The week of Mac announcements is wrapped and we got a chance to look at all five new computers Apple announced — the very mini Mac Mini, the vibrant new iMacs and the powerful MacBook Pro laptops. Each comes with new M4 processor, doubled RAM for base models and the new iMac and MacBook Pros can now be configured with nano texture glass display.
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TechTranscript
00:00In a fairly uncommon move, Apple released a few new products this week without holding
00:05a dedicated big splashy event.
00:08We got 5 new Macs powered by the M4 chips, and I had a chance to look at all of them.
00:13Also, it is fair to say that the most hyped product this year would be the Mac Mini, so
00:18let's just start there.
00:19This Mac Mini is tiny.
00:20At 5 inches wide and 5 inches long and 2 inches tall, it looks less like a smaller version
00:26of the 14-year-old Mac Mini and more like a smaller Mac Studio, and it makes sense
00:31for it to be so tiny.
00:33Once the M chips made their way to the Mac Mini, it was obvious how much unused space
00:38there was.
00:39The M4 Mac Mini is also maybe a bit heavier than I expected, but I wouldn't call it
00:44heavy.
00:45Far from it.
00:46Some merch staffers were worried if unplugging and plugging the cables would actually move
00:49the Mac Mini around.
00:50While I wasn't able to just plug in stuff, I did kinda nudge it around, and yeah, it'll
00:54definitely slide around a bit, unless you pin it down.
00:56But there are also changes to the I.O. here as well.
00:59Two USB-C ports and a 3.5 audio jack on the front.
01:03On the back, there is an ethernet port, full-size HDMI port, and three Thunderbolt ports.
01:08Which means there are no more USB-A ports.
01:11But I think 5 USB-C ports is a good tradeoff.
01:14But also not all of these ports are the same.
01:16The front ports are 10 gigabit per second USB-C, and the back three are Thunderbolt.
01:22The regular M4 configuration gives you Thunderbolt 4, and the more powerful M4 Pro chips comes
01:27with Thunderbolt 5, which is three times faster.
01:31And although it never had it before, I still wish they put an SD card slot on there as
01:35well.
01:36It feels like every Apple product redesign comes with some sort of a controversy.
01:41And this year, that is the power button, which is on the underside in the far left corner
01:46of the Mac Mini.
01:49Can I just say, it is fine.
01:51As someone who spends a lot of time sitting in front of a desktop computer, I rarely ever
01:55have to turn it on or off using the physical button.
02:00But is it awkward to reach?
02:02Definitely.
02:03You'll need to lift it up a bit.
02:04Inside of the base $599 M4 model, you will find 16 gigabytes of RAM, which is the new
02:10default and seemingly requirement to run Apple Intelligence.
02:14There's 10-core GPU, 10-core CPU, and 16-core neural engine.
02:18The base model comes with 256 gigs of SSD storage, which is just not enough in my opinion,
02:24and I'd strongly recommend you to upgrade.
02:26But those upgrades can be extremely expensive.
02:30One terabyte is an extra $400, while two terabytes is an extra $800.
02:35The Mac Mini with the M4 Pro starts at a much steeper $1,399 price tag, with 12-cores of
02:41CPU, 16-cores of GPU, and 512 gigabytes of storage.
02:45The M4 Pro version is upgradeable to 64 gigs of RAM for an extra $600, and if you want
02:52to go all out in storage, 8 terabytes will be an additional $2,400.
02:57Just wild.
02:58Anyhow, this is a desktop, so external storage like RAID drives or just extra SSDs is always
03:05an option.
03:07Next up, MacBook Pros.
03:09The new M4 MacBook Pros are also here.
03:11They look exactly the same, except for the new display option and the fact that the entry
03:15level 14-inch MacBook Pro now comes with an additional Thunderbolt port.
03:20That model gets the M4 processor.
03:22The more expensive 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros come with either the M4 Pro chip, like
03:28the Mac Mini, or the M4 Max.
03:31The M4 Max chip promises some impressive performances, and in my demo we were looking at 3D models
03:38of a car, which was loading seamlessly.
03:40I was able to move it around, change colors in an instant, but I do have to admit that
03:45I have no idea what kind of performance I'm supposed to expect here when it comes to 3D
03:50models.
03:51I'm more familiar with the video editing benchmarks, and for that, we'll need a way
03:54to review these laptops ourselves.
03:57We also looked at the video game control.
03:59The game ran smoothly and it looked great.
04:01Even though Macs were never considered serious gaming machines, ever since the M chips came
04:06out, they should be taken more seriously.
04:08And next year they'll run Cyberpunk, one of the more demanding games.
04:12I'm excited to try that one out finally.
04:14All of the new MacBook Pro laptops can now be configurated with a nanotexture display,
04:18which also promises color better suited for creative professionals.
04:22I own an iPad with a nanotexture glass, and I love it dearly, but I do have to admit that
04:27this glass makes a lot more sense on a screen where I won't be leaving my fingerprints on.
04:36Lastly, there's the new updated iMac.
04:39The new all-in-one desktops come in a new and more saturated colors, which look absolutely
04:45fantastic in real life.
04:47In fact, you might have noticed I was a little bit thin on b-roll for the previous two products.
04:52I'm sorry.
04:54That's because these iMacs were so much fun to film.
04:57Anyways, the iMac still comes only in one size, which is 24 inches, which is slightly
05:03disappointing.
05:04Nevertheless, the 24-inch Retina display looked good in my brief demo, and it is a fine display
05:09but I do wish its peak brightness was higher than 500 nits.
05:13The webcam is also updated and now supports center stage and desk view, both on the iMac
05:18and the MacBook Pro.
05:19Center stage means it will track you around when you're walking around.
05:22In desk view, the webcam crops down to the very bottom of its field of view.
05:27It corrects the distortion and shows your desk to whoever you're talking to.
05:31In this dim room, the footage did look very grainy and the overall surface was a bit small.
05:36But unlike before, this is now built into the webcam, so you won't need your iPhone
05:40to pull this off.
05:41All of these come with the standard M4 chip.
05:44No Pro or Max options here, but there are two variants.
05:48One M4 comes with 8 cores of CPU and GPU, and the other is 10.
05:52The one with 10 can be upgraded to 32 gigs of RAM, while the 8-core is capped at 24.
05:58Also that same 8-core iMac oddly doesn't come with a Magic Keyboard with a Touch ID.
06:03You get the Magic Keyboard without Touch ID.
06:06But both the keyboard and the Magic Mouse are color-coordinated, and yeah, they have
06:10USB-C ports, and yeah, the port is still underneath the Magic Mouse, and yeah, this means that
06:15the only product left using lightning that you can buy from Apple is the first-gen Apple
06:21Pencil.
06:22There are also some toggles and stuff, but you get the point.
06:29So there you have it.
06:30The M4 Macs are here, and they're super fun to look at and to use, but stay tuned for
06:35our full review.
06:36Parting thoughts?
06:37Here's the thing.
06:39My personal laptop is a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip with 32 gigs of RAM.
06:45I got it the year it came out, and it is an absolute beast and has been my trusty companion
06:50for the past three years.
06:52It handles anything and everything I throw at it with ease, so there's really no reason
06:57for me to upgrade when it just comes to computing power.
07:02So if not for performance itself, I'm starting to look at form factor, hardware, ports, things
07:08like that, and yeah, that Mac Mini is looking very tempting.
07:12As I mentioned, this was a brief opportunity to look at devices in person for the first
07:16time, so if there are any other questions that I didn't answer in the video, let me
07:20know below and we'll chat.
07:22All right.