M4 Mac mini likely to lose support for USB-A, keep internal power supply

According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s newsletter, Apple is planning to completely drop support for USB-A on the next Mac mini.

The Mac mini is expected to be one of the largest Mac mini overhauls in 14 years, since the computer has remained unchanged design-wise since 2010, excluding the removal of the DVD drive in 2011. Obviously, the internals have changed a lot, but the Mac mini has remained a 7.7 inch square for ages.

However, according to Gurman, this new design also means no more USB-A. He does say that we’ll have five USB-C ports, which is pretty sweet. No USB-A is a bit of a bummer, especially given the fact that lots of desktop accessories will rely on the port, such as wireless mouse dongles.

It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, since Apple has obviously killed USB-A on most of their other computers, so it was only a matter of time before they also did it on the Mac mini.

On a more positive note, the Mac mini will be gaining ports on the front for the first time. Gurman says 2 of the USB-C ports will be on the front, and 3 of them will be on the back. He also did say that this was on an M4 Pro version of the Mac mini, so it remains to be seen if the base model Mac mini will also have 5 USB-C ports, since Apple has historically given the base Mac mini less ports.

Apple’s new Mac mini will also retain Ethernet, HDMI, and the headphone jack. Gurman also reports that the power supply should also be internal, which is something a lot of people were concerned about.

M4 Mac mini sure is sounding like a sweet new computer upgrade.

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