Introduction
Apple has released the M4 Mac mini, featuring a silver aluminum chassis. Its size is comparable to Intel’s NUC compact desktops, occupying less than half the desktop footprint of the previous-generation Mac mini. The M4 Mac mini is equipped with M4 and M4 Pro chips, with a base RAM starting at 16GB, and it supports options for higher memory and storage capacities, delivering enhanced performance.
On the front of the chassis, the M4 Mac mini includes two USB-C ports and a 3.5mm audio jack. The rear panel features a power connector, HDMI port, Ethernet port, and three Thunderbolt ports, supporting external displays and storage devices. The following is a teardown of the Apple M4 Mac mini, highlighting its internal design and build quality.
Product Appearance
The outer packaging features a cube-shaped design, printed with an image of the Mac mini and the words “Mac” and “mini.”
The top of the packaging box is printed with an image of the Mac mini.
The back of the box features a pull-tab sticker, with product information printed in the center.
Equipped with the Apple M4 chip, it features 16GB of unified RAM and a 512GB SSD, with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. It includes three Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI port, and two USB-C ports. Model number MU9E3CH/A, A3238.
The package includes the Mac mini, a power cable, a user manual, and a warranty card.
The sides are covered with protective stickers.
The top of the chassis features the Apple logo.
The front of the chassis features two USB-C ports, a power indicator light, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Close-up of the USB-C ports.
Close-up of the power indicator light and the 3.5mm audio jack.
Overview of the rear ports.
On the left is the AC power input, in the center is the Gigabit Ethernet port, and on the right is the HDMI port.
Close-up of the three Thunderbolt 4 ports.
There are no openings on either side of the chassis.
The bottom of the chassis features a black plastic casing with a circular ventilation grille.
The center of the bottom panel is printed with the words “Mac mini.”
The edge features a power switch.
Close-up of the ventilation grille.
The bottom is labeled with Model: A3238, Input: 100–240V~50–60Hz 2.5A, Made in China, and the product has passed CCC certification.
The length is about 127.1 mm (5.0039 inches).
The width is about 127.1 mm (5.0039 inches).
The thickness is about 49.7 mm (1.96 inches).
The weight is about 650.7 g (22.95 oz).
Compared with the M2 Mac mini, the M4 Mac mini is slightly thicker.
However, it occupies less than half the desktop space of the M2 Mac mini.
The included power cord is stored using a cardboard holder.
The power cord features a two-prong plug that converts to a figure-eight connector.
The length of the power cord is about 184 cm (72.44 inches).
The power cord is sheathed in a braided material.
All three Thunderbolt ports provide an output of 5V at 1.5A.
The front USB-C port does not support the PD protocol.
Teardown
Next, let's take it apart to see its internal components and structure.
First, remove the bottom cover; the power switch is connected via a wire.
Disconnect the power switch connector, separating the wires from the rear cover.
The interior of the rear cover is equipped with metal standoffs.
The power switch is secured with screws.
The air vent grille is fitted with sealing foam.
Close-up of the metal standoffs used to secure the rear cover.
Interior view of the device: the upper fan-shaped section serves as the exhaust for the cooling fan, the central circular and lower semicircular grilles serve as the fan intake, and the metal cover is secured with screws.
Close-up of the exhaust grille.
Close-up of the three protruding Wi-Fi antenna modules.
The clock battery is secured with a screw and a retaining plate, which is marked with the positive terminal symbol.
Unscrew the screw and remove the retaining plate; conductive foam is attached to the battery’s negative terminal.
Close-up of the battery and retaining plate.
The retaining plate contains a spring clip that holds the battery firmly in place.
The battery is a Panasonic BR1632A, part of the high-temperature BR series lithium carbon fluoride batteries. It has a voltage of 3V, a rated capacity of 120mAh, and operates within a temperature range of -40 to 125°C.
Close-up of the clip used to secure the metal standoffs to the casing.
Remove the metal cover; it is connected to the main unit via a ribbon cable.
The ribbon cable connecting the cover plate is secured with screws.
The cover plate contains a WiFi and Bluetooth PCB connected via flexible cables and includes attached feeder lines.
The metal cover plate contains conductive foam on the interior.
The device enclosure houses a cooling fan, speakers, and a thermal grille.
Remove the screws to detach the cooling fan.
Close-up of the cooling fan.
The cooling fan is sourced from Nidec and is rated at 5 V, 5 W.
Remove the internal speaker.
The speaker is secured with screws, and beneath it are flexible cables connecting the wireless PCB and the front USB-C ports.
The speaker is integrated with the acoustic chamber and is connected via wires and a connector.
The upper flexible cable connects to the wireless PCB, while the lower flexible cable connects to the front USB-C ports.
The 3.5 mm audio jack is also connected via a flexible cable and secured with a clamping plate, while the solid-state drive is fixed with screws.
Remove the securing screws to extract the computing module.
The rear of the computing module features a plastic insulating cover, with openings corresponding to the positive and negative contact points of the power module.
Close-up of the wiring used to connect the power module and the computing module.
The power module is secured inside the enclosure with screws.
Remove the four securing screws to extract the power module.
The interior of the enclosure is insulated with a black plastic sheet.
Front view of the power module, featuring a fuse, varistor, common-mode chokes, safety X2 capacitors, bridge rectifiers, film capacitors, filter inductor, PFC boost inductor, PFC MOSFET, SiC diode, high-voltage filter capacitors, master control chip, resonant inductor, LLC MOSFETs, LLC transformer, synchronous rectifiers, and solid capacitors.
The rear of the PCBA module features a synchronous rectifier controller. Cutouts are provided at the locations corresponding to the common-mode chokes, PFC boost inductor, high-voltage filter capacitors, and LLC transformer to reduce thickness.
The power module is sourced from LITEON, model PA-1161-1A, with an input of 100–240 V~50–60 Hz, 2.5 A, and an output of 12.6 V, 12.3 A.
The input fuse is insulated with heat-shrink tubing and is rated at 250 V, 5 A.
The varistor is insulated with a black heat-shrink tubing sleeve.
The common-mode choke is wound with enameled and insulated wires and is enclosed in a black plastic insulating frame.
The two SMD Y capacitors are from Walsin, SYW series, part number YPSYW101KP00, with a capacitance of 100 pF.
The common-mode choke is wound with flat copper wire, and its solder joints are reinforced with adhesive.
The bridge rectifiers are sourced from LITEON, model TT8JL, rated at 600 V, 8 A, in a TTL package, with two half-bridges connected to evenly distribute heat.
Close-up of the black film capacitor.
The filter inductor is wound with enameled wire and enclosed in a black plastic insulating frame.
Close-up of the other film capacitor.
The master control chip is a LITEON custom model, marked LTA2021, with integrated PFC and LLC controllers, and comes in an SO16 package.
The PFC MOSFET is from AOS, marked 180A60, model AONV180A60. It is an NMOS with a 600 V voltage rating and a nominal on-resistance of 160 mΩ. Utilizing AOS's proprietary αMOS5 technology, it features optimized switching parameters for improved EMI performance, an enhanced body diode for greater robustness and fast reverse recovery, and is suitable for PFC, flyback, and LLC switching power supply applications, including compact solar inverters. The device comes in a space-saving, thermally enhanced DFN 8×8 package.
Here is the information about AOS AONV180A60.
The PFC boost inductor core is wrapped with black tape.
The SiC diode is from Toshiba, model TRS4V65H, rated at 650 V, 4 A, and comes in a DFN 8×8 package.
The high-voltage filter capacitors are reinforced with adhesive.
The high-voltage filter capacitors are from CapXon, KY series slim electrolytic type, rated at 56 μF, 450 V, with two units connected in parallel.
The two LLC MOSFETs are from VISHAY, marked 240N60E, model SIHH240N60E. They are NMOS devices with a 600 V voltage rating, 208 mΩ on-resistance, and come in a PowerPAK 8×8 package.
Close-up of the resonant inductor.
The LLC transformer core is enclosed in a plastic insulating case and reinforced with adhesive.
The SMD Y capacitor is from Walsin.
The Everlight EL357L optocoupler is used for power supply output voltage feedback and fast-disable functionality.
The synchronous rectifier controller is from NXP, model TEA2095. It is a dual-channel synchronous rectifier controller with two built-in drivers, capable of driving two synchronous rectifiers simultaneously while supporting independent operation. It is designed for LLC resonant power supply applications and comes in an SO8 package.
The two synchronous rectifiers are from Infineon, marked 0702NL, model ISC0702NLS. They are NMOS devices with a 60 V voltage rating, 2.8 mΩ on-resistance, and come in a PG-TDSON-8 package.
The output filter capacitors are from CapXon, PR series long-life solid capacitors, rated at 390 μF, 16 V, with eight units connected in parallel.
Next, disassemble the computing module, which features a heat pipe and cooling fins above the SoC.
A black plastic insulating cover is installed on the back of the motherboard.
Remove the insulating cover to reveal copper foil and insulating stickers adhered inside.
A large area of shielding copper foil is applied to the inside of the plastic insulating cover, with black insulating stickers attached on top of the copper foil.
The back of the motherboard features retention clips for the heatsink, and a large metal frame combined with copper foil forms a shielding enclosure.
The clips are secured on both sides with screws.
Unscrew the screws and remove the spring clips.
Remove the front heatsink assembly.
The area corresponding to the M4 SoC is coated with thermal grease.
Clean off the thermal grease from the front side.
The M4 SoC and RAM chips are mounted on a single PCB, with the bottom reinforced by potting.
The two RAM chips are also reinforced with potting.
Close-up of the shield in the upper-right corner of the SoC, containing decoupling capacitors, two load switches, a current-sensing resistor, and the PMIC.
The three capacitors are from KEMET, rated at 68 μF, 16 V.
The PMIC is from Apple, marked APL1067, 343S00695.
The two load switches are Texas Instruments TPS2559s, supporting 1.2–4.7 A output current. They integrate a 13 mΩ high-side MOSFET and are used for overcurrent protection on the front USB-C port. The package type is VSON.
Inside the shield below the SoC are the PMIC, a buck inductor, and the corresponding buck MOSFETs.
The PMIC is from Apple, marked APL1066, 343S00710.
The two buck MOSFETs are from AOS, model AONE36196. Each is an asymmetrical half-bridge dual-MOSFET designed for synchronous buck applications, featuring an internal 25 V, 3.8 mΩ PMOS and 25 V, 1.1 mΩ NMOS. They use bottom-source technology, offering ultra-low on-resistance and high current capability, suitable for DC/DC converters and point-of-load converters in servers and PCs. The package type is DFN 3.3 × 3.3 A.
Here is the information about AOS AONE36196.
The other MOSFET is marked R06.
Close-up of the two 0.56 μH alloy inductors.
Close-up of the 1μH alloy inductor.
Three polymer tantalum capacitors from KEMET, rated at 6.3 V, 150 μF.
Inside the shield on the left side of the SoC are lightning controllers, memory modules, and USB controllers.
Three Thunderbolt controllers marked U0PCA5-Y2.
A clock crystal is located on the right side of the chip.
The three memory modules correspond to the three Thunderbolt controllers.
The memory modules are from Winbond, model W25Q64NE, with a capacity of 8 MB, packaged in XSON8.
Close-up of the three USB controllers and their corresponding crystals.
The USB controller is marked with CUSB2408.
Close-up of the SMD crystal oscillator.
The two filter capacitors are rated at 2.5V 330μF.
On the back of the motherboard, the shield on the left houses the hub chip, audio codec, and PMIC. The shield on the upper right contains the buck inductor and filter capacitors, the USB-C controller, and the video conversion chip. The lower right area houses the network controller.
The hub for the front USB-C ports is supplied by GENESYS, model GL3590. It features three USB-C ports and three USB-A ports, supports 10 Gbps data rates, and comes in a BGA package.
Close-up of the SMD crystal oscillator.
The audio chip is marked 42L84A.
A chip from RENESAS is marked 501CR17.
There are five filter capacitors, each with a specification of 68 μF, 16 V.
A chip from TI is marked 621371.
Close-up of the 2.2 μH alloy inductor.
There are two filter capacitors, each rated at 150 μF, 6.3 V.
There are three filter capacitors, each rated at 150 μF, 6.3 V.
The PMIC is from Apple, marked APL5791, 343S00709.
The memory is from MXIC, model MX25S6473F, with a capacity of 8 MB, and comes in an XSON8 package.
On the back of the SoC, a metal piece is soldered to support the spring contacts, and MLCC capacitors are installed for power supply filtering.
The filter capacitor is rated at 68 μF, 16 V.
The synchronous buck controller is from RENESAS, marked GAS.
The synchronous buck MOSFET is from Texas Instruments, marked 58888D.
Close-up of the 1 μH alloy inductor.
Close-up of four filter capacitors, each rated 150 μF, 6.3 V.
The speaker amplifier is from Texas Instruments, marked SN012776B0.
The USB-C controllers are from Texas Instruments, marked SN26A43, with three units corresponding to the three USB-C ports.
The video conversion chip is from Parade, marked PS190, used for converting DP to HDMI output.
Close-up of the clock crystal oscillator.
The wired network controller chip is from Broadcom, marked BCM57762.
Close-up of the clock oscillator.
The position is reserved for a 10 GbE network controller chip.
Close-up of the SMD inductors used for filtering the wired Ethernet port.
Conductive foam is applied along the edges of the rear ports.
All ports use metal housings, secured by through-hole soldering.
Close-up of the SSD socket.
On one side of the solid-state drive, there are soldered filter capacitors, two power management chips, an alloy inductor, and a flash memory chip.
On the other side, there is a flash memory chip, an alloy inductor, and a filter capacitor.
The flash memory chip is marked K5A4RE9633CA12346, with a capacity of 256 GB per chip.
The filter capacitor is rated at 33 μF, 16 V.
The synchronous buck chip is from Texas Instruments, marked ELC180, model TPS61280. It is a dual-phase synchronous buck converter supporting an input voltage range of 4–15 V and an output voltage range of 0.9–6 V, with a continuous output current of 6 A. It features power-good output, undervoltage lockout, overcurrent protection, and overtemperature protection, and comes in a DSBGA package.
Close-up of two alloy inductors.
The other power management chip is marked 338S00600‑A0.
The filter capacitor is rated at 150 μF, 6 V.
The other flash memory chip is marked K5A4RE9637CA12346, with a capacity of 256 GB per chip, totaling 512 GB for the two chips.
There are two filter capacitors, each rated at 150 μF, 6 V.
The 3.5 mm audio jack and power indicator LED are connected via a ribbon cable.
The 3.5 mm audio jack uses a metal housing.
The audio jack is secured using through-hole soldering.
Close-up of the two front-facing USB-C connectors.
The connectors are secured using through-hole soldering.
A QR code is printed on the side of the connector, and the housing is secured by spot welding.
The front end of the USB-C connector is sealed with a foam ring.
Well, those are all components of the Apple M4 Mac mini.
Summary of ChargerLAB
Here is the component list of the Apple M4 Mac mini for your convenience.
The enclosure is made of aluminum alloy, occupying less desktop space compared to previous models. The front features two USB-C ports and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The rear includes three Thunderbolt ports, an Ethernet port, and an HDMI port. It has a built-in power supply with a figure-eight power connector, and the bottom is equipped with a ventilation grille.
After taking it apart, we found that it has a multi-layer stacked structure. The top layer is the power module, followed by the computing module, then the cooling fan, and at the bottom are the wireless module PCB and antennas. The power module uses a PFC+LLC architecture, with the PFC MOSFETs being AOS AONV180A60 and Toshiba TRS4V65H SiC diodes.
The computing module is equipped with an Apple M4 SoC and multiple Apple PMIC chips. It also includes Thunderbolt controllers, USB-C interface controllers, an HDMI conversion chip, an Ethernet conversion chip, and a USB hub chip. Both sides of the module are covered with shields, and the solid-state drive is connected via a plug-in interface. All internal modules are secured with screws, demonstrating solid and reliable build quality.
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