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.
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