Apple Mac Mini M4 Pro
$1,599 — discontinued
Silent, compact desktop with an 18-core GPU and 273 GB/s unified memory — the value sweet spot in Apple's lineup for local LLMs and AI agents, with zero fan noise and macOS simplicity.
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Specifications
| Chip | Apple M4 Pro |
| CPU Cores | 12-core |
| GPU Cores | 18-core |
| Unified Memory | 24GB – 64GB |
| Memory Bandwidth | 273 GB/s |
| Storage | 512GB SSD |
Pros
- Completely silent operation
- 273 GB/s + up to 64GB — comfortable for 30B-class local models
- macOS ecosystem with Homebrew & Ollama
Cons
- No CUDA — MLX / llama.cpp only
- Not expandable after purchase
- Pricier per-GB of memory than Strix Halo boxes
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