The world's best-selling compact controller keyboard has just levelled up with the Akai MPK Mini 4.
Akai Professional has unveiled the MPK Mini 4, bringing serious upgrades to an already iconic unit that’s been a studio staple for producers and musicians worldwide.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
This latest iteration proves you don’t need to sacrifice features for portability. Designed specifically for music-makers on the go, the MPK Mini 4 is available in two distinct colourways and packs professional-grade capabilities into a compact size that’ll actually fit in your bag.
One of the biggest upgrades is the newly designed, third-generation keybed that Akai claims is industry-leading. Paired with true mechanical pitch and modulation wheels – not the miniaturised – the playing experience feels genuinely expressive. Akai’s legendary MPC pads make an appearance too, with eight velocity and pressure-sensitive pads featuring RGB backlighting. This is the kind of responsive and dynamic control that made the MPC so well-loved.
The standout addition is a vibrant full-colour screen that provides real-time visual feedback. Akai’s MPK Mini 4 makes navigation significantly more intuitive compared to previous models, while eight assignable rotary knobs give you tactile sound-shaping options. An expanded transport section provides hands-on control with 1-to-1 mapping for all major DAWs, complete with two-way screen feedback that keeps your creative momentum flowing.
Sometimes the best ideas come from experimentation, and the MPK Mini 4 encourages exactly that. Intelligent Scale and Chord modes help transform rough sketches into musical phrases, keeping you in key while you explore progressions and harmonies. If you want to add some movement, the enhanced arpeggiator now includes Pattern, Arp Freeze and Mutate functions – perfect for generating riffs, grooves and turning happy accidents into intentional sounds. USB-C sorts your laptop connection, and there’s a 5-pin MIDI output on the back for hooking up hardware synths and modules. Akai’s also included a quarter-inch jack for a sustain pedal, which is a nice touch that you don’t always get on compact controllers.
If you’re running Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Bitwig or Cubase, the mappings are already done. Open your DAW, and the controls just work. There’s no need to spend an hour assigning knobs before you can actually do anything.
Akai’s also throwing in the Studio Instrument Collection, which is basically a curated bundle of sounds from their AIR, Akai Pro and Moog plugin libraries. It’s over 1,000 presets in one install, so you’ve got plenty to work with straight away without needing to buy extra software.
Measuring 347.5mm x 45.7mm x 192mm and weighing just 1.05kg, the MPK Mini 4 is genuinely portable. USB bus-powered operation means one cable handles both power and data, making it ideal for laptop producers, travelling musicians, or anyone working in tight spaces.
Available now in black and grey, the MPK Mini 4 maintains the portability that made its predecessors so popular while delivering the pro-level features that modern producers actually need. It’s proof that going compact doesn’t mean going basic.
Head to Akai to find out more. For local enquiries, head here.
