When it was introduced during the white plastic heyday of peak iPod-era Apple, the Mac mini was pitched as the cheapest way to buy into the Mac ecosystem. It was $499. And despite some fluctuation (as high as $799 for the entry-level 2018 mini, $599 for this year's refresh), the Mac mini has stayed the cheapest entry-level Mac ever since.

You can also configure the Mac Mini M4 with up to 32GB of memory and a 2TB SSD, which will cost you $1,799 or $1,899 if you add a gigabit Ethernet port. You can trick out the Mac Mini M4 Pro with a 14-core CPU, up to 64GB of unified memory, an 8TB SSD, and a gigabit Ethernet port. However, it will set you back a whopping $4,699.

For years, the Mini was the odd man out in the Mac desktop lineup. Apple has given plenty of love to the iMac over the years. The Mac Pro has had a few

With the M4 Pro and Thunderbolt 5, the Mac mini supports up to three displays simultaneously at 6K resolution and 60Hz. It can also power one 6K/60Hz panel with a second screen up to 8K/60Hz or a 4K panel at up to a 240Hz refresh rate. These higher-end 8K/60Hz and 4K/240Hz display configurations require the HDMI port.

The Mac mini M4 is more than an iteration on previous versions of Apple’s smallest Mac. Its redesigned chassis is absolutely tiny, the base model doubles the amount of memory that comes standard, the M4 chip is even better in a desktop and you now have ports at both the front and back of the device.

Apple’s smaller Mac mini is mightier than ever, thanks to the M4 and M4 Pro chips, and it’s a better deal with 16GB of RAM to start.

The new M4 Mac mini is an incredible opportunity for Intel Mac owners to finally move to Apple Silicon. Here's what has changed in the six years since the last Intel Mac mini's release.