I’ve been thinking a lot about the new Mac mini M4. When I saw it on Tuesday, I decided that, contrary to widespread allegations, this was indeed the case. not look like an Apple TV 4K; it looks more like a shrunken Mac Studio. But I’m willing to admit that the new mini is a little more Apple TV 4K than we expected.
Case in point: have you ever seen a power button on your Apple TV? Of course not, because he doesn’t have one. And based on recent developments, it may not be long before the same policy applies to the Mac. Apple seems to think that you should turn on a Mac once, then work with it for years without turning it off. Just send it to sleep or let the software shut it down and restart it during an operating system update.
Since you never need to turn off the Mac, it stands to reason that you don’t need to find the power button. On desktops, Apple hides it rather shyly at the back. The equivalent button on a MacBook is slightly more visible – at the top right of the keyboard – but because it now has Touch ID, there’s no label and it’s quite discreet.
However, with the Mac mini M4, Apple has taken its quest to hide the on/off switch to the next level. It is now located on the down housing. Seriously.
Instead of awkwardly reaching behind the Mac mini to turn it on, you now have to lift it slightly to find the power button. Who invented this nonsense? He wasn’t Jony Ive, but his aversion to buttons and ports is obviously still deeply ingrained in Apple’s DNA.
Apple’s climate contradictions
Let’s go back to the idea of never having to turn off a device. If you don’t use the Apple TV 4K for a while, it displays pretty pictures from around the world and then goes to sleep on its own. But if I really want to turn off the device, I press and hold the power button on the remote control and the TV goes into standby too. Does Mac mini M4 have a remote? No!
So I turn it on once and never turn it off again…how does this fit with Apple’s carbon neutrality claim? Yes, I cover part of my electricity needs with a solar panel on the roof. And yes, my local supplier also uses renewable energy. But that will still involve coal and gas being burned somewhere along the line.
It could well be that the aluminum in the case is 100% recycled, as is the gold in the conductors and sockets inside. It may also be that Apple is now saving even more materials in packaging and no longer uses plastic. It is also possible that my Mac mini M4 arrived by ship from China to Rotterdam and was then transported from there by rail.
Okay, the M4 is pretty damn efficient and requires a lot less power with much better performance than my 2018 Intel mini. But I still want to turn off the Mac mini if I don’t need it for a long time. period, because he consumes some of them. watts even when idle. And when I turn it back on, I don’t want to have to lift the object, no matter how light it is.
Current best prices: Mac Mini M4
$699
This article was originally published on our sister publication Macwelt and has been translated and localized from German.
