MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) vs Mac mini (M4, 2024)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £9993launch price | £5994launch price |
| Chip | M4chip | M4chip |
| CPU | 10-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 8-coreGPU | 10-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 256GBstorage, base | 256GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to18 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Not available5No battery |
| Released | 12 March 20253ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 5 March 2025. | 8 November 20244ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 29 October 2024. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Air M4 is £999 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the Mac mini M4 is £599 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
- Kind of Mac
- The MacBook Air M4 is a laptop; the Mac mini M4 is a desktop. The MacBook Air M4 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
A laptop and a desktop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the footprint of one and the front face 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
| Specification | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 11.3 x 304.1 x 215 mm | 50 x 127 x 127 mm |
| Weight | 1.24 kg | 0.67 kg |
| Colours | Sky Blue, Silver, Starlight, Midnight | Silver |
| Ports | Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack | Front: 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) ports |
| Thunderbolt ports | 2 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.7 | No USB-A ports.8 |
| HDMI | No HDMI port.9 | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.9 | No SD card slot.10 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | Not available11 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Not available12 |
| Touch ID | Yes | Not available13 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 13.6 in | Not available14 |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1664 | Not available14 |
| Pixel density | 224 ppi | Not available14 |
| Display type | Liquid Retina display | Not available14 |
| Brightness | 500 nits | Not available14 |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Not available14 |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.9 | Not available14 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M4 chip | Apple M4 chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 10 | 10 |
| Performance cores | 4 | 4 |
| Efficiency cores | 6 | 6 |
| GPU cores | 8 | 10 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M4 with 10-core CPU and 8-core GPU or 10-core GPU | M4 with 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU15 |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB | 32GB15 |
| Memory options | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB | 16GB, 24GB or 32GB15 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents16 | No, as Apple documents17 |
| Memory bandwidth | 120 GB/s | 120 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 256GB | 256GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 2TB | 2TB15 |
| Storage options | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB15 |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode |
Battery and power
| Specification | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 53.8 Wh | Not available5 |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles18 | Not available5 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 18 h | Not available5 |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 15 h | Not available5 |
| Included power adapter | 30 W | Not available19 |
| Fast charging | Yes | Not available5 |
| Maximum continuous power | Not available20 | 155 W |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.9 | Gigabit Ethernet (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 3 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Air M41 | Mac mini M42 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View | Not available21 |
| Camera resolution | 12 MP | Not available21 |
| Speakers | Four-speaker sound system | Built-in speaker22 |
| Microphones | Three-mic array with directional beamforming | Not available23 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a sky blue colour ·
↩- ↩
Doesn’t apply: no battery
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025): No USB-A ports.
↩Mac mini (M4, 2024): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Mac mini (M4, 2024): No SD card slot.
↩Doesn’t apply: MagSafe is a notebook charging port
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box
↩Doesn’t apply: a notebook lists its power adapter, not a maximum continuous power
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Air M4. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Air (13-inch, M4, 2025) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Air model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip and a sky blue colour; Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, read 9 Oct 2026.
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.
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 MacBook Air M4 (13-inch, 2025)? · Should I upgrade my Mac mini M4 (2024)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.