The Mac mini power button design controversy is rather overblown

As regular readers of my Creative Bloq articles (hello, both of you!) will know, even as an Apple fan, I am occasionally baffled by the company's design decisions. The most infamous example is the Magic Mouse 2 with its charging port on the bottom – a design crime that the company still refuses to atone for. And it seems Apple is intent on leaning into that design energy.

In and amongst the various details about the new M4 Mac mini, announced by Apple this week, is the fact that the Power button is located on the bottom of the device. The device, yes, that sits on a desk. It's a good job that this is the smallest and lightest Mac mini ever, because if you want to turn it on or off, you're going to have to pick it up.

Naturally, this detail has led to an outpouring of enthusiastic complaining on the likes of Reddit and Twitter (sorry, X). "Coupled with the bottom charging port for its mouse, this is low key hilarious," one Redditor comments, while another adds, "If I had a nickel for every currently sold Apple product with power related IO on the least accessible side of their products, I would have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."

But before we condemn this one to the Apple Design Hall of Shame, let's take a step back. While the Magic Mouse port placement is genuinely infuriating whenever the thing runs out of power (which is invariably right in the middle of a project, on deadline day), the Power button is arguably much less important. These days, it isn't often that users really need to turn off their computers – if it's a laptop, you likely just close the lid and send it to sleep.

And while it may come as little solace to the fat-fingered, it does look as though the 'foot' of the Mac mini might just be raised enough to slip a digit under there. If you're only pressing the button once in a blue moon, and can just about reach it, does it really matter that it's out of sight? 

Sure, placing it on the back of the device might have made it slightly easier to press. But with the reduction in size and the huge power upgrade from the M4 chip, the new Mac mini looks like such a significant upgrade that I'm willing to accept a modicum of inconvenience when trying to reach a button I probably press one a month. Now, for God's sake Apple, sort out that Magic Mouse.