The Breaker Times

Between new M4-based Macs and the long-awaited arrival of Apple Intelligence in macOS, Apple is taking the entire week to drip-feed us news regarding its new Mac lineup. The 24-inch iMac with M4 was the first up, and now a new Mac Mini has joined the fray with an incredibly small build and an M4 chip. Preorders for the desktop machines start at $1,299 and $599, respectively, and both launch on November 8th.

In addition to the M4 iMac’s new colors, USB-C peripherals, and an upgraded 12MP FaceTime camera, Apple is also increasing the starting RAM from 8GB to 16GB. There aren’t many other drastic performance differences over last year’s model, but the added power and memory are a welcome boost for handling the AI-powered Apple Intelligence features that are arriving this week as part of macOS Sequoia 15.1.

Similarly, the new M4 Mac Mini starts with 16GB of RAM. It’s also considerably smaller than the M2 model and features a reshuffled I/O configuration — the front has a 3.5mm audio jack and two USB-C / Thunderbolt ports, while the rear gets three additional USB-C ports in addition to a gigabit ethernet and HDMI port. However, the base M4 model still uses Thunderbolt 4, while the M4 Pro model gets Thunderbolt 5.

We haven’t tested the new iMac or Mac Mini (yet), but if you fancy yourself an early adopter, there are a lot of preorder options to consider.

The iMac comes with a Magic Keyboard and your choice of a Magic Mouse or a Magic Trackpad (the latter of which costs $50 extra), all of which now feature USB-C ports. It will be available on November 8th, but you can preorder it now from Apple in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver, with the base model starting at $1,299. It’s also up for preorder in select configurations at Amazon for the same price or at Best Buy for $50 off with a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, which start at $50 a year.

The entry-level version offers a pair of Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, along with an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU. It also offers 16GB of RAM, but you can upgrade to 24GB for $200 more. The iMac also features 256GB of storage by default, but an extra $200 gets you 512GB of storage, while $400 more gets you 1TB of storage. For another $200, you can add nano-textured glass, which helps scatter light and minimize screen glare.

The higher-end models, meanwhile, are available from Apple, Amazon, and Best Buy starting at $1,499 and come with four Thunderbolt 4 ports, 16GB RAM, and 256GB of storage. Paying $200 extra allows you to upgrade to either 24GB of RAM or 512GB of storage. If you need even more storage, you can get 1TB or 2TB for an extra $400 or $800, respectively. Apple also lets you upgrade to 32GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $400 extra.

The M4 Mac Mini is currently available from Apple starting at $599 in its base configuration, which includes a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. You can upgrade to 512GB of storage for an additional $200, 1TB for $400, or 2TB for $800. RAM surcharges are similar; jumping to 24GB of RAM adds another $200 to your total, and you can get it with up to 32GB of RAM for $400.

As for the model with the M4 Pro chip, you can preorder it from Apple starting at $1,399 with a 12-core CPU and a 16-core GPU, 24GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Upgrading the M4 Pro to a 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU costs an extra $200. You can also double the storage to 1TB for $200, get 2TB for $600, 4TB for $1,200, or max out with 8TB for $2,400. Memory upgrades are similarly pricey, with 48GB adding $400 to the total and 64GB adding $600.

Both the M4 and M4 Pro Mac Minis allow you to upgrade to 10-gigabit ethernet for an extra $100, too. There’s only one color (silver), by the way, and neither package includes a mice or keyboard. Both will start shipping on November 8th.

Update, October 29th: Added preorder details regarding Apple’s new M4 Mac Mini, along with additional preorder info for the M4 iMac.