Sorry about the editing error at 6:45. We tried to get this up ASAP and had a bit of a goof in our QC. If you’re scared, close your eyes and it will be over soon.
I thought it was cool for a few seconds, kind of like an attention grabbing gimmick. Maybe you could experiment with this, but it shouldn't last longer than a few seconds.
@ very true. I love mkbhd and dave2d too, they know a lot about the Mac mini as well. But they don’t know what it *tastes* like. So Snazzy Labs is just a bit more comprehensive, props
Some of the most popular accessories sold for the old Mac mini are a vesa mount and a holder to mount it under the table. A power button on the bottom makes total sense for those applications.
Don't. You will have to buy all new software, all of it overpriced, and NOTHING from previous macincrap generations will work. Windoze sucks, but at least you can still run old software from 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. Macincrap? You can't even run stuff made five years ago. It's constant forced purchasing and money sucking.
I picked up a (used) 2018 Mac mini about a year ago. I primarily run Linux and rebooting into windows is a pain so it's a nice Unix-y box to sit on my desk that can run proprietary apps when necessary. Honestly, when it eventually dies I'll probably upgrade to a used M4, they seem to have made good decisions with how they designed it!
@@snazzy You missed the point. Buy macincrap, and you're locked into an ecosystem with a single vendor and forced purchase of new hardware in a few years. Buy PC, and you can use windoze, Linux, and other OSes. And the only that forces "upgrades" can still run 10 or 20 year old software. Use Linux, and the PC will STILL have support in 15+ years.
25:26 those shields are there because the board was in close proximity to the power supply, which is very noisy and carries mains power, which is a lot stronger of a noise with its higher amplitude
@@radellafbecause it’s much less elegant of a solution, and they have a little bit of Z-depth to play with unlike the ultra-slim iMac lol its proprietary magnetic power connector is so sweet though
I have been a tech guy for over 30yrs working with both MAC & Windows and Mr Snazzy I am astonished at your depth of knowledge! It is just so evident in a review like this one where you can go down to the finest details of power supply component suppliers and then explain the basics for those less well informed. Well done I say
This is such good proof that you can make compact performant hardware while being repairable and semi-modular. This lebel of repairability should be a baseline for orhers to meet or improve on. Thanks for the video as well!
Probably one of the most entertaining, knowledgeable and fun teardowns I've seen so far. The moment you just threw all the packaging off the table... comedy gold!
I just image the pride that the architecs of these boards must feel when almost everyone praises the beauty of these boards! To them: congratulations on this stellar work!
One Quinn to another: you make great content. I really appreciate how you know what you’re talking about in this teardown. You’re more knowledgeable about the fabrication process than journalists who do nothing but cover Apple devices.
I used to be a hater, you called me out a few years ago. After a long time I’ve realized my opinions coincided with yours and I can finally apologize! Thanks!
14:19 When you put tiny screws at the end of the table and ignore that you got screw storage and sorting in the removable lid of the screwdriver kit right next to you.
@@snazzy When I did repairs in my Apple Store days (2010-2011) we used to use what were basically fishing tackle boxes. I’d chuck an Excel^H^H^H^H^H Numbers spreadsheet up on the display in front of me with the right amount of boxes so I could label what each screw type was as I’d go.
I worked in a tech shop for a long time and people would always get mad at me for not using a screw tray, and laying them out on my mat. My argument is that it is so easy to flip a screw tray, and have all the screws fly through the room. I never lost a screw (only if I dropped it) and I have indeed seen my coworkers flip their screw trays. I will die on my high horse about that.
@@SkaterStimm I liked doing that too! But sometimes there were just too many screws of different types, and if I wasn’t using a tray I liked to have them lined up like they were in an invisible chassis
The m4 chip and packaging is a masterpiece, but the 16gb unupgradeable ram and 256 gb storage should be illegal. Don't know why people keep ignoring those aspects.
@@askeladden450 eh, is it really? I've got an M2 MBP with 16GB of memory ... on a Windows laptop that would be cutting it fine, but on a Mac I've never run into issues - and that's including running things like IDE's - the memory being so damn fast helps, as does it having fast SSD storage for when stuff DOES need to be paged.
@@PhilJohn1980 Exactly. We use Minis as music workstations (with Roli gear) and the lowest spec is perfectly adequate. Buy once and then it works 10+ years in the studio.
there's a lot of EMC shielding measures that make assembly much more complex. Not just the copper tape for the cages on the board, also the way all the ports are mounted clearly is for shielding. I wonder if they target more strict standards than the normal consumer electronics standards.
Wow thank you for bringing more than just an open it up and show parts. It is truly appreciated that you actually know the components and explain them good on you.
There's something about this that feels like it resurrects the analog, straightforward, user-friendly, and hands-on DIY approach that was in computing when 'mac' was just 'macintosh'
Say What You Want about Apple, but they’re definitely an engineering firm at it’s finest. Even if sometimes their engineering is used to counteracting repairability, they’re masters of their craft. What a beautifully designed and put together machine. And what an incredible video you put together to present it all. Thank you Snazzy master, this was truly enjoyable.
@@alanmay7929are you talking about those underpowered PC twice the size of this Mac Mini, and with the huge external power supply, you know those noisy machines without any TB port, those ones? Lol
People complain about the power button placement. But honestly, I much rather have the button in a slightly inconvenient place, rather than at a place where I easily can press it by accident.
It’s supposed to discourage people from turning power on/off Just like Apple discourages people from data hoarding by artificially making ssd storage upgrades expensive. Why? It’s so you use icloud storage more.
@@RunForPeace-hk1cu You can turn it on/off from the keyboard. Only need the button for a bad crash and maybe initial turn-on before the keyboard is paired. That said, the only time I turn my mac off is if it crashes badly enough to need a hard power-off, which is extremely rare. It became common with a 7 year old intel imac, unfortunately, not sure if it was HW or SW.
I have a BeeLink Ser9 and have on order the new base model m4 mac mini and both are the same exact size and equivalent in power for both widows and mac users on one desk and i love it.
I use a sheet of printer paper (even printing out a "schematic" when I can) and I pierce the screws into the paper roughly in the shape of where they go in the system (or again, if I have a schematic, exactly where they go). I haven't lost a screw in 15 years.
Would you also please do a teardown of m4 pro macbooks. Want to see how that thing looks from the inside Edit: As an electrical engineer, its always a pleasure to see you go in depth in your teardown videos and dive into topics of bus bars, capacitor manufacturers, voltage regulators and high speed design considerations. You really are the Vsauce of Tech Videos. Hopefully, more people notice your genuine enthusiasm and support you.
4:13, I have a bunch in mind, 1. magnetic bottom plate for magnetic bottom dock (using a hidden clipper inside that to bring power button to side of the dock), possibly stackable docks, tb4/5 is more than capable 2. add copper for better thermals, 3. m4 chip thermal paste has potential to be improved (possibly liquid metal). ... and so on.
@nelzo1703 Nope, don't you think Apple thought about it and will allow third party cut into their business of memory upselling? There is a pairing chip on that removable module. All you can do is desolder nand chips and solder another ones with more capacity. Apple could stop that too if they wanted, but they know that very few people will do that (you need to be a repair specialist to do that).
@@unruler It seems these are similar to the Mac Studio and it's already been shown that aftermarket nands soldered to custom boards works. As far as I know there aren't any custom boards with pre-soldered nands on the market yet, but with the Mini being a much larger market than the Studio maybe the demand will support it.
@@whatcouldgowrong7914this. I’d agree on anything remotely mobile, but since the Mac mini is made to be stationary on a desktop and Thunderbolt enclosures and NASs exist I don’t care personally. If you don’t have either it is hefty additional cost tho I admit.
@@whatcouldgowrong7914 And how much does that cost and how much is the drive to put in it? Why doesn't Apple just let people replace the drive with their own or I don't know not charge 2TB money for an additional 256gb drive? It's effing greedy. Cheapest quality enclosure I found was $100 and the 2TB drive will cost me $150 that's $250 to upgrade the storage on a $600 computer. People shouldn't have to do that on a computer with a modular SSD.
Interesting that the PSU has transformers that pass through the board too. Apple's engineering has always amazed me, even if I'm not the type of person that buys their products
I just learned those Necco Candies were probably an after-war product when they has plenty of machines to press bullets for the war and then had the idea to continue making money by pressing candy instead
Too bad its not to the extent of user replaceable ssd, or even better ssd and ram. Side node, I know the ssd can be replaced, but its only by them, for repairing, or if you want to go dosdude route.
I enjoyed this video a lot, even if watching you "tear down" a brand new Mac mini was anxiety-provoking at times. It doesn't help that I just got mine yesterday and imagined you doing it to mine.
Please can you be the first on TH-cam to compare the first ever 2005 Mac mini and that one. I can’t think of nobody else to do that! Love your channel and content, keep up the good work!
It's nice that they are so small, but, yes, I think that's a pretty wide belief. If nothing else, it's WAY too easy to touch the metal when plugging it in. The UK 2-pin ones are what I think are the best. The HUGE round 3-pin plugs are just comically big.
@@bandombeviews6035 For some things, US are probably a disadvantage. For little USB wall chargers, though? The wide-spaced, long, round pins in most other countries look kind of ridiculously big vs the little charger. The wall outlets or power strips with individual switches (is that UK only?) are also a great safety idea, but absolutely massive. I'm not sure how much safer 110VAC is vs 220, which could be part of it. A better, smaller, plug would be easy to make but it's too late to change a standard like that.
Wish I knew you were making a tear down video before I watched Max Techs tear down. Your energy and explanation of everything that you understand is so entertaining. Also was there a sponsor for the video or was it just the LTT screwdriver, if it was amazing integration.
@ Amazing video then. I know I have been critical of sponsors in the past but I don’t mind them. I just disliked the effort the team put into vacuum reviews when your talent is this. I love your style of videos no one else in the tech sphere comes even close. Hope you all continue to do what you’re doing.
@@Melchirobinit just so happens that we love robot vacuums so when they pay us to make videos we don't mind putting effort into it. I also don't like not trying even for an addy vacuum video. Sorry Quinn...
@@cinebenjamin If you guys enjoy it more power to you and keep on doing it. I will personally skip over those but if the team enjoys it amazing. I have heard of being forced into sponsorships with golden handcuffs so I assumed it was one of those types of content, which is my mistake. I incorrectly assumed that you all just did for the money and did not care about the product that much. That all being said just be a bit more realistic with the claims of this is what I use here or the best vacuum statements. It felt like (I could be wrong) that there were three vacuum videos that came out within a year which were all the best. The tone of the video (so not said in words) made it seem like it was a worthwhile upgrade compared to the previous vacuum tested. When these vacuums cost over a thousand dollars sometimes and every one is worth upgrading for it becomes a bit disingenuous in my opinion. Again this is just my opinion from someone who loves watching the tech videos but not the vacuum ones so take it with a grain of salt and keep doing what ur doing.
That was awesome, thanks! Best line was about the "Special goop" :-D I certainly won't be tearing down mine...when I get it! (Mac Mini m1 ... still runs great but the temptation to upgrade is very strong!)
😂 thank YOU! And I don’t blame you for being tempted, but the M1 Mac mini is one of the best machines of all time. Definitely gonna tide you over for years to come!
Got my base model m4 mini yesterday and its remarkable how capable it is, talking about it from the perspective of a PCMR/IT guy with a top end daily driver, and how for a system with only an iGPU it can handle modest to moderate games at 1440p60. Blown away it could handle No Mans Sky at 4k high settings around ~45-50fps, using the new Apple Metal upscaler in the "quality" preset. With the Education store sale price of only 800 Aussie dollars, it's a no brainer for kids and family members that aren't big gamers and need a very robust, reliable, easy to use, machine
@@perkulant4629 i was mainly talking about operating system stability, my point is, i see more end users with 10 year old macbooks than i do 5 year old windows laptops and from personal support experience, MacOS is pretty bullet proof compared to windows and better for less technically inclined users that generally turn to you for help. yes i know a dusty hinge can kill a macbook lol
@@perkulant4629 Robust in the sense of OS stability, not board design; when you are recommending a product to a less savvy family member or friend, it's important that the wheels won't continually fall off. Unfortunately, especially these days, Windows has only gotten progressively more bloated and jank over time and keeping on top of frequent restarts and annual re-installs is recommended to get the best out of it whereas MasOS seems to "just work" as 'cringe' as that slogan is. When users are generally hopeless at ever restarting their machines or doing any maintenance or troubleshooting, I wish I could just deploy macs everywhere. I realize that a bit of dust in just the right spot can kill a MacBook but, in a mac mini, there isn't a lot that can go wrong; I've had mac minis deployed at sites where they are all still working 6-8+ years later and we are only interested in phasing them out due to being slow by modern standards. Had a number of users still cling on to 10+yo macbooks for various reasons, often just because they like the reliability of MacOS.
Quinn, if you're going to do this you should get a *magnetic parts tray* to hold your screws and whatever else. They look like a tiny flat-bottomed bowl and all magnetic parts will stay in there instead of all being loose on your sketchy table. They cost like $5-10 and they're very useful.
Apparently a lot of countries have not given WiFi 7 the spectrum approval (including big markets such as India). That may be a reason why, otherwise it could not have been sold here
WiFi 7 doesn't add any additional spectrum requirements, it uses the same spectrum as 6E. The one huge difference with WiFi 7 is MLO which allows for aggregate connections over 2.4, 5, and 6Ghz. But again, no new spectrum being used from my understanding.
@@andrewtfluck true but from what I understand in India, WiFi 6e routers started to sell before spectrum approval. Some companies (telcos mostly) created a ruckus about this. I don’t see them listed now. Also I’ve heard stories about how devices could still be WiFi 6e since 6Ghz was not mandatorily required. iPads were for example running basically WiFi 6 in India via software config. For WiFi 7 I believe 6Ghz is mandatorily required so it may cause an issue. This is the same reason the PS5 pro has not launched in India yet.
@@snazzy I am seriously confused about this as well. This may be a software lock, however I can't find any official confirmation of this as well. However I do know for a fact that Sony has stated that they are not launching the PS5 pro in India specifically because of 6GHz spectrum requirements in Wifi 7.
How often I use the power button you ask? EVERY TIME I want to use my Mac because I power it down after I’m done. And saying „I like it“ to a power button on the under side is of course your personal opinion but man, really?
@ Because 3W > 0W 😄 Not everyone is using these 24/7. I use my computer every other day for maybe an hour. Often less than this. And considering the price of this Mac, chances are good people with that use case would buy a computer like this.
@@snazzy Electricity is expensive where I live and every watt matters. Leaving everything on in my house idling uses 200 watts which costs me .20 an hour. That's 146 a month just from idling electronics.
@@snazzy ... very American way to look at things. Meanwhile I have switched power cords on almost every device and the only exception I will make is a future OLED TV for pixel repair.
If they are going to charge 2TB SSD prices for 256GB why would they take the display from a 24" iMac and make it a standalone monitor for a reasonable price?
FINALLY! A proper teardown! Thanks for sharing this. Very eager to get one of these. REMOVABLE STORAGE!!!! But bear in mind that it's not an actual SSD, only flash storage, as the controller hardware for the SSD is built into the M4. Hopefully someone will manufacture replacement upgrade drives we can buy.
Congrats on getting all that back together with no bag and tag! It kinda makes me sad that I just bought an M2 mini earlier this year. Still more machine than I’ll ever need but the new mini is very cool.
Your video from two years ago where you shrank the previous gen Mac Mini into a Mac Nano is my favorite tech video on the entire TH-cam. Now with this M4 Mac Mini, we have Apple's official Mac Nano. The new Mac Mini is fan-cooled, and the cooling system makes the machine taller than its predecessor. Would you think it a good idea to shorten the M4 Mac Mini by swapping the fan system out with a passive cooling system such as a thick slab of copper? Would passive cooling be adequate for the M4 chip? It would be super cool if you could make the already super small Mac Mini even Mini-er, again! Please, please, just consider this idea. Thanks a lot.
Oh man. That necco wafers brought back 2 memories. Eating them, and a Homestar Runner trick or treat episode with Strongsad saying he “was sick for a year and nearly died” after mistaking sidewalk chalk for Necco Wafers. A+ teardown.
Loved this! Thanks I was super interested to see everything in the new Mac mini! Slight correction - all the 2018 (including the i3, i5 and i7) Mac minis had upgradable RAM but a soldered SSD
This is a sick machine. I wish the SSD was an actual commodity storage and more easily accessible but other than that, great machine. I'm 100% getting one
Sorry about the editing error at 6:45. We tried to get this up ASAP and had a bit of a goof in our QC. If you’re scared, close your eyes and it will be over soon.
Yeah just think that your left eye is blessed :)
Oh I thought it was the youtube app again
Is that a threat?
I thought it was a stylistic choice
I thought it was cool for a few seconds, kind of like an attention grabbing gimmick. Maybe you could experiment with this, but it shouldn't last longer than a few seconds.
Apple probably didn't think they needed to put a moisture sensor on the wireless board, and yet...
Haha!
Probably wouldn’t have been cost-effective to put a large capacitor there on every unit, just for Quin.
Perhaps in case of office fire sprinklers causing water damage to computers?
This involved more tasting of hardware components and suction cups than I expected from a Mac mini review. Not a lot, but more than anticipated.
I guess you could say I’m a bit of a Mac mini connoisseur.
@ very true. I love mkbhd and dave2d too, they know a lot about the Mac mini as well. But they don’t know what it *tastes* like. So Snazzy Labs is just a bit more comprehensive, props
@@snazzy sommaclier
Fun fact: dosdude1 already swapped the nandchips to 1TB (2x512GB) on the Mac Mini. He published his video a few hours ago :)
I'd like to know how much those nandchips are.
@@robertp457 he said that for 2 512gb nans he payed around 160$
@@robertp457 He paid $90 for 2 x 512 and $160 for 2 x 1TB, so it's cheaper to get an NVMe and an external drive.
@@robertp457 like, $99 or $75 on Aliexpress. Plus the tools and skills needed. Still cheaper than direct from apple.
@@robertp457 The 2 dosdude1 used were around $90.00 USD.
Maybe, just hear me out, the side that everyone thinks is the bottom, is, in fact, the top. And the power button is very conveniently located
There you go! Haha
Apple accidentally put the apple logo on the wrong side 😂
Some of the most popular accessories sold for the old Mac mini are a vesa mount and a holder to mount it under the table. A power button on the bottom makes total sense for those applications.
if you do that and squint, you have yourself a Mac Mini Trashcan!
@@superhavion the bottom. At the back? That’s a reach.
I usually have pretty much no interest in Apple products these days. But that $499 price tag for 16 gigs and M4 is still so mighty tempting for me.
Don't. You will have to buy all new software, all of it overpriced, and NOTHING from previous macincrap generations will work. Windoze sucks, but at least you can still run old software from 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. Macincrap? You can't even run stuff made five years ago. It's constant forced purchasing and money sucking.
I picked up a (used) 2018 Mac mini about a year ago. I primarily run Linux and rebooting into windows is a pain so it's a nice Unix-y box to sit on my desk that can run proprietary apps when necessary. Honestly, when it eventually dies I'll probably upgrade to a used M4, they seem to have made good decisions with how they designed it!
You literally cannot build a faster PC of any size for $600. And that’s wild to say as a Mac user.
@@snazzy You missed the point. Buy macincrap, and you're locked into an ecosystem with a single vendor and forced purchase of new hardware in a few years. Buy PC, and you can use windoze, Linux, and other OSes. And the only that forces "upgrades" can still run 10 or 20 year old software. Use Linux, and the PC will STILL have support in 15+ years.
@@guessundheit6494 You can run linux natively on the arm macs now.
25:26 those shields are there because the board was in close proximity to the power supply, which is very noisy and carries mains power, which is a lot stronger of a noise with its higher amplitude
Yep! They’re on the opposite side of the logic board too.
I just have to wonder why it isn't more like the iMac, with the power supply as a separate brick with DC to the computer.
@@radellafbecause it’s much less elegant of a solution, and they have a little bit of Z-depth to play with unlike the ultra-slim iMac lol its proprietary magnetic power connector is so sweet though
I have been a tech guy for over 30yrs working with both MAC & Windows and Mr Snazzy I am astonished at your depth of knowledge! It is just so evident in a review like this one where you can go down to the finest details of power supply component suppliers and then explain the basics for those less well informed. Well done I say
1:24 Technology Connections intensifies. No, these holes are for manufacturing purposes only.
I must continue to believe in folklore, sorry Alec.
I must buy two of them to make sure
Pretty sure they’re actually for flavor intensification.
And we knew that with the magic of buying two of them!
This is such good proof that you can make compact performant hardware while being repairable and semi-modular. This lebel of repairability should be a baseline for orhers to meet or improve on.
Thanks for the video as well!
Now waiting for the reassembly video...
He and Jerry just make e-waste. What reassembly?
@@drflekaI reassembled it perfectly and it works great, you dingus. Why would I take it apart so meticulously only to not reassemble it?
@@snazzy I'd really enjoy a reassemble video as well. Cheers!
Probably one of the most entertaining, knowledgeable and fun teardowns I've seen so far. The moment you just threw all the packaging off the table... comedy gold!
Agreed, please do more of these Quinn!
I just image the pride that the architecs of these boards must feel when almost everyone praises the beauty of these boards! To them: congratulations on this stellar work!
One Quinn to another: you make great content. I really appreciate how you know what you’re talking about in this teardown. You’re more knowledgeable about the fabrication process than journalists who do nothing but cover Apple devices.
Hey, thanks Quinn!
Quinception.
I love how he let his intrusive thoughts win and put the coin battery board in his mouth
At $500-$600 this thing is just insane. All ee need is a viable SSD swap and we're golden.
In EU always more expensive. The cheapest model is $752
@@mpmpmif that true in Poland we finally “winning” after all those years.
2999 PLN for base model
I used to be a hater, you called me out a few years ago. After a long time I’ve realized my opinions coincided with yours and I can finally apologize! Thanks!
Well I’m not always right, for the record haha what did I call you out on? In any case, glad to have you around! Thanks for being snazzy.
i think that's a bot haha. it's a super generic reply.
@theJesai
No bot I know have that old of an account. Unless his account got hacked.
@@theJesainah, they’ve left 5 relevant comments and have been a public subscriber for 8 years so they’re legit I think haha
@@snazzy ah lol!
14:19 When you put tiny screws at the end of the table and ignore that you got screw storage and sorting in the removable lid of the screwdriver kit right next to you.
It works great, yes, but I like to keep the screws by the components in clusters. Makes it easier!
@@snazzy When I did repairs in my Apple Store days (2010-2011) we used to use what were basically fishing tackle boxes. I’d chuck an Excel^H^H^H^H^H Numbers spreadsheet up on the display in front of me with the right amount of boxes so I could label what each screw type was as I’d go.
I worked in a tech shop for a long time and people would always get mad at me for not using a screw tray, and laying them out on my mat. My argument is that it is so easy to flip a screw tray, and have all the screws fly through the room. I never lost a screw (only if I dropped it) and I have indeed seen my coworkers flip their screw trays. I will die on my high horse about that.
@@SkaterStimm I liked doing that too! But sometimes there were just too many screws of different types, and if I wasn’t using a tray I liked to have them lined up like they were in an invisible chassis
@@jimi-w I have learned about magnet mats that allow you to place screws in the pattern that you took them off in. I think these are ideal.
Say what you will about Apple, this is an engineering masterpiece. A literal marvel.
The m4 chip and packaging is a masterpiece, but the 16gb unupgradeable ram and 256 gb storage should be illegal. Don't know why people keep ignoring those aspects.
@@askeladden450 eh, is it really? I've got an M2 MBP with 16GB of memory ... on a Windows laptop that would be cutting it fine, but on a Mac I've never run into issues - and that's including running things like IDE's - the memory being so damn fast helps, as does it having fast SSD storage for when stuff DOES need to be paged.
@@PhilJohn1980 Exactly. We use Minis as music workstations (with Roli gear) and the lowest spec is perfectly adequate. Buy once and then it works 10+ years in the studio.
No it's not! And TSMC is the one that should be congratulated and literally no one even talk about it
@@askeladden450there isn't any masterpiece here lol!!
there's a lot of EMC shielding measures that make assembly much more complex. Not just the copper tape for the cages on the board, also the way all the ports are mounted clearly is for shielding.
I wonder if they target more strict standards than the normal consumer electronics standards.
Almost certainly.
I don't think they target more strict standards, they're just scrutinized very thoroughly by the involved regulatory bodies.
Wow thank you for bringing more than just an open it up and show parts. It is truly appreciated that you actually know the components and explain them good on you.
Just got my Mac mini Pro yesterday.... been setting it up.Looking forward to making music with it!
This has to be the most in depth tear down video I've ever seen! Quinn even took apart the LED indicator light 😂
10:06 wow what acting, you already knew it had the removable. 😂🤣
your videos are an instant click. the teardown was super interesting :)
Glad you liked it!
There's something about this that feels like it resurrects the analog, straightforward, user-friendly, and hands-on DIY approach that was in computing when 'mac' was just 'macintosh'
Say What You Want about Apple, but they’re definitely an engineering firm at it’s finest. Even if sometimes their engineering is used to counteracting repairability, they’re masters of their craft. What a beautifully designed and put together machine.
And what an incredible video you put together to present it all. Thank you Snazzy master, this was truly enjoyable.
crazy how Dosdude had already upgraded the storage and uploaded the video by the time this video got released
There’s just something so beautiful about fitting all those components and features into a small package.
what she said
No! We're not in 2009 anymore lol!!! When Intel was making those tiny NUK years ago you never said anything.
@@alanmay7929are you talking about those underpowered PC twice the size of this Mac Mini, and with the huge external power supply, you know those noisy machines without any TB port, those ones? Lol
People complain about the power button placement. But honestly, I much rather have the button in a slightly inconvenient place, rather than at a place where I easily can press it by accident.
It’s supposed to discourage people from turning power on/off
Just like Apple discourages people from data hoarding by artificially making ssd storage upgrades expensive.
Why? It’s so you use icloud storage more.
@@RunForPeace-hk1cu You can turn it on/off from the keyboard. Only need the button for a bad crash and maybe initial turn-on before the keyboard is paired. That said, the only time I turn my mac off is if it crashes badly enough to need a hard power-off, which is extremely rare. It became common with a 7 year old intel imac, unfortunately, not sure if it was HW or SW.
0:50 found him. the nazzy labs guy is the real life ned flanders.
I have a BeeLink Ser9 and have on order the new base model m4 mac mini and both are the same exact size and equivalent in power for both widows and mac users on one desk and i love it.
I use a sheet of printer paper (even printing out a "schematic" when I can) and I pierce the screws into the paper roughly in the shape of where they go in the system (or again, if I have a schematic, exactly where they go). I haven't lost a screw in 15 years.
Leftover cardboard box bits from evil giant online retailers are also great for this. The double layer of paper helps punch them through easier.
Would you also please do a teardown of m4 pro macbooks. Want to see how that thing looks from the inside
Edit: As an electrical engineer, its always a pleasure to see you go in depth in your teardown videos and dive into topics of bus bars, capacitor manufacturers, voltage regulators and high speed design considerations.
You really are the Vsauce of Tech Videos. Hopefully, more people notice your genuine enthusiasm and support you.
The M4 MacBook Pros are literally the same from the inside, it seems, as previous generations.
7:57 is be the best things I've seen in a video in a while! I appreciate the bit of levity!
4:13, I have a bunch in mind,
1. magnetic bottom plate for magnetic bottom dock (using a hidden clipper inside that to bring power button to side of the dock), possibly stackable docks, tb4/5 is more than capable
2. add copper for better thermals,
3. m4 chip thermal paste has potential to be improved (possibly liquid metal).
... and so on.
I loved you’re teardown. I freaked out when you tasted the little board. You’re crazy and snazzy 😂
The Mac Mini was also my first computer I purchased with my own money! Im super excited to get one of these, they look awesome!
Removable SSD is great but in Apple world removable doesn't mean replaceable.
Someone will make something eventually. Like those third party upgrade kits for the old PPC Macs.
@nelzo1703 Nope, don't you think Apple thought about it and will allow third party cut into their business of memory upselling? There is a pairing chip on that removable module. All you can do is desolder nand chips and solder another ones with more capacity. Apple could stop that too if they wanted, but they know that very few people will do that (you need to be a repair specialist to do that).
@@unruler It seems these are similar to the Mac Studio and it's already been shown that aftermarket nands soldered to custom boards works. As far as I know there aren't any custom boards with pre-soldered nands on the market yet, but with the Mini being a much larger market than the Studio maybe the demand will support it.
This studio is beautiful
One of the few channels I have on notifications for every new video. Great as always, look forward to seeing the take on its performance.
Wow, thank you!
Honestly, I have never seen any other company design the internal components as beautifully and as meticulously thought out as Apple.
id ditch my desktop today if Apple let us put standard M.2 drives in.
Use an NVMe thunderbolt enclosure… solved
@@whatcouldgowrong7914this. I’d agree on anything remotely mobile, but since the Mac mini is made to be stationary on a desktop and Thunderbolt enclosures and NASs exist I don’t care personally.
If you don’t have either it is hefty additional cost tho I admit.
@@whatcouldgowrong7914 And how much does that cost and how much is the drive to put in it? Why doesn't Apple just let people replace the drive with their own or I don't know not charge 2TB money for an additional 256gb drive? It's effing greedy.
Cheapest quality enclosure I found was $100 and the 2TB drive will cost me $150 that's $250 to upgrade the storage on a $600 computer. People shouldn't have to do that on a computer with a modular SSD.
@@whatcouldgowrong7914Exactly
@@whatcouldgowrong7914doy
Interesting that the PSU has transformers that pass through the board too. Apple's engineering has always amazed me, even if I'm not the type of person that buys their products
12:03 watching his upgrade video before yours yours is hilarious LMFAO
I may not be into Apple computers and products, but your channel makes them interesting and entertaining.
I just learned those Necco Candies were probably an after-war product when they has plenty of machines to press bullets for the war and then had the idea to continue making money by pressing candy instead
Mmm wartime treats
This thing is an engineering marvel. Bravo Apple Engineers.
Looks like the EU pressure for repairable devices is starting to be seen in consumer devices.
Too bad its not to the extent of user replaceable ssd, or even better ssd and ram. Side node, I know the ssd can be replaced, but its only by them, for repairing, or if you want to go dosdude route.
How many M4 Mac mini reviews does TH-cam need lol
pls don't fire your editor and camera man for 6:45 he does great work and humans make mistakes
Bad news. He’s already 💀.
💀☠️👻
If there are 3rd party SSSs for the M4 Mini in the future, I think I"m gonna buy it :) What a lovely machine!
0:36 that's what she said.
😎
😂😂
An absolute marvel of engineering! Hats off to Apple!
I enjoyed this video a lot, even if watching you "tear down" a brand new Mac mini was anxiety-provoking at times. It doesn't help that I just got mine yesterday and imagined you doing it to mine.
00:00 Introduction
00:00:57 Unfamiliar Power Cable Mystery
00:01:41 Tearing Into the Mac Mini
00:02:37 Disassembling with Caution
00:03:37 Disassembling the Mac Mini
00:04:27 Machine Airflow and Battery Design
00:05:03 Unveiling Gadget Secrets
00:05:59 Delicate Connections Revealed
00:06:53 Dismantling the Network Board
00:07:53 Tastes and Technologies
00:08:30 Exploring the Airflow Design
00:09:16 Optimizing Airflow Dynamics
00:10:02 Apple's Repairability Shift
00:11:00 Proprietary SSD Shenanigans
00:12:13 Exploring Technological Marvels
00:12:51 Reimagining Sound Engineering
00:13:51 Dissecting Technology Challenges
00:14:56 Disassembling with Care
00:16:06 Navigating Tight Spaces
00:17:22 Dissecting the Power Supply
00:18:12 Exploring Circuit Depths
00:19:15 Unveiling Green Technology
00:20:32 Sustainable Innovation Unveiled
00:21:16 Dismantling the Logic Board
00:22:21 Precision in Assembly
00:23:18 Disassembling the Machine
00:24:02 Uncovering Hidden Details
00:24:56 Unveiling Hidden Functions
00:25:33 Disassembling the Shield
00:26:11 Universal HDMI Upgrade
00:26:54 Exploring the Circuitry
00:27:37 Exploring the Mac Mini
6:45 what's going on with the camera lol
Great teardown video....now let's see the reassembly! 😏
*plays video in -1 playback speed*
Apple's inner component design is a thing of beauty.
Great video as usual Quinn, funny and informative. Especially eating the networking board like a Necco 😂
Thanks for the kind words and the laugh!
What happened at 6:47?
Sorry, little error on our end. We tried to get this up ASAP and must have missed this on the watch-through.
@@snazzyhaha I thought TH-cam had glitched for a moment. It had happened to me.
@@snazzy To redeem yourself make a visual joke about it in the next video.
I appreciate the swiftness!
Please can you be the first on TH-cam to compare the first ever 2005 Mac mini and that one. I can’t think of nobody else to do that!
Love your channel and content, keep up the good work!
Unpopular opinion. US AC outlets suck
That’s actually quite a popular opinion. A wrong one, but a popular one.
It's nice that they are so small, but, yes, I think that's a pretty wide belief. If nothing else, it's WAY too easy to touch the metal when plugging it in. The UK 2-pin ones are what I think are the best. The HUGE round 3-pin plugs are just comically big.
What advantages do US plugs have over EU ones? British plugs are massive, even if they are safe.
@@bandombeviews6035 For some things, US are probably a disadvantage. For little USB wall chargers, though? The wide-spaced, long, round pins in most other countries look kind of ridiculously big vs the little charger. The wall outlets or power strips with individual switches (is that UK only?) are also a great safety idea, but absolutely massive. I'm not sure how much safer 110VAC is vs 220, which could be part of it. A better, smaller, plug would be easy to make but it's too late to change a standard like that.
Wish I knew you were making a tear down video before I watched Max Techs tear down. Your energy and explanation of everything that you understand is so entertaining. Also was there a sponsor for the video or was it just the LTT screwdriver, if it was amazing integration.
No sponsor. Was just pleased with the screwdriver! Thanks!
@ Amazing video then. I know I have been critical of sponsors in the past but I don’t mind them. I just disliked the effort the team put into vacuum reviews when your talent is this. I love your style of videos no one else in the tech sphere comes even close. Hope you all continue to do what you’re doing.
@@Melchirobinit just so happens that we love robot vacuums so when they pay us to make videos we don't mind putting effort into it.
I also don't like not trying even for an addy vacuum video. Sorry Quinn...
@@cinebenjamin If you guys enjoy it more power to you and keep on doing it. I will personally skip over those but if the team enjoys it amazing. I have heard of being forced into sponsorships with golden handcuffs so I assumed it was one of those types of content, which is my mistake. I incorrectly assumed that you all just did for the money and did not care about the product that much.
That all being said just be a bit more realistic with the claims of this is what I use here or the best vacuum statements. It felt like (I could be wrong) that there were three vacuum videos that came out within a year which were all the best. The tone of the video (so not said in words) made it seem like it was a worthwhile upgrade compared to the previous vacuum tested. When these vacuums cost over a thousand dollars sometimes and every one is worth upgrading for it becomes a bit disingenuous in my opinion. Again this is just my opinion from someone who loves watching the tech videos but not the vacuum ones so take it with a grain of salt and keep doing what ur doing.
Sorry, I didn’t understand. Why exactly was there a battery inside? Can anyone enlighten me?
It's for the internal clock.
It retains clock information and basic firmware flags when the machine is unplugged from the wall.
Keeps the clock and settings current when powered off.
Clock.
Every motherboard in a Desktop PC has those too.
That was awesome, thanks! Best line was about the "Special goop" :-D I certainly won't be tearing down mine...when I get it! (Mac Mini m1 ... still runs great but the temptation to upgrade is very strong!)
😂 thank YOU! And I don’t blame you for being tempted, but the M1 Mac mini is one of the best machines of all time. Definitely gonna tide you over for years to come!
Got my base model m4 mini yesterday and its remarkable how capable it is, talking about it from the perspective of a PCMR/IT guy with a top end daily driver, and how for a system with only an iGPU it can handle modest to moderate games at 1440p60. Blown away it could handle No Mans Sky at 4k high settings around ~45-50fps, using the new Apple Metal upscaler in the "quality" preset.
With the Education store sale price of only 800 Aussie dollars, it's a no brainer for kids and family members that aren't big gamers and need a very robust, reliable, easy to use, machine
“Robust” Apple makes interesting design choices that lead to failures you wouldn’t see usually in other main board designs.
@@perkulant4629 i was mainly talking about operating system stability, my point is, i see more end users with 10 year old macbooks than i do 5 year old windows laptops and from personal support experience, MacOS is pretty bullet proof compared to windows and better for less technically inclined users that generally turn to you for help.
yes i know a dusty hinge can kill a macbook lol
@@perkulant4629 Robust in the sense of OS stability, not board design; when you are recommending a product to a less savvy family member or friend, it's important that the wheels won't continually fall off. Unfortunately, especially these days, Windows has only gotten progressively more bloated and jank over time and keeping on top of frequent restarts and annual re-installs is recommended to get the best out of it whereas MasOS seems to "just work" as 'cringe' as that slogan is. When users are generally hopeless at ever restarting their machines or doing any maintenance or troubleshooting, I wish I could just deploy macs everywhere.
I realize that a bit of dust in just the right spot can kill a MacBook but, in a mac mini, there isn't a lot that can go wrong; I've had mac minis deployed at sites where they are all still working 6-8+ years later and we are only interested in phasing them out due to being slow by modern standards. Had a number of users still cling on to 10+yo macbooks for various reasons, often just because they like the reliability of MacOS.
Fun fact: 22:07 that copper is a shielding from the psu
“Am I dumb?”
“Sparta!!”
All indications point to yes.
So, were the Spartans dumb?
Quinn, if you're going to do this you should get a *magnetic parts tray* to hold your screws and whatever else. They look like a tiny flat-bottomed bowl and all magnetic parts will stay in there instead of all being loose on your sketchy table. They cost like $5-10 and they're very useful.
Apparently a lot of countries have not given WiFi 7 the spectrum approval (including big markets such as India). That may be a reason why, otherwise it could not have been sold here
The iPhone 16 has WiFi 7, so what do they do with that?
It's not an issue. manufacturers just disable it in software depending on region just like on phones
WiFi 7 doesn't add any additional spectrum requirements, it uses the same spectrum as 6E. The one huge difference with WiFi 7 is MLO which allows for aggregate connections over 2.4, 5, and 6Ghz. But again, no new spectrum being used from my understanding.
@@andrewtfluck true but from what I understand in India, WiFi 6e routers started to sell before spectrum approval. Some companies (telcos mostly) created a ruckus about this. I don’t see them listed now. Also I’ve heard stories about how devices could still be WiFi 6e since 6Ghz was not mandatorily required. iPads were for example running basically WiFi 6 in India via software config.
For WiFi 7 I believe 6Ghz is mandatorily required so it may cause an issue. This is the same reason the PS5 pro has not launched in India yet.
@@snazzy I am seriously confused about this as well. This may be a software lock, however I can't find any official confirmation of this as well. However I do know for a fact that Sony has stated that they are not launching the PS5 pro in India specifically because of 6GHz spectrum requirements in Wifi 7.
This Mac Mini is an engineering marvel! Thanks for the teardown vid! :)
How often I use the power button you ask? EVERY TIME I want to use my Mac because I power it down after I’m done.
And saying „I like it“ to a power button on the under side is of course your personal opinion but man, really?
Why on earth do you power it down? It draws like 3 watts at idle.
@ Because 3W > 0W 😄 Not everyone is using these 24/7. I use my computer every other day for maybe an hour. Often less than this. And considering the price of this Mac, chances are good people with that use case would buy a computer like this.
@@snazzy Electricity is expensive where I live and every watt matters. Leaving everything on in my house idling uses 200 watts which costs me .20 an hour. That's 146 a month just from idling electronics.
@@snazzy ... very American way to look at things. Meanwhile I have switched power cords on almost every device and the only exception I will make is a future OLED TV for pixel repair.
@@robertp457 Where do you live 😮? That’s about 4 times what I pay and I thought my electricity was expensive.
You’re the first youtuber to use his taste buds in the unboxing XD
I love it and i love you
What an extraordinary piece of design... I doubt it gets any better than this. Very snazzy!
tbh it looks pretty satisfying to deconstruct this thing!
That was a great watch! I was waiting for you to upload the video because I saw all your tweets of the components beforehand
there are quite a few tear down videos out there, but i kinda enjoy this one with Quinn's narrating along each step
I been looking at the photos you been posting on this bad boy and have been patiently waiting for the vid. its almost 6am here in the uk lol
Picked it up yesterday, got the same plug. Learned something new.
What are you doing in half life II 20 year anniversary documentary?
Would be nice if Apple offered any affordable display to go with the Mac Mini. Like a standalone 24" iMac display.
If they are going to charge 2TB SSD prices for 256GB why would they take the display from a 24" iMac and make it a standalone monitor for a reasonable price?
FINALLY! A proper teardown! Thanks for sharing this. Very eager to get one of these. REMOVABLE STORAGE!!!! But bear in mind that it's not an actual SSD, only flash storage, as the controller hardware for the SSD is built into the M4. Hopefully someone will manufacture replacement upgrade drives we can buy.
Thank you for being willing to do the tear down so we don’t have to. This is the Mac Mini I’ve been waiting for!
The mac mini is my most favorite apple product, and ill say they didnt seem to dissapoint with this refresh
the fact that this thing runs with the performance that it does on a 150W power supply is bonkers
Congrats on getting all that back together with no bag and tag!
It kinda makes me sad that I just bought an M2 mini earlier this year. Still more machine than I’ll ever need but the new mini is very cool.
Great in depth teardown! Very interesting. Would've been cool if you'd edited this video on it after putting it back together!
Great video , Mac’s really are a work of art lov❤the new Mac mini
this machine looks fantastic inside!!
This machine is a testament to modern computer engineering. It’s getting less nerdy and more artful.
Thank you so much for posting this excellent video.
Your video from two years ago where you shrank the previous gen Mac Mini into a Mac Nano is my favorite tech video on the entire TH-cam. Now with this M4 Mac Mini, we have Apple's official Mac Nano. The new Mac Mini is fan-cooled, and the cooling system makes the machine taller than its predecessor. Would you think it a good idea to shorten the M4 Mac Mini by swapping the fan system out with a passive cooling system such as a thick slab of copper? Would passive cooling be adequate for the M4 chip? It would be super cool if you could make the already super small Mac Mini even Mini-er, again! Please, please, just consider this idea. Thanks a lot.
Oh man. That necco wafers brought back 2 memories. Eating them, and a Homestar Runner trick or treat episode with Strongsad saying he “was sick for a year and nearly died” after mistaking sidewalk chalk for Necco Wafers. A+ teardown.
Beautiful Teardown Video I have ever seen 👍 you explained it like a real pro
Wish you would do more technical deep dives. Like Technology Connections but for latest tech. Your videos should have millions of views!
Loved this! Thanks I was super interested to see everything in the new Mac mini! Slight correction - all the 2018 (including the i3, i5 and i7) Mac minis had upgradable RAM but a soldered SSD
This is a sick machine. I wish the SSD was an actual commodity storage and more easily accessible but other than that, great machine.
I'm 100% getting one
Sir, I congratulate you for your crazyness. Sparta!
Wow this Mac Mini is actually beautiful