The 2024 Mac mini generation: M4 base at $599 (16GB, 120 GB/s) and M4 Pro
at $1,399 (24GB, 273 GB/s), with a 48GB M4 Pro option. Still sold, now
alongside the 2026 M6/M5 Pro refresh.
What it does well:
-
$599 entry point: the least expensive current Apple machine on this
site, at 15W - an always-on inference box that disappears into a shelf.
-
M4 Pro bandwidth: 273 GB/s matches the DGX Spark’s number at a
quarter of the price, for models that fit in 24-48GB.
Where it falls short: the M4 base tops out at 16GB and 120 GB/s, so
14B dense 4-bit models are near the practical ceiling. Non-upgradeable.
Run it locally: Ollama or LM Studio. The
modeldex results rank checkpoints by fit
and estimated tok/s on this config.