Sales start at 8:00 PM: Apple Mac mini M4 available for reservation on JD.com (京东) at ¥3,805

What’s launching

It has been reported that JD.com (京东) has opened reservations for Apple (苹果)’s 2024 Mac mini powered by the new M4 family, with sales scheduled to start at 8:00 PM and a reported reservation price showing ¥3,805. Apple’s official base price for the new Mac mini was announced at ¥4,499; the lower JD listing appears promotional and has not been independently verified. For Chinese shoppers, JD.com is one of the largest e‑commerce platforms, frequently used for official Apple launches and retailer promotions.

Hardware and claimed performance

Apple says the 2024 Mac mini ships in two flavours: M4 and M4 Pro. According to the company, the M4 boosts CPU performance up to 1.8× and GPU up to 2.2× versus M1, while the M4 Pro integrates up to 14 CPU cores (10 performance + 4 efficiency) and as many as 20 GPU cores, with graphics performance up to twice that of the M4. Apple also highlights real‑world gains: Excel calculations up to 1.7× faster, Lightroom stitching up to 4.9× faster, Premiere Pro scene edit detection up to 9.4× faster and, strikingly, base‑calling in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW up to 26× faster compared with Intel i7 Mac mini configurations — figures Apple attributes to the new silicon and on‑chip neural engines. Reportedly both chips introduce hardware‑accelerated ray tracing to the Mac mini line for the first time.

I/O, memory and software

The M4 Pro supports up to 64GB unified memory with 273GB/s bandwidth and Thunderbolt 5 on the rear — Apple says that enables up to 120Gb/s data transfer, more than double Thunderbolt 4 throughput. The new chassis provides two front USB‑C (USB 3) ports, a high‑impedance 3.5mm jack, three rear Thunderbolt ports (Thunderbolt 4 on M4, Thunderbolt 5 on M4 Pro), HDMI, and standard gigabit Ethernet with optional 10Gb upgrade. Display support is robust: the M4 model can drive two 6K and one 5K displays; the M4 Pro can drive up to three 6K displays at 60Hz. Apple also notes Apple Intelligence support, though currently macOS Sequoia 15.1 features for Apple Intelligence are reportedly limited to English users in the U.S.

Market and geopolitical context

This refresh arrives as Apple doubles down on custom silicon to differentiate Macs from x86 PCs and accelerate AI workloads — a strategic pivot that has implications beyond product marketing. Against a backdrop of Western export controls and heightened scrutiny on advanced AI hardware, Apple’s in‑house M4 family underscores how device vendors are investing in specialized chips to deliver AI performance without relying solely on discrete accelerators. For Chinese consumers, early reservations on JD.com will be an indicator of demand for compact, AI‑capable desktops in a market where both local rivals and global supply‑chain pressures shape purchasing choices.