M3 Mac mini: Launch date, specs, design, value

Apple’s M3 chip has been obtainable because the finish of October 2023. It options within the MacBook Professional M3 and iMac and was not too long ago added to the MacBook Air, however it’s nonetheless absent from the Mac mini. How lengthy will we now have to attend for Apple to roll out the M3 to the remainder of the vary? Or will Apple skip it and determine to launch a brand new Mac mini with an M4 chip?

This text is designed that can assist you determine what’s occurring with the M3 and M3 Professional variations of the Mac mini–or if Apple skips the M3 sequence and goes straight to M4. We’ve gathered all the data from rumors and studies in a single spot and can present perception as to what’s possible and what’s not.

We’ll replace this text every time new data turns into obtainable.

Replace September 1, 2024: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman studies that the upcoming M4 Mac mini could have 5 USB-C ports and no USB-A ports.

See our MacBook Professional M3 evaluation and our MacBook Professional M3 Professional evaluation. We even have an iMac M3 evaluation and M3 MacBook Air evaluation.

New Mac mini: Skipping the M3, straight to M4?

An April 11 report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman stated that Apple plans to replace the Mac mini with an AI-enhanced M4 chip within the second half of 2024. On Apple 21, Gurman said that Apple will probably skip an M3 replace for the Mac mini and go straight to M4 later this yr. On August 4, Gurman reported that the M4 Mac mini will probably be launched in 2024.

Apple launched the M2 & M2 Professional Mac mini over a yr in the past in January 2023. Earlier than that, the M1 Mac mini was launched in November 2020. That’s over two years between the M1 and M2 Mac mini, however the Covid pandemic affected manufacturing. There must be no motive for the launch of the M3 and M3 Professional Mac mini to be delayed, particularly because the M3 and M3 Professional chips can be found in different fashions.

If Apple does proceed with an M3 Mac mini, we may see it at Apple’s spring occasion on Might 7, or at WWDC in June. In early August 2023, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple was performing preliminary exams on a M3 Mac mini, suggesting a brand new M3 mannequin is within the pipeline.

In June, Mark Gurman reported that the Mac launched schedule had not modified. The M4 Mac mini isn’t anticipated till the tip of 2024 or early 2025. In August, Gurman reported that an M4 Mac mini will probably be launched earlier than the tip of 2024.

Apple will maintain an iPhone 16/Apple Watch 10 launch occasion in September (see the way to watch the Apple September occasion stay stream), however new Apple merchandise launch all year long – see when is the following Apple occasion to be taught extra concerning the firm’s product launch plans.

Jason Cross / Foundry

Jason Cross / Foundry

Jason Cross / Foundry

Rumors concerning the M3/M4 Mac mini haven’t addressed costs and the worth is unlikely to alter contained in the U.S. Nonetheless, we do hope that there will probably be value drops exterior the U.S. to reverse value hikes a number of years in the past.

Apple has been adjusting costs following earlier value hikes. When Apple has up to date Macs and iPhones since late 2023 it lowered some costs in places exterior the U.S. The U.Ok. costs of the M3 MacBook Air, for instance, ‘match’ the U.S. costs. For instance, the M2 MacBook Air now prices $999/£999. That’s signal for the M3 Mac mini–it may comply with the identical customary configuration costs of $599/£599 (at present £649) and $799/£799 (at present £849) when it’s lastly launched. In 2020, the M1 Mac mini had costs of $699/£699 and $899/£899.

The brand new 3nm course of used for the M3 (and probably for the M4) permits extra transistors to suit on a chip, which ought to present a efficiency enhance. The M3 may also supply higher energy effectivity, so the temperature concerns required for the M1 or M2 Mac mini aren’t the identical because the M3, which may enable it to run sooner as a result of it doesn’t get as sizzling.

As well as, the M3 GPU is quicker and extra environment friendly and options Dynamic Caching, a brand new expertise that brings options like hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading to the Mac.

As for the quantity of unified reminiscence, Apple nonetheless provides the usual configuration of 8GB for the M3 and choices for 16GB and 24GB, as with the M2. For the M3 Pr,o there’s as much as 36GB of unified reminiscence obtainable, however the usual configuration is now 18GB reminiscence (up from 16GB).

For extra data examine how the completely different generations of Mac processors examine.

When Apple launched the M1 Mac mini in 2020, the corporate reconfigured the ports in order that it had two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports as a substitute of the 4 that had been on the Intel-based Mac mini. Apple.

In September, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the M4 Mac mini could have 5 USB-C ports, two on the entrance and three on the again. It won’t have USB-A ports. He additionally stated it’s going to have ethernet and HDMI.

The M2 Mac mini already has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, however Apple may go for Wi-FI 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Apple

Apple

Apple

The present Mac mini contains a 7.75-by-7.75-by-1.41 inch (19.7-by-19.7-by-3.6 centimeter) exterior design. In August, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that one of many Macs will get a “dramatic change” in its design together with its M4 replace. Although Gurman didn’t particularly say that the Mac mini was going to be the Mac with the brand new design, the Mac mini has had its design for six years, resulting in hypothesis that the M4 Mac mini may very well be the Mac being referenced.