Stick 4 rubber feet on the top and mount it upside down, or clamp it in an ipad clamp (windshield suction mount) and secure it with an additional velcro tie. Keep twisting the new mini and you'll soon damage the ports. And yes, you should turn it off because, as a Mac user, I accept that the OS isn't anywhere near perfect and forced reboots are needed more than people are prepared to admit!
I agree, we do not need the power button very often but it's still a stupid design decision because there was no need for doing that. And I think we should not make excuses about stupid design decisions from Apple.
I'm not defending it. I'm just pointing out that 99% of this machine is genuinely impressive and a great refresh, but tons of people are focused on 1% of the machine that accounts for .5 seconds of your time to use.
Wether you like it or not, apple's design is topnotch and even imitated by rival companies, remember when the notch came out? They mocked it, then all of a sudden they copied it hahaha
@@GarrettCrespo Well yeah. When a company has built up it's reputation for DECADES of "A good experience", they should be called out when they willingly put out crap experiences. Stop defending the richest and one of the most corrupt companies on the planet. They don't care about you and won't help you fi you bootlick them.
I suppose though stupidity is proportional to impact on usability. A bad decision with little to none might be technically stupid but only trivially so. Not all stupid decisions warrant the same amount of backlash and the power button location on these things is arguably getting far more than it deserves. Especially from those who probably would not even get one if it were better.
Your time machine mac mini (at 6:56) is sitting on its side. This new M4 mac mini has 3 entire sides without any buttons or ports. By choosing to put the power button on the bottom, Apple are intentionally saying "this is a diagnostics tool, it's only here for that rare occasion you need it, but you really won't need it much". (the AppleTV doesn't have a power button AT ALL). Anyone who does regularly shut down their Mac mini (or moves it between different desks, like an on-site office and an off-site office), will simply use it on its side like you do. The new Mac Mini is taller, which means it can easily support itself lying on its side, so it won't need to be supported up.
I think the people who complain about these things are people that should just get a cheap windows computer or something. I actually like it being at the bottom. I am so rarely going to touch that button and I appreciate not having to see it. I appreciate what's on the inside of the machine so much that they could place that button wherever they want and I am not going to care a single bit. It's silly to complain over something this minor. But haters need something to hate on.. And if this is the main thing, then I think Apple did a pretty darn great job with this one.
I'm certain that most of the people complaining about it were never going to buy one anyway. Yes, it's a stupid design, but It only takes two seconds to press
I own M1 mac mini and and M2 Ultra Mac Studio --- we use them a lot. BUT I hate the position of the power button, being at the back. Well this new mac mini m4 is designed that you will stick under your desk. Which is the only placement where it makes sense! Note: We do shutdown computers (even laptops), as we have so many small devices, turning them off (completely) collectively saves significant amount of wattage when we are out the whole weekend and holidays. If you calculate that on a per week basis, or even a month, that roughly amounts to ~15 liters of gas for your car! And I always access power button more than the USB ports on a day to day basis.
Next time Apple designs the Mac Mini, they should remove all ports and buttons. The second you plug it in, it turns on, unplug turns it off. If you want to use accessories, it will be Bluetooth only. Display and sound will be over AirPlay. See everyone complain about the ports and placement of them and buttons. Apple should say "Careful what you complain about, we will give you something you don't want but is better for the rest of us"
I genuinely really love the new mac mini and am seriously considering getting one. The main thing that bothers me about it as that it comes with 256 GB storage and the upgrade to 512 GB costs 200 bucks. I don’t think 16 GB of memory are too little for most users, and honestly even the 8 GB of my M1 macbook air are enough for basically anything I do on it, while the 256 GB of storage are genuinely limiting. Of course 200 bucks for 8 GB of memory is overpriced, but less so than 200 bucks for 256 GB extra storage space imo.
I power-off my Macs about every 60 days. This is a non-issue - though I agree the button "should have been on the back", this is just Apple squeezing a part to minimal form and connection to the system. I'd even go as far as something2sea 's suggestion: The Mac Mini does not _need_ a power button at all.
I currently use a Mac mini 2014 and I absolutely hate the placement of its power button. I can’t remember how many times I tried to pull the power cord and accidentally hit the power button. Putting it under the machine is better to me.
My M1 Mac mini at sleep/idle, takes 12 watts, if you have drives attached it’s 15 watts. I found of that even if you put it to sleep, it will not drop to 4.5 watts if you have the monitors power setting to never turn off. Even if you intentionally set the Mac to sleep it will still push power to drive the monitors at sleep, I can even turn off my monitors and it will still push power. So if you want to ensure you hit that 3-4 watts, make sure you have your displays set to turn off after X minutes/hours.
Mac users should take advantage of functionality that's been there for quite some time and simply sleep the computer, or leave it running as Garrett noted because it is sipping on the electricity. Normally the only time you're going to use the power button is if you need to boot into recovery mode, or extremely rare occasions you have to do force shutdown. Let's move on. The M4 Mac mini power button placement is no big deal.
I am more concerned about the headphones jack being on the front. My desktop speakers are connected all the time and will now be seen instead of being hidden at the rear. Will I be able to run them from the rear at all?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure modern Macs will turn on if you press a key on a connected keyboard anyway - even if it’s not the Apple keyboard. So in that case it’s really a nonissue if you’re running it as a desktop. I still think the power button placement is stupid and unelegant, but Apple’s always put their consumer/prosumer desktop power buttons in less than ideal places (except their legit Pro towers) and I like that some of the more commonly used IO is now in the front, which I’d say makes up for the power button placement.
I agree, the power button on the bottom, complaining about it is a bit silly. I will say as far as biometrics? I prefer touch ID to Face ID because of my depth, perception and peripheral vision issues, a lot of times I’m not looking exactly where I need to be, and I don’t want to turn the facilities to look directly at the camera off because I don’t want to weekend security.
it's human nature to look for the "negatives" instead of enjoying the "positives". the power button is a non-issue for those who leave their computers on. also... isn't there some sort of negative effect of constantly turning the computer on-and-off?
"for those" -- yup Apple is not new nor ignorant to Hardware design accessibility --- where in it is the practice of designing hardware so that it can be used by people with a variety of abilities and needs --- Apple intentionally do the opposite, so that they will always have something to look forward to in the future releases. Otherwise if there;s no issue here, the next ones will hardly be justifiable.
@@murasakirs I'll always be amazed by how some people can justify the dumbest design decisions. It's like the charging cable on the bottom of the mouse, or lack of USB-A and other ports on laptops which force you to use adapters for everything, or the power button integrated in the keyboard which caused a lot of issues in Macbooks, etc etc. All stuff that's objectively bad, yet people make excuses for it.
Bruh you don't even need 2 hands for that! Just slide your finger underneath it! The time it takes to load is significantly longer than pressing the button.
Idiotic decision from Apple. Form over function yet again. They promote it as the first carbon neutral Mac but don't want users to ever turn the machine off. And £400 to add 16 GB RAM is an absolute joke.
I completely agree with the outlandish upgrade prices. However, the “never turn off their machine” argument is kind of odd. These machines draw between 3-5 watts at idle and the SoC architecture is based on the same architecture as a phone SoC, but significantly more powerful. When was the last time you turned off your phone?
If you want to save power at home, turn off the HVAC and refrigerator, and stop using the stovetop and the oven. It makes no sense to focus on an idling CPU....
😂 I love how Apple apologist always twist themselves into pretzels just to defend Apple's not so genius ideas. Until of course Apple admits the blunder and redesigns the error. Look at magsafe and ports as one example.
shows how much the apple community are divas.....whocares where the button is as long as the mac is faster, oh and i do have one, i blows my m1 out the water
I've seen the argument about the cooling, but I've seen so many tests of apple machines with similar cooling configurations and the difference in temperature is negligible. But I've personally turned my mac mini on its side to save space in my server setup.
@@GarrettCrespo That makes sense... I was supposed to be ironic, like your review though. I belive in frictionless design. I didn''t test it, but I bet on daily use heat is going to be an issue on any Mac silicon chip.
Stick 4 rubber feet on the top and mount it upside down, or clamp it in an ipad clamp (windshield suction mount) and secure it with an additional velcro tie. Keep twisting the new mini and you'll soon damage the ports.
And yes, you should turn it off because, as a Mac user, I accept that the OS isn't anywhere near perfect and forced reboots are needed more than people are prepared to admit!
I agree, we do not need the power button very often but it's still a stupid design decision because there was no need for doing that. And I think we should not make excuses about stupid design decisions from Apple.
I'm not defending it. I'm just pointing out that 99% of this machine is genuinely impressive and a great refresh, but tons of people are focused on 1% of the machine that accounts for .5 seconds of your time to use.
@@GarrettCrespo I agree, the new Mac is genuinely impressive and really a great refresh!👍
Wether you like it or not, apple's design is topnotch and even imitated by rival companies, remember when the notch came out? They mocked it, then all of a sudden they copied it hahaha
@@GarrettCrespo Well yeah. When a company has built up it's reputation for DECADES of "A good experience", they should be called out when they willingly put out crap experiences.
Stop defending the richest and one of the most corrupt companies on the planet. They don't care about you and won't help you fi you bootlick them.
I suppose though stupidity is proportional to impact on usability. A bad decision with little to none might be technically stupid but only trivially so. Not all stupid decisions warrant the same amount of backlash and the power button location on these things is arguably getting far more than it deserves. Especially from those who probably would not even get one if it were better.
Your time machine mac mini (at 6:56) is sitting on its side. This new M4 mac mini has 3 entire sides without any buttons or ports. By choosing to put the power button on the bottom, Apple are intentionally saying "this is a diagnostics tool, it's only here for that rare occasion you need it, but you really won't need it much". (the AppleTV doesn't have a power button AT ALL).
Anyone who does regularly shut down their Mac mini (or moves it between different desks, like an on-site office and an off-site office), will simply use it on its side like you do. The new Mac Mini is taller, which means it can easily support itself lying on its side, so it won't need to be supported up.
sorry I don’t understand the problem I have a full time job.
My 2012 Mac Mini is been running since 2012. I've had to press the power about five times in this Mac's entire lifetime.
I think the people who complain about these things are people that should just get a cheap windows computer or something.
I actually like it being at the bottom. I am so rarely going to touch that button and I appreciate not having to see it.
I appreciate what's on the inside of the machine so much that they could place that button wherever they want and I am not going to care a single bit.
It's silly to complain over something this minor. But haters need something to hate on.. And if this is the main thing, then I think Apple did a pretty darn great job with this one.
I'm certain that most of the people complaining about it were never going to buy one anyway.
Yes, it's a stupid design, but It only takes two seconds to press
I own M1 mac mini and and M2 Ultra Mac Studio --- we use them a lot. BUT I hate the position of the power button, being at the back. Well this new mac mini m4 is designed that you will stick under your desk. Which is the only placement where it makes sense!
Note: We do shutdown computers (even laptops), as we have so many small devices, turning them off (completely) collectively saves significant amount of wattage when we are out the whole weekend and holidays. If you calculate that on a per week basis, or even a month, that roughly amounts to ~15 liters of gas for your car!
And I always access power button more than the USB ports on a day to day basis.
Next time Apple designs the Mac Mini, they should remove all ports and buttons. The second you plug it in, it turns on, unplug turns it off. If you want to use accessories, it will be Bluetooth only. Display and sound will be over AirPlay. See everyone complain about the ports and placement of them and buttons. Apple should say "Careful what you complain about, we will give you something you don't want but is better for the rest of us"
I genuinely really love the new mac mini and am seriously considering getting one.
The main thing that bothers me about it as that it comes with 256 GB storage and the upgrade to 512 GB costs 200 bucks.
I don’t think 16 GB of memory are too little for most users, and honestly even the 8 GB of my M1 macbook air are enough for basically anything I do on it, while the 256 GB of storage are genuinely limiting.
Of course 200 bucks for 8 GB of memory is overpriced, but less so than 200 bucks for 256 GB extra storage space imo.
I power-off my Macs about every 60 days. This is a non-issue - though I agree the button "should have been on the back", this is just Apple squeezing a part to minimal form and connection to the system.
I'd even go as far as something2sea 's suggestion: The Mac Mini does not _need_ a power button at all.
The Mac tells you when the mouse is getting low😂 It’s he fake outrage for me.😂
I currently use a Mac mini 2014 and I absolutely hate the placement of its power button. I can’t remember how many times I tried to pull the power cord and accidentally hit the power button. Putting it under the machine is better to me.
make your 2014 mini a server to serve storage requirements
My M1 Mac mini at sleep/idle, takes 12 watts, if you have drives attached it’s 15 watts. I found of that even if you put it to sleep, it will not drop to 4.5 watts if you have the monitors power setting to never turn off. Even if you intentionally set the Mac to sleep it will still push power to drive the monitors at sleep, I can even turn off my monitors and it will still push power. So if you want to ensure you hit that 3-4 watts, make sure you have your displays set to turn off after X minutes/hours.
Better on the bottom than on the top, where one's cat might walk across it, or sit on it, and accidentally turn it off.
Mac users should take advantage of functionality that's been there for quite some time and simply sleep the computer, or leave it running as Garrett noted because it is sipping on the electricity. Normally the only time you're going to use the power button is if you need to boot into recovery mode, or extremely rare occasions you have to do force shutdown. Let's move on. The M4 Mac mini power button placement is no big deal.
Only in the minds of the petty. People are now coming up with ways and gadgets for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist
Some people just aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy!
I am more concerned about the headphones jack being on the front. My desktop speakers are connected all the time and will now be seen instead of being hidden at the rear. Will I be able to run them from the rear at all?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure modern Macs will turn on if you press a key on a connected keyboard anyway - even if it’s not the Apple keyboard. So in that case it’s really a nonissue if you’re running it as a desktop. I still think the power button placement is stupid and unelegant, but Apple’s always put their consumer/prosumer desktop power buttons in less than ideal places (except their legit Pro towers) and I like that some of the more commonly used IO is now in the front, which I’d say makes up for the power button placement.
I think that is only to wake the machine from sleep/hibernation which is not the same as it being completely off
I agree, the power button on the bottom, complaining about it is a bit silly. I will say as far as biometrics? I prefer touch ID to Face ID because of my depth, perception and peripheral vision issues, a lot of times I’m not looking exactly where I need to be, and I don’t want to turn the facilities to look directly at the camera off because I don’t want to weekend security.
it's human nature to look for the "negatives" instead of enjoying the "positives". the power button is a non-issue for those who leave their computers on. also... isn't there some sort of negative effect of constantly turning the computer on-and-off?
"for those" -- yup
Apple is not new nor ignorant to Hardware design accessibility --- where in it is the practice of designing hardware so that it can be used by people with a variety of abilities and needs
--- Apple intentionally do the opposite, so that they will always have something to look forward to in the future releases. Otherwise if there;s no issue here, the next ones will hardly be justifiable.
@@murasakirs I'll always be amazed by how some people can justify the dumbest design decisions.
It's like the charging cable on the bottom of the mouse, or lack of USB-A and other ports on laptops which force you to use adapters for everything, or the power button integrated in the keyboard which caused a lot of issues in Macbooks, etc etc.
All stuff that's objectively bad, yet people make excuses for it.
Bruh you don't even need 2 hands for that! Just slide your finger underneath it! The time it takes to load is significantly longer than pressing the button.
Idiotic decision from Apple. Form over function yet again. They promote it as the first carbon neutral Mac but don't want users to ever turn the machine off. And £400 to add 16 GB RAM is an absolute joke.
I completely agree with the outlandish upgrade prices. However, the “never turn off their machine” argument is kind of odd. These machines draw between 3-5 watts at idle and the SoC architecture is based on the same architecture as a phone SoC, but significantly more powerful. When was the last time you turned off your phone?
If you want to save power at home, turn off the HVAC and refrigerator, and stop using the stovetop and the oven. It makes no sense to focus on an idling CPU....
Well, when full load only pulls about 65 watts, that’s actually pretty impressive
😂 I love how Apple apologist always twist themselves into pretzels just to defend Apple's not so genius ideas. Until of course Apple admits the blunder and redesigns the error. Look at magsafe and ports as one example.
Don’t think I have ever used the power button except crashes 😂 people are pathetic
shows how much the apple community are divas.....whocares where the button is as long as the mac is faster, oh and i do have one, i blows my m1 out the water
Maybe was mind to be upside down, so even the venting is improved.
Stop complainging, it is you useing it wrong!
I've seen the argument about the cooling, but I've seen so many tests of apple machines with similar cooling configurations and the difference in temperature is negligible. But I've personally turned my mac mini on its side to save space in my server setup.
@@GarrettCrespo That makes sense...
I was supposed to be ironic, like your review though.
I belive in frictionless design.
I didn''t test it, but I bet on daily use heat is going to be an issue on any Mac silicon chip.
Just like Airpods Max stupid case... it works but the design is stupid. just like the mac mini's new power button on the bottom
Another Apple fanboy defending dumb design
Whatever you want to believe. 😂