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M1 vs. M2. vs. M4 Mac Mini Buyer's Guide: 25+ Upgrades Compared

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Apple just unveiled the first Mac mini redesign in over a decade. The previous major updates to the device were the transition to Apple silicon in 2020 and the option of a Pro-grade chip in 2023, so how does the latest model compare to its two immediate predecessors?


The new Mac mini looks dramatically different to previous models thanks to a markedly smaller enclosure and two front USB-C ports, but it is also much more powerful thanks to the M4 and M4 Pro chips. All of the hardware differences between the 2020, 2023, and 2024 Mac mini models are detailed below:

Mac mini (late 2020)Mac mini (early 2023)Mac mini (late 2024)
Height: 1.41 inches (3.58 cm)Height: 1.41 inches (3.58 cm)Height: 2.0 inches (5.0 cm)
Width: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm)Width: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm)Width: 5.0 inches (12.7 cm)
Depth: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm)Depth: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm)Depth: 5.0 inches (12.7 cm)
Weight: 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg)Weight (M2): 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg)
Weight (M2 Pro): 2.8 pounds (1.28 kg)		Weight (M4): 1.5 pounds (0.67 kg)
Weight (M4 Pro): 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg)
Thermal design with rear air intake and exhaustThermal design with rear air intake and exhaustNew thermal design that drives air up through the base
Rear power buttonRear power buttonBottom power button
Wi-Fi 6Wi-Fi 6EWi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth 5.0Bluetooth 5.3Bluetooth 5.3
3.5mm headphone jack3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
HDMI 2.0M2: HDMI 2.0
M2 Pro: HDMI 2.1		HDMI 2.1
Two rear USB-A portsTwo rear USB-A portsTwo front USB-C ports
Two Thunderbolt 3/USB4 USB-C portsM2: Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
M2 Pro: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports		M4: Three Thunderbolt 4 ports
M4 Pro: Three Thunderbolt 5 ports
Maximum of two external displaysMaximum of three external displaysMaximum of three external displays
256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storageM2: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage
M2 Pro: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB storage		M4: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage
M4 Pro: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage


The chips offered across the three Mac mini generations are a key point of difference. These changes are outlined below:

Mac mini (late 2020)Mac mini (early 2023)Mac mini (late 2024)
M1 chip (made with TSMC's 5nm (N5) process)M2 or M2 Pro chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 5nm (N5P) process)M4 or M4 Pro chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 3nm (N3E) process)
8 CPU cores (4 performance + 4 efficiency)M2: 8 CPU cores (4 performance + 4 efficiency)
M2 Pro: 10 or 12 CPU cores (6 or 8 performance + 4 efficiency)		M4: 10 CPU cores (4 performance + 6 efficiency cores)
M4 Pro: 12 or 14 CPU cores (8 or 10 performance + 4 efficiency)
3.23 GHz maximum CPU clock speed3.50 GHz maximum CPU clock speed4.30 GHz maximum CPU clock speed
8 GPU coresM2: 10 GPU cores
M2 Pro: 16 or 19 GPU cores		M4: 10 GPU cores
M4 Pro: 16 or 20 GPU cores
Updated GPU architecture with improved efficiency
Hardware-accelerated ray-tracing
Dynamic caching
Video decode engineHigher-bandwidth video decode engineHigher-bandwidth video decode engine
Hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVCHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAWHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW
ProRes encode and decode engineProRes encode and decode engine
Support for AV1 decode
LPDDR4X memoryLPDDR5 memoryLPDDR5X memory
68.25GB/s memory bandwidthM2: 100GB/s memory bandwidth
M2 Pro: 200GB/s memory bandwidth		M4: 120GB/s memory bandwidth
M4 Pro: 273GB/s memory bandwidth
8GB or 16GB memoryM2: 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB memory
M2 Pro: 16GB or 32GB memory		M4: 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB memory
M4 Pro: 24GB, 48GB, or 64GB memory
16-core Neural Engine, 11 trillion operations per second16-core Neural Engine, 15.8 trillion operations per second16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second
Dedicated display engine


The M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini represent the most significant update to Apple's compact desktop in years, marking an evolution not only in performance but in design and functionality as well. The new, dramatically smaller enclosure, improved thermal design, and front USB-C ports are standout changes that make the M4 Mac mini much more versatile. For users who prioritize compactness and connectivity without sacrificing power, these design upgrades alone make the 2024 Mac mini an appealing choice... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: M1 vs. M2. vs. M4 Mac Mini Buyer's Guide: 25+ Upgrades Compared
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/guide/m1-vs-m2-vs-m4-mac-mini/
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This is a good upgrade hardware-wise. Nothing revolutionary, but a welcome advancement in terms of positioning this as a stylish, affordable and powerful option for the general public.

They can probably create a MacMini Pro the size of the previous generation MacMini for those who need even greater performance and I/O availability.
 
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Looking forward to the new Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M4 Pro Mac mini and hopefully all future Pro models such as M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro. Also this should mean that the new Mac Studio M4 Max and M4 Ultra models should also have Thunderbolt 5 support. I feel the need for speed! I want a fast external Thunderbolt 5 SSD drive!
 
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This upgrade is actually quite substantial, but folks do not really seem to be noticing. The new availability of 64 GB RAM is huge. MR said "The latest generation blurs the line between the ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌," which is misleading because the past generation already fully blurred the line between the ‌Mac Mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌.

This new Mac Mini jumps the line between the ‌Mac Mini‌ and ‌the Mac Studio. Clock speed, ray tracing and 64 GB RAM ‌will have a new Mini outperforming the Studio lower end for many tasks that fit under 64 GB RAM [until the M4 Studio is released]. Tasks that optimize using more RAM will remain Studio or MBP territory.

Edit: The availability of 64 GB RAM in Apple's low end desktop product the Mac Mini extends the low end product choices upward, and really makes me wonder what the M4 Studios will bring us. I very much look forward to seeing the coming M4 generations of Studios and Mac Pros.
 
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Wig321 said:
Bit rubbish how the pro cpu upgrade is 2 extra efficiency cores instead of performance cores. Pending other announcements this week, base pro with 1tb for me.
Click to expand...
That is not true. Compared to Mac Mini M2 Pro it is 2 or 4 more performance cores and the same number of efficiency cores. And compared to M3 Pro actually even better because that came in a 5+6 or 6+6 arrangement whereas here we have 8+4 and 10+4.
 
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One of the only bummers here is that if you have the Pro version, vs last gen, you now no longer get 3 thunderbolt displays + an extra thunderbolt port. This will never affect me but it’s interesting. I‘m primarily thinking of the Studio Display so maybe a future model will have a passthrough thunderbolt 3/4 port.
 
The big surprise for me is price: I paid £1049 for my M1 16/512 combo, back in the day. The same M4 combo is now £799, £250 cheaper for more power and an extra port.

I seriously didn’t expect the new one to be that much cheaper. It’ll be interesting to see if the new entry level MBP’s get the same treatment….
 
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I have no use for racks myself, but was curious about the math: The old Mini could fit two Minis in 1U of rack space. In 3U of space, that would be 6 units. They could be vertical requiring 5U, and fit 13 units. A standard server rack is 42U, so I guess maximum is 104 of the old Minis in a full rack?

With the taller new Mac Mini, 1U is not possible. But vertical can be done with 3U, and fit 9 units. A full rack would be 126 new Minis, which is a little over 20% more. Not as much as you'd think - I guess, not super surprisingly, it's not really designed with racks in mind, it's just something people do because they can.

(As mentioned I am not a rack user, so I may have omitted available options that I don't know about).
 
Velli said:
I have no use for racks myself, but was curious about the math: The old Mini could fit two Minis in 1U of rack space. In 3U of space, that would be 6 units. They could be vertical requiring 5U, and fit 13 units. A standard server rack is 42U, so I guess maximum is 104 of the old Minis in a full rack?

With the taller new Mac Mini, 1U is not possible. But vertical can be done with 3U, and fit 9 units. A full rack would be 126 new Minis, which is a little over 20% more. Not as much as you'd think - I guess, not super surprisingly, it's not really designed with racks in mind, it's just something people do because they can.

(As mentioned I am not a rack user, so I may have omitted available options that I don't know about).
Click to expand...
In the video announcement they specifically called out rack use, so I think they had it in mind to some degree.
 
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familychoice said:
The big surprise for me is price: I paid £1049 for my M1 16/512 combo, back in the day. The same M4 combo is now £799, £250 cheaper for more power and an extra port.

I seriously didn’t expect the new one to be that much cheaper. It’ll be interesting to see if the new entry level MBP’s get the same treatment….
Click to expand...
I'd expect the price of the RAM to be lower, but not the SSD. Meaning, the new 16GB will be the price of the previous 8GB, so to get that spec you don't need to buy the RAM upgrade, but still need to pay the same for the SSD upgrade. So, I'd expect the price of an MBP 16/512 to be 200USD lower than today.

EDIT: 14" M3 16/512 is 1799 today. Tomorrow, I expect that to be 1599.
 
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zach-coleman said:
In the video announcement they specifically called out rack use, so I think they had it in mind to some degree.
Click to expand...
I don't think they did to the degree that they would choose dimensions to fit with it. But, the racks they showed in that video is non-standard. Haven't done the math how space efficient it would be if we disregard standard unit heights.

EDIT: An imaginary custom (arbitrary numbers) 40 inch wide by 80 inch tall rack, allowing for a quarter inch between each row for a thin shelf - and not considering if cooling is practical:

Old Mac Mini: 28 across, 10 high - 280 units.
New Mac Mini: 20 across, 16 high - 320 units. Only 14% more.

It doesn't make it any less useful than the old version (unless you just want to put one in a 1U space), but it isn't as much of a difference as you'd expect.

That is not counting depth, so for a farm with many racks, the numbers may be better - not going to go there :)
 
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Thunderbolt 4 digital video output: Support for native DisplayPort 1.4 output over USB-C
Thunderbolt 5 digital video output: Support for native DisplayPort 2.1 output over USB‑C

Uhhh typical Apple, soin order to get DP2.1, one needs to take the pro variant with TB5... So Apple
 
Velli said:
I'd expect the price of the RAM to be lower, but not the SSD. Meaning, the new 16GB will be the price of the previous 8GB, so to get that spec you don't need to buy the RAM upgrade, but still need to pay the same for the SSD upgrade. So, I'd expect the price of an MBP 16/512 to be 200USD lower than today.
Click to expand...
Yeah I’m expecting that. But the Mini has also had a £50 price reduction as well (£599 instead of the previous £649 for the base model), so…fingers crossed!!

I’m actually thinking about an M4 MBP upgrade for my Intel MBP, which chugs a bit with music software. But with such a good deal on the new Mini, I may end up compromising on mobility, and get that instead.
 
elgipsy said:
Thunderbolt 4 digital video output: Support for native DisplayPort 1.4 output over USB-C
Thunderbolt 5 digital video output: Support for native DisplayPort 2.1 output over USB‑C

Uhhh typical Apple, soin order to get DP2.1, one needs to take the pro variant with TB5... So Apple
Click to expand...

TB4 maxes out at DP 2.0 anyway. There was no way you'd see TB4 with 2.1.
 
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zach-coleman said:
One of the only bummers here is that if you have the Pro version, vs last gen, you now no longer get 3 thunderbolt displays + an extra thunderbolt port. This will never affect me but it’s interesting. I‘m primarily thinking of the Studio Display so maybe a future model will have a passthrough thunderbolt 3/4 port.
Click to expand...
Thunderbolt 5 provides twice the bandwidth of TB 4 (or more). So even with one less port much more bandwidth is available. New cables required.
 
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elgipsy said:
Thunderbolt 4 digital video output: Support for native DisplayPort 1.4 output over USB-C
Thunderbolt 5 digital video output: Support for native DisplayPort 2.1 output over USB‑C

Uhhh typical Apple, soin order to get DP2.1, one needs to take the pro variant with TB5... So Apple
Click to expand...
You act like Apple did not just drop great product. If you want upper end buy the Pro variant. Easy.
 
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According to this: the dedicated Display Engine in Apple SoC was necessary to enable the Tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR display on iPad Pro. I would guess the display engine on a Mac could be gain performance benefits when connecting to high-resolution displays?

hajime said:
What is "Dedicated display engine" in the M4 Pro?
Click to expand...
 
familychoice said:
Yeah I’m expecting that. But the Mini has also had a £50 price reduction as well (£599 instead of the previous £649 for the base model), so…fingers crossed!!
Click to expand...
Didn't notice that. Maybe because you're in UK? Was the US price also decreased? In any case, that's likely to be due to the smaller chassis being cheaper to manufacture. I think it's very unlikely the MBP will see a reduction in base price. It may be that because the config options are different, some configs decrease while others increase. I don't know if it's on purpose (I wouldn't put it past them), but the changes in RAM options makes it difficult to compare apples to apples on the RAM upgrades.
 
Looks tempting, but not sure if worth the upgrade from Mac Mini M2 8/512. All works fine for me.
 
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