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Apple's Mac Week didn't start and wrap up on a Monday, of course: The Tuesday (Oct. 29) of the event saw the arrival of the M4 and M4 Pro Mac Minis.

This drop was more anticlimactic than expected after Amazon leaked some specs a day early, but this major step up from the older M2 Minis is exciting nonetheless. Pre-orders for all configurations are live now at the Apple Store, with the 16GB Unified Memory and 256GB SSD M4 Mini going for $599, the 16GB Unified Memory and 512GB SSD M4 Mini going for $799, 24GB Unified Memory and 512GB SSD M4 Mini going for $999, and the 24GB Unified Memory and 512GB SSD M4 Mini Pro going for $1,399. All units officially come out on Nov. 8.

Just as we expected, these new versions of the Mini grew in power while shrinking in size. Now with dimensions of just 5 x 5, the cube-ish M4 Minis are essentially ridiculously-powerful desktops squeezed into an Apple TV 4K package. Despite losing physical space, the new M4 models absolutely school their predecessors in benchmark tests. We're talking up to 1.8 times faster CPU performance compared to the M2 (2.2 times over the M1).

Those numbers are scaled up even further when "Pro" is added to the mix, partially thanks to the Pro's 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU (compared to 10 and 10 on the non-Pro M4 Mini). These marks will be particularly game-changing for those undertaking heavy projects in programs like Logic Pro, Motion, or Blender. The M4 Pro also wields not just one, but three Thunderbolt 5 port — a Mac first.

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All M4 Minis also come with Apple Intelligence compatibility, opening up a world of possibilities with AI writing tools, image creation tools, and more, plus ChatGPT integration coming in December. The M4 Minis are also Apple's first carbon neutral Macs.