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Mac mini (M4, 2024) vs MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)

Mac mini (M4, 2024)1MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)2

Quick look

Quick look: Mac mini M4 against MacBook Air M3
FigureMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
Price£5993launch price£1,0994launch price
ChipM4chipM3chip
CPU10-coreCPU8-coreCPU
GPU10-coreGPU8-coreGPU
Memory16GBunified memory, base8GB5unified memory, base
Storage256GBstorage, base256GBstorage, base
Battery life Not available6No batteryUp to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed
Released8 November 20243ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 29 October 2024.8 March 20244ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 4 March 2024.
Security updatesNot available7Security updatesNot available7Security updates
Price
The Mac mini M4 is £599 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the MacBook Air M3 is £1,099 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
Kind of Mac
The Mac mini M4 is a desktop; the MacBook Air M3 is a laptop. The MacBook Air M3 has a built-in 13.6-inch display, a camera and a battery, whereas the Mac mini M4 has none of them.

True to scale

Mac mini (M4, 2024) · 127 × 50 mm frontMacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) · 304.1 × 215 mm footprint

A desktop and a laptop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the front face of one and the footprint of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.

Specifications

Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.

Body

Body: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
Dimensions50 x 127 x 127 mm11.3 x 304.1 x 215 mm
Weight0.67 kg1.24 kg
ColoursSilverSilver, Starlight, Space Grey, Midnight
PortsFront: two USB-C ports with support for USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s), 3.5mm headphone jack. Back (M4): Gigabit Ethernet port (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet), HDMI port, three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) portsTwo Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack
Thunderbolt ports832
Thunderbolt versionThunderbolt 4Thunderbolt 3
USB-A portsNo USB-A ports.9No USB-A ports.10
HDMIHDMI portNo HDMI port.11
SD card slotNo SD card slot.12No SD card slot.11
Headphone jackYesYes
MagSafeNot available13Yes
KeyboardNot available14Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Touch IDNot available15Yes

Display

Display: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
Display sizeNot available1613.6 in
ResolutionNot available162560 x 1664
Pixel densityNot available16224 ppi
Display typeNot available16Liquid Retina display
BrightnessNot available16500 nits
Wide colour (P3)Not available16Yes
Nano-texture optionNot available16No nano-texture display option.11

Chip and memory

Chip and memory: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
ChipApple M4 chipApple M3 chip
Apple siliconYesYes
CPU cores108
Performance cores44
Efficiency cores64
GPU cores108
Neural Engine cores1616
Chip optionsM4 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU17M3 with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory (base)16GB8GB5
Memory (maximum)32GB1724GB5
Memory options16GB, 24GB or 32GB178GB, 16GB or 24GB5
Memory upgradeable by userNo, as Apple documents18No, as Apple documents19
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s100 GB/s
Storage (base)256GB256GB
Storage (maximum)2TB172TB
Storage options256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB17256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB
Media engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decodeHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode engine

Battery and power

Battery and power: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
Battery capacityNot available652.6 Wh
Rated charge cyclesNot available61,000 cycles20
Video playback (claimed)Not available618 h
Wireless web (claimed)Not available615 h
Included power adapterNot available2130 W
Fast chargingNot available6Yes
Maximum continuous power155 WNot available22

Connectivity

Connectivity: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
Wi-FiWi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax)Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth5.35.3
EthernetGigabit Ethernet (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet)No Ethernet port.11
External displays (base)3123

Camera and audio

Camera and audio: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
CameraNot available241080p FaceTime HD camera
SpeakersBuilt-in speaker25Four-speaker sound system
MicrophonesNot available26Three-mic array with directional beamforming

Platform

Platform: Apple Mac mini (M4, 2024) against Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024)
SpecificationMac mini M41MacBook Air M32
Newest macOSmacOS 27 Golden Gate27macOS 27 Golden Gate27
Model identifierMac16,10, Mac16,1128Mac15,1229
Model year20242024

Sources

  1. Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs · Default for Mac mini M4 · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  2. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs · Default for MacBook Air M3 · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026

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  3. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple’s new Mac mini is more mighty, more mini, and built for Apple Intelligence · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026

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  4. Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026

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  5. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  6. Doesn’t apply: no battery

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  7. Security updates: no end date published. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026

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  8. Different Thunderbolt generations. Mac mini M4: Thunderbolt 4. MacBook Air M3: Thunderbolt 3.

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  9. Mac mini (M4, 2024): No USB-A ports. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs. Read 15 Sep 2026

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  10. MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024): No USB-A ports. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs. Read 14 Sep 2026

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  11. MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  12. Mac mini (M4, 2024): No SD card slot. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  13. Doesn’t apply: MagSafe is a notebook charging port

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  14. Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard

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  15. Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature

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  16. Doesn’t apply: no built-in display

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  17. Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026

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  18. Apple Support (UK) — Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026

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  19. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026

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  20. Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops · Apple’s figure · read 15 Oct 2026

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  21. Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box

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  22. Doesn’t apply: a notebook lists its power adapter, not a maximum continuous power

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  23. Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 11 Oct 2026

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  24. Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera

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  25. Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026

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  26. Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple’s new Mac mini is more mighty, more mini, and built for Apple Intelligence. Read 9 Oct 2026

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  27. Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026

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  28. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model · Apple’s figure · read 11 Oct 2026

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  29. Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model · Apple’s figure · read 14 Sep 2026

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Not published by Apple

Mac mini M4. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple’s new Mac mini is more mighty, more mini, and built for Apple Intelligence, read 9 Oct 2026.

MacBook Air M3. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7: the Mac chart has no entry for this Mac, so no figures are shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M3, 2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air with the powerful M3 chip; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.

If you own one of them

Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my Mac mini M4 (2024)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Air M3 (13-inch, 2024)?

The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.