Don't expect to fit the new M4 Mac mini into too tight a space because you're going to have to tip it to reach underneath every time you need to switch it on.
I never power down my laptop. I would treat a mini the same. Power consumption is also very similar to that of a MacBook. So this is really not a big deal.
There's a good reason in the the first sentence of the review.
Don't expect to fit the new M4 Mac mini into too tight a space because you're going to have to tip it to reach underneath every time you need to switch it on.
I don't know if Mac minis have an environmentally friendly hibernate mode for those who can't shutdown their pcs.
Yes, it can be set to sleep (or even shut down) on idle. It also supports Wake on LAN. You can also set it to start up on a schedule, or automatically restart after a power failure. Putting the power button on the bottom is really no big deal.