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Unboxing and Benchmarking M4 Mac Mini as a Test Automation Engineer. Part-1: Setup and Results

Unboxing and Benchmarking M4 Mac Mini as a Test Automation Engineer. Part-1: Setup and Results

An attractive, affordable, quiet, and powerful computer that is perfect for running automated end-to-end tests, seriously.

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Courtney Zhan
Nov 09, 2024
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The Agile Way
Unboxing and Benchmarking M4 Mac Mini as a Test Automation Engineer. Part-1: Setup and Results
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A few days ago, my father, excited by the releasing of M4 Mac Mini, published an article “M4 Mac Mini: A Perfect Build Machine for E2E Test Automation Labs” 

I pre-ordered M4 Mac Mini and arrived yesterday.

My work (as a software development engineer at a FAANG company), primarily focused on back-end development, so I’m not directly involved in E2E test automation at work. However, with my father’s influence, I’ve developed a strong interest in test automation. 

M4 Mac Mini is Small, Pretty, Lightweight and Quiet

Package, standard tissuebox for comparison
M4 (unboxed) vs MacBook Pro 16" (Intel)
M4 Mac Mini vs M1 Mac mini

I like the look of the M4 Mac Mini. 

Set Up for E2E Test Automation

Let’s get down to the business, set up this M4 Mac Mini for executing Automated E2E UI test scripts. 

General 

1. Chrome browser

2. Install Xcode (and its command line tools)

This is required for any development/testing work. It might take a while (~ half an hour), but you can let it download in the background. 

One tool we want is Git. Run the command below to verify.

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