Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

If you're expecting a Mac mini at WWDC, you're probably going to be disappointed


Last updated

Apple appears to be planning to skip an M3 revision to the Mac mini in favor of a more significant update featuring the M4 chip.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has previously reported that Apple would update the Mac mini line with M4 and M4 Pro chips towards the end of 2024 or early 2025. In a report on Sunday, he's amplified that, and said that there probably won't be a M3 Mac mini at all.

The Mac mini was last updated in January of 2023 with the M2 and M2 Pro.

That Mac mini M2 Pro update also came with more Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6E, HDMI 2.1 for the M2 Pro model, and updates to Bluetooth. It isn't clear if the next Mac mini will sport any further hardware changes, beyond the M4.

The M4 is thought to get big upgrades to the Neural Engine component of the chip, alongside other AI enhancements. Such improvements are expected to be a major topic of June's WWDC conference.

Since the M1 was first introduced, Apple has staggered releases of some models. The iMac, for example, was upgraded to the M3 chips late in 2023, skipping the M2 entirely.

Other models are still waiting. The Mac Studio and Mac Pro, like the Mac mini, are currently on the M2.



13 Comments

blastdoor 16 Years · 3621 comments

I recently bought a refurbished m2pro Mac mini because I gave up on an m3 mini being released. I also would not be surprised if the studio skips m3 too. 

1 Like · 0 Dislikes
chasm 11 Years · 3641 comments

blastdoor said:
I recently bought a refurbished m2pro Mac mini because I gave up on an m3 mini being released. I also would not be surprised if the studio skips m3 too. 

Agreed. Anything still on the M2 family at this point is likely to jump to M4 sometime in the fall or early next year.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes
tenthousandthings 18 Years · 1060 comments

blastdoor said:
I recently bought a refurbished m2pro Mac mini because I gave up on an m3 mini being released. I also would not be surprised if the studio skips m3 too. 

With regard to the Mini and the iMac refresh cadences, whatever. It’s fine. But if Apple skips the M3 Ultra, they need to explain what they are doing with the silicon. It raises a lot of questions, not all of which are (how shall I put it?) strategic.

It’s not enough to just say it’s all product-driven, and they only build the silicon their products need. Everyone understands why Apple doesn’t talk about unreleased products. But expectations need to be managed.

Marketing and management needs to wake up and realize the architects and engineers need to be allowed to explain more than what is currently being explained.

4 Likes · 0 Dislikes
VictorMortimer 1 Year · 239 comments

blastdoor said:
I recently bought a refurbished m2pro Mac mini because I gave up on an m3 mini being released. I also would not be surprised if the studio skips m3 too. 
With regard to the Mini and the iMac refresh cadences, whatever. It’s fine. But if Apple skips the M3 Ultra, they need to explain what they are doing with the silicon. It raises a lot of questions, not all of which are (how shall I put it?) strategic.

It’s not enough to just say it’s all product-driven, and they only build the silicon their products need. Everyone understands why Apple doesn’t talk about unreleased products. But expectations need to be managed.

Marketing and management needs to wake up and realize the architects and engineers need to be allowed to explain more than what is currently being explained.
My understanding is that the M3 is based on a dead end as far as process tech goes.

Apple's failure to release roadmaps has been a huge problem for years.  It's why we're forced to rely on rumors sites like this one for planning purposes.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
blastdoor 16 Years · 3621 comments

blastdoor said:
I recently bought a refurbished m2pro Mac mini because I gave up on an m3 mini being released. I also would not be surprised if the studio skips m3 too. 
With regard to the Mini and the iMac refresh cadences, whatever. It’s fine. But if Apple skips the M3 Ultra, they need to explain what they are doing with the silicon. It raises a lot of questions, not all of which are (how shall I put it?) strategic.

It’s not enough to just say it’s all product-driven, and they only build the silicon their products need. Everyone understands why Apple doesn’t talk about unreleased products. But expectations need to be managed.

Marketing and management needs to wake up and realize the architects and engineers need to be allowed to explain more than what is currently being explained.
My understanding is that the M3 is based on a dead end as far as process tech goes.

Apple's failure to release roadmaps has been a huge problem for years.  It's why we're forced to rely on rumors sites like this one for planning purposes.

I agree that’s its most likely because of the process. Also, for the mini, the M3 pro isn’t much better than the m2 pro, so that might have been a pointless update.

i wonder if when the m4 comes out we might finally see the whole Mac lineup updated at once — that would be something.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes