps
Compared to the previous Mac mini Intel Core i7, the M4 Pro model shows:
- Up to 4x faster in Excel calculations
- Up to 9.4x faster scene change detection in Premiere Pro
- Up to 20x faster speech-to-text transcription with MacWhisper on-device AI
- Up to 26x faster basecalling in DNA sequencing analysis with MinKNOW
And compared to the recent Mac mini M2 Pro, the performance gain is notable:
- Up to 1.8x more audio effects plugins in a Logic Pro project
- Render motion graphics in RAM up to 2x faster with Motion
- 3D renders up to 2.9x faster in Blender
With the Mac mini M4 Pro, Apple therefore offers an ultra-compact machine designed for the most demanding workflows. Obviously, MacBook Pros with M4 Pro chip should follow very soon.
