Wondering why the M4 Mac mini's power button is on the bottom? Apple says
it's because people 'hardly use it'

Date:
Mon, 11 Nov 2024 12:02:40 +0000

Description:
Apples choice of leaving Wi-Fi 7 out of the new M4 Mac family was odd, but does the new Mac minis power button placement top this?

FULL STORY ======================================================================The new M4 Mac minis power button is placed underneath the chassis Its not the only strange design choice made by Apple recently Apple VP Greg Joswiak states
that its due to the reduced size of the Mac mini

The new M4 Mac mini will be Apples smallest Mac ever and wields plenty of power, but not without a few odd design choices - and one that seems to have particularly upset some users is that the power button has been moved to the bottom of the tiny PC.

However, Apple seems ready to defend its decision. As noted by IT Home (in Chinese), a video posted on the Chinese social media platform Bilibili shows Apples VP Greg Joswiak address the matter when questioned, revealing the reasoning behind the design choice - it was simply down to the reduced size
of the Mac mini and the idea that you pretty much never use the power button on your Mac.

Joswiak also said I cant remember the last time I turned on my Mac, which suggests that Apples official position is that most users should leave the system in sleep mode instead. While this is certainly an option for Mac mini owners, it may not sit well with some users (especially considering most traditional desktop PCs and their prominent power button positions). (Image credit: gizmochina) Will this impact the M4 Mac mini in any capacity?

Theres no doubt that the new placement of the power button is a bit of an odd choice, and we noted as much in our M4 Mac mini review , but its nowhere near as strange as what weve seen with the new Magic Mouses charging port still on the bottom and brand-new M4 Macs omitting Wi-Fi 7 . Besides a minor change to how you power on your M4 Mac mini, this shouldnt impact your experience in
any significant manner.

Considering the reduction of the Mac minis size coming from the 2023 M2 chip version , this seems to be a small but worthy sacrifice - if placing the
power button in a more convenient area meant losing out on the smallest Mac ever, then I stand by Apples decision here.

Despite this, I must say that leaving your Mac mini (or any of the best computers , for that matter) in sleep mode constantly probably isnt the best idea - while it may be more convenient to dive right back into your tasks, it isnt ideal for saving power (even if it isnt using much in sleep mode) and periodically shutting down and restarting your devices is good for their performance as it enables you to apply any updates and refreshes your system cache.

While some of the design choices made in the new Mac mini may be worthy of scratching your head at, the power that the M4 chip provides in performance across the board and a price tag starting at just $599 (599 / AU$999) still leaves this being one of the best Macs ever made. You might also like... The M4 Mac mini has removable, modular storage and an important SSD upgrade MacBook Air OLED reportedly delayed until at least 2028 heres why M4 MacBook Pro adds M4 Max power and promises 24 hours of battery life



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/macs/wondering-why-the-m4-mac-minis-power- button-is-on-the-bottom-apple-says-its-because-people-hardly-use-it


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)