Apple has finally updated the Mac mini, with the new high-end M2 Pro version replacing an absolutely old Intel model.
It fills an important gap in Apple’s line of Mac workstations. The M1 Mac mini was cheap and got even cheaper with its M2 upgrade and the Mac Studio is powerful but expensive, starting at $1,999. Then there is the Well iMac for $1,499, which is really just an M1 with a 24-inch colorful display.
So if you want a desktop Mac, you were forced to go for the low end or the high end. With the M2 Pro Mac mini, there’s finally something in between. It starts at $1,299 for a scaled-down version of the M2 Pro with a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU. Step up to the full M2 Pro with a 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU, and add some RAM or storage, and you’ll end up spending as much as the entry-level $1,999 Mac Studio.
So who should buy the upgraded M2 Pro Mac mini and who should just get the entry-level Mac Studio? After using both for the last week, the answer is not very clear.
The $1,599 Mac mini with a full M2 Pro chip often delivers around 15-20% higher CPU benchmark scores than the M1 Max, thanks to two additional high-efficiency CPU cores and higher clock speeds . But the $1,299 Mac mini has an M2 Pro with the same 10 cores as the M1 Max Mac Studio.
Unless you’re running the kind of CPU-pounding tasks for minutes at a time while you watch a progress bar, you’re unlikely to notice the difference. Both machines have such fast storage and memory that everyday tasks – email, web browsing, productivity work, photo editing, even light consumer-grade video editing – feel just as good. quick and responsive.
The base model Mac Studio M1 Max comes with 32GB of RAM, while the M2 Pro starts with 16GB. Frankly, 16GB is enough for most things, but if you need to run a lot of apps at once or very heavy content creation workloads, the extra RAM will make a difference. And if you plan on keeping it for about five years, the extra RAM is nice to have.
When comparing the M2 Pro’s GPU to the M1 Max, it gets complicated. The base model Mac Studio’s M1 Max has 24 cores, with 32 cores available for an additional $200. The M2 Pro has 16 cores, with 19 cores for an additional $300. The Mac Studio will generally outperform the Mac mini here as it has 50% more cores and double the memory bandwidth.
In other words, for daily browsing and the like, you probably won’t notice much of a difference with either machine. For intensive and sustained CPU operations, the M2 Pro Mac mini can slightly outperform the Mac Studio, but even then, only if you spend $300 on a CPU upgrade. There aren’t many tasks that are bottlenecked by the Neural Engine, but it’s considerably faster in the M2 Pro, at least on paper.
Ultimately, I’d take even the entry-level M1 Max with 24 CPU cores and 32GB of RAM over the full-powered M2 Pro, but that’s close.
It’s not just the processor
But these machines are not limited to the difference in processor power. The Mac Studio is obviously bigger – it’s about 2.5 Mac minis stacked on top of each other. But both machines have the same footprint. they are just toddler by modern desktop standards and nearly silent.
On the design side, I prefer the Mac Studio. I don’t mind the extra height…in fact, it makes a great monitor stand for the Studio Display. But it’s the two USB-C ports and SDXC card slot on the front that make me love the Mac Studio. I used them regularly and immediately missed having them on the Mac mini.
These front ports make the Mac Studio a much more user-friendly design.
Roman Loyola/IDG
The Mac mini has Wi-Fi 6E, which can be important if you have a Wi-Fi 6E router or plan to buy one soon, although Wi-Fi 6 on the Mac Studio is by no means slow . The mini also has HDMI 2.1, a serious game-changer if you want to hook up your Mac to an 8K monitor or a 4K monitor at over 60Hz.
While the HDMI 2.0 port is a bit of a nuisance on such an expensive computer, it’s the front ports that make me lean towards the Mac Studio. You might eventually notice the improved performance of Wi-Fi 6E or, on rare occasions, you’ll need an HDMI 2.1 port, but you’ll be using those USB-C and SDXC slots before almost every day.
Apple’s prices are the problem
If you don’t have to spend more than $1,500, the base model Mac mini with a 1TB storage upgrade isn’t bad. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s still far enough below the Mac Studio price to be worth it.
But the more you upgrade the Mac mini to match the Mac Studio, the worse the match gets. While the Mac Studio’s upgraded 32-core GPU costs $200, you’ll need to add $300 for the full M2 Pro. Add $400 to upgrade to 32GB of RAM to match the Studio and you’re down to $1,999. Consider the fact that you’ll have to spend $100 to upgrade the Mac mini’s Gigabit Ethernet port to the 10GB Ethernet port that’s standard on the Mac Studio and the Mac mini technically costs more. Oh, and don’t forget those front-facing USB-C ports and SDXC card slot.
So who would be you rather for $1,999: an M2 Pro with 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD, Wi-Fi 6E and HDMI 2, or an M1 Max with 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD, and Thunderbolt ports in front panel and an SDXC card slot? The Mac mini with M2 Pro should really start at $1,099 like the Intel model it replaced, and of course Apple’s long-running ridiculous prices on upgraded RAM and storage are also to blame here. .
And then there’s the next generation of Mac Studio. We haven’t heard much about an upcoming M2 Max M2 Ultra-based Mac Studio, but the M1 version is almost a year old, and with the M2 Max now available in the MacBook Pro, we’re only expecting an M2 Ultra. Assuming Mac Studio updates this spring with the Mac mini’s HDMI 2.1 and Wi-FI 6E upgrades, and Apple doesn’t raise the price, there will be no reason to recommend an M2 Upgraded Pro Mac mini.
But for now, if you’re looking for a Mac desktop that’s a bit more powerful than the regular M2 model, grit your teeth and grab the $1,299 Mac mini, possibly with a 1TB storage upgrade if you can swing the $200. But if you’re planning on upgrading something else – CPU or RAM – I think most users would be happier and get more for their money, with the $1,999 Mac Studio.
