New Mac mini leaked via string – with five USB-C ports

The rumor mill has been circulating for weeks that there will soon be a Mac mini with a revised design. Now Apple itself seems to have confirmed this: in the form of a new string in the company’s software. This was reported by @aaronp613, who specializes in Apple leaks, on X. He did not say where exactly the leak is; however, the information seems to have appeared as part of the current operating system updates.

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Four new Macs expected in fall

The exact name is “Apple Silicon Mac mini (5 Port)”. This means that it is apparently a new compact computer with five USB-C ports. Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman had also previously predicted this – Apple is said to stop using USB-A ports on the Mac mini in the future. The new machine is said to be more compact, but possibly a little taller than the current form factor. Apple had left this unchanged since 2010, always adding new internals.

The new version is now more reminiscent of an Apple TV box than the Mac Studio, which in turn looks like an extended Mac mini. It is currently expected that Apple could introduce new Macs in October and then bring them to market in November. At least four new Macs are expected. In addition to the Mac mini, which will probably be available as an M4 and M4 Pro, these could be new MacBook Pro models with M4 and possibly an iMac M4.

M3 generation is skipped

Apple introduced the last Mac mini in January 2023, when it received M2 and M2 Pro SoCs. Apple is likely to want to skip the M3 generation. At the moment, there is only the iPad Pro with an M4 SoC – unusual for the company. It is unclear what other ports the new Mac mini will have. The computers currently have four Thunderbolt 4 ports with USB-C, two USB-A ports, HDMI and Gigabit Ethernet plus a headphone jack. It remains to be seen whether anything else will be dropped.

The Mac mini is traditionally a machine that is delivered without a keyboard, mouse or trackpad. However, it is the cheapest Mac in Apple’s range. The entry-level model currently costs 700 euros from the manufacturer, but the machine is cheaper in stores (from 608 euros).

(bsc)