The M4 Pro Mac mini is possibly the best deal in computing in late 2024, boasting an impressive amount of power for pros that rivals the Mac Studio and Mac Pro in a tiny package.

Such is the classic simplicity of Apple design, if you’d been abducted by aliens two decades ago and taken to the peaceful planet Zog to hang out with and learn from an enlightened species, you’d still recognize this as a Mac mini when you returned. (Though you’d probably be disappointed at the state of enlightenment here on Terra Ferma.)

Discover the M4 Pro Mac Mini's gaming prowess and emulation capabilities in this detailed gaming and 8k emulator review. A compact powerhouse

The base model Mac mini M4 is a big step up from its predecessor and likely enough for most people without any expensive upgrades. It comes with Apple’s awesome M4 chip, double the memory with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

As of Nov. 20, you can get the Apple Mac Mini (M4, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for $499.99 at Costco. That's $80 off its normal price of $579.99, and the lowest price we've seen for this configuration yet.

They have four standard models, from the base machine up through a pretty nice M4 Pro model. For years, we ran Relay’s live stream on a Mac mini hosted by MacStadium. If you need a Mac in the cloud, it’s the only way to go.

In this video, we explore a little about the new Cloud PC launched by Microsoft and also compare it with the Mac Mini M4 to see which offers the most utility for the price.