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Mac Mini vs. Mac Studio Buyer's Guide: 20+ Differences Compared
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Sometimes they will just refresh an article and republish it to drive traffic if the topic is still valid. that includes the older comments. It can get confusing as the comments are often specific to the earlier time period.
With both the increasing prices and the pace of incremental bumps in performance, a four year purchase cycle may have a doubling of performance at less than a doubling of price.
Yes I was wondering about that as well, as the M3 Max's (and now M3 Ultra's) NPU appears to be really lacking when compared even to the base M4 chip's NPU!
Okay I have a M1 Studio ultra 2TB drive and 128g RAM and I've used some of these "countless OTHER monitors" but the only one that works for me is the Apple Pro Display XDR.......this is simply the best.......forget the rest
Wow, I strongly disagree with the MR advice:
In 2025, Apple updated the Mac Studio with the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips. Apple last year refreshed the Mac mini with the M4 and M4 Pro chips, meaning that the Mac Studio faces a formidable competitor that offers "Pro" capabilities at a substantially lower price point.
There are now two desktop Macs and four Apple silicon chip options for users who do not need the expandability of the Mac Pro. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999, overshadowing the $599 starting price of the M4 Mac mini and even the $1,399 starting price of the M4 Pro Mac mini, so do you need the performance of the Mac Studio, or is the humble Mac mini sufficient for your needs? Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two desktop Macs is best for you.
The Mac mini and the Mac Studio share some fundamental features, including a familiar, boxy silver aluminum design, two front-facing USB-C ports along with HDMI and ethernet on the rear, and Apple silicon chipsets. That being said, the two machines have much more in contrast than they do in common, including different chip options, memory capacities, ports, and external display support capabilities.
Mac mini (M4, 2024) Mac mini (M4 Pro, 2024) Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 2025) M4 chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 3nm (N3E) process) M4 Pro chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 3nm (N3E) process) M4 Max chip (made with TSMC's 3nm (N3E) process) M3 Ultra chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 5nm (N3B) process) 4.30 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 4.30 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 4.30 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 4.05 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 10-core CPU (4 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores) 12- or 14-core CPU (8 or 10 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores) 14- or 16-core CPU (10 or 12 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores) 28- or 32-core CPU (20 or 24 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores) 10-core GPU 16- or 20‑core GPU 32- or 40-core GPU 60- or 80-core GPU Improved ray-tracing engine Improved ray-tracing engine Improved ray-tracing engine Ray-tracing engine 120GB/s memory bandwidth 273GB/s memory bandwidth 546GB/s memory bandwidth 819.2GB/s memory bandwidth 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB unified memory 24GB, 48GB, or 64GB unified memory 36GB, 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB unified memory 96GB, 256GB, or 512GB unified memory LPDDR5X memory LPDDR5X memory LPDDR5X memory LPDDR5 memory 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, or 16TB storage 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second 32-core Neural Engine, 72 trillion operations per second Video decode engine Video decode engine Video decode engine Two video decode engines Video encode engine Video encode engine Two video encode engines Two video encode engines ProRes encode and decode engine ProRes encode and decode engine Two ProRes encode and decode engines Four ProRes encode and decode engines Dedicated display engine Dedicated display engine Dedicated display engine Support for up to three external displays Support for up to three external displays Support for up to five external displays Support for up to eight external displays Three rear Thunderbolt 4 ports Three rear Thunderbolt 5 ports Four rear Thunderbolt 5 ports Four rear Thunderbolt 5 ports Two front USB-C ports Two front USB-C ports Two front USB-C ports Two front Thunderbolt 5 ports Two rear USB-A ports Two rear USB-A ports Gigabit Ethernet or 10Gb Ethernet port Gigabit Ethernet or 10Gb Ethernet port 10Gb Ethernet port 10Gb Ethernet port SDXC card slot (UHS-II) SDXC card slot (UHS-II) Bottom power button Bottom power button Rear power button Rear power button Starts at $599 Starts at $1,399 Starts at $1,999 Starts at $3,999
Following the Mac mini's redesign last year, the dimensions of the two devices are now radically different, with the Mac Studio dwarfing the Mac mini in every way.
Mac mini Mac Studio Height 2.0 inches (5.0 cm) 3.7 inches (9.5 cm) Width 5.0 inches (12.7 cm) 7.7 inches (19.7 cm) Depth 5.0 inches (12.7 cm) 7.7 inches (19.7 cm) Weight M4: 1.5 pounds (0.67 kg)
M4 Pro: 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg)M4 Max: 5.9 pounds (2.7 kg)
M3 Ultra: 7.9 pounds (3.6 kg)
Most customers should choose the M4 Pro Mac mini over the M4 Max Mac Studio, saving $700 when looking at the base models. There will likely still be substantial savings when it comes to custom configurations.
You should only consider the Mac Studio if you have an professional workflow that can leverage the extreme power of the M4 Max or M3 Ultra, as well as its additional ports and memory options. If you need the Mac Studio, you will likely know that you are looking for a highly powerful machine that is capable of supporting specific intense workflows.
If considering the M4 Max or M3 Ultra Mac Studio, it's worth bearing in mind that the cheaper machine uses newer chip technology with faster memory, improved ray-tracing, and better single-core performance. For multi-core, graphics, a... Click here to read rest of article
Article Link: Mac Mini vs. Mac Studio Buyer's Guide: 20+ Differences Compared
"Most customers should choose the M4 Pro Mac mini over the M4 Max Mac Studio, saving $700 when looking at the base models."
IMO the Mac Mini is a great value device- - but not the Mac mini Pro chip version with 24 GB RAM. Almost immediately 24 GB RAM will be performing suboptimally in a Pro chip version. So why pay 75% ($600) more than a Mac mini base chip with 24 GB RAM? The Pro does have a 512 SSD, but either box will need to add external SSD anyway.
IMO anyone who needs Pro M4 over base M4 chip should be getting more than 24 GB of RAM. Even the base chip can be had with
I disagree. One needs some level of power/RAM to get te work done for a chosen life cycle. Buying less than needed is poor tool purchasing, and pushing to shorter life cycles A) is a PITA and operationally inefficient and B) can get costly.
While those are excellent deals for the base models, in general what I find with Micro Center is (a) they rarely have anything other than the base models (i.e. no BTO); and (b) they run out of stock quickly even when they do have the base models. It's a little frustrating.
(In my own case, I'd want a 4TB internal drive as I have about 2.6+ TB worth of 'stuff'. Having to add an external 2TB NVMe SSD - even a Thunderbolt 5 one - means one more thing to worry about getting lost or stolen.)
Never. A base M1 has no trouble with any of them. (Note, I stick with Safari on the M1 AIR and Firefox on the Linux box which has a CPU about the same speed as an M1 (Ryzen 4600G.)
The question the table didn't address is the cost for the 14 core M4 Pro with 48 GB RAM and the 14 core M4 Max also with 48 GB. Then you can see how much you are paying for the better GPU and extra ports. I suspect it's not much, and if you really seriously do video the Studio is the obvious choice.
Edit: I took my own advice and discovered I can't get an exact match thanks to Marketing. The closest Studio is a 16 core CPU with 48 GB RAM and a 40 core GPU. That one is $2500.
The 14 core M4 Pro comes with a 20 core GPU. With the 48 GB RAM it's $2000. Both machines have 512 GB storage.
When you add the USB or Thunderbolt hub you would need with the Mini Pro you may as well get the Studio. The midrange Mini Pro is not really much of a sweet spot.
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Except that comparing storage is a bogus way to look at it. External third party mass storage is cheaply available and TB provides good bandwidth. Forget the storage and focus on RAM, memory bandwidth and ports. Plus of course the M4 max chip is hella stronger than the M4 pro chip is.
Apple makes it difficult to compare apples to apples obviously, but in terms of what you get for the price the studio is a very good product; superb even. Personally I consider the low end Mac mini to be a great deal and I consider the Studios with good RAM to be good deals. The loaded Mac mini Pros not so much; too costly for too little RAM.
IMO there are two good choices, depending upon needs: build out a base-level Mac mini or buy a Studio. Anyone getting into Mac mini Pro territory is better off with a Studio for just a little more money.
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Except that the world of computing is not just about chip specs. Apple's Unified Memory Architecture makes expensive RAM very important, changing your mathematical premise. A four year life cycle will seldom be appropriate, except perhaps for low end users.
I have to know: Why did you spend $12,000 on a computer?
Possibly the same reason I just spent 8k on a camera, a cost that blows some people away is simply a necessity if you require certain tools for certain jobs.
The only thing I would add is the prices for the "extras". For me, I think I'm going the Studio route because, for example, the 10Gbps ethernet upgrade comes with the Mini to Studio bump. More memory comes standard. You have to figure out for yourself if more encoding and other chip-level upgrades are "worth it" and I do a lot of video encoding with a huge .264 -> .265 task looming in my future.
this would have been better as a in-depth benchmark comparison article, not simply a tech spec comparison, which is available on apple's site. just seems like low effort content.
Nice comparison! A Mac Studio does look pretty tempting, but for my purposes, including multi-tabbed web browsing, moderate-to-heavy audio and video editing (I rarely make 4K videos, usually with 1080p being my highest resolution), and other general multitasking, an M4 Pro -equipped Mac Mini with 48 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD will definitely be sufficient enough for my needs. For USB-A ports and an SD card slot, I can just use my CalDigit TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 dock that I currently use with my M1 MacBook Air and plan to also use with said Mac Mini.
I am not a power user, never owned a Mac but do own iPhones and Ipads. Based on port availability, SD card reader, CPU/GPU at 16-40-16 I have chosen the Mac Studio M4 Max with 48GB of memory at $2500. A Mac Mini Pro would probably do but at some point there is a price point where you should just simply spend more money and be multiple leaps ahead and future proof.
An Mac Mini M4 Pro, with 48 GB of memory, and M4 chip at 14-20-16 is $2000. I am willing to pay more for the additional ports on the Mac Studio M4 Max.
An Mac Mini M4 Pro, with 48 GB of memory, and M4 chip at 14-20-16 is $2000. I am willing to pay more for the additional ports on the Mac Studio M4 Max.
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You get what your ordered when you order it. You have ten days to return the item after you get it. After that time, the item is yours until it dies, gets thrown in the trash or traded in on something else. Within any three month period, there could be a new model with better numbers, but the buy choice was made and the user lives with it.
Really looks like Apple gear may get the tariff treatment along with the other techies soon. I listened to the candidate before the election and he is doing what he said he would do. That is why we ordered all our new latest and greatest electronics gear for delivery before January 20. Apple has announced new stuff and the lead time for a fully loaded BTO MacStudio is out there to a date in April. We shall see what develops. Our costs are paid so no surcharges in the air for our gear.
Really looks like Apple gear may get the tariff treatment along with the other techies soon. I listened to the candidate before the election and he is doing what he said he would do. That is why we ordered all our new latest and greatest electronics gear for delivery before January 20. Apple has announced new stuff and the lead time for a fully loaded BTO MacStudio is out there to a date in April. We shall see what develops. Our costs are paid so no surcharges in the air for our gear.
I don't think Apple could tack a surcharge onto the bill of any item after it is ordered. Though I would be surprised if Apple fully absorbs the costs of tariffs into the future, I think they will take the hit of tariffs for any items they import (even if on our behalf) until (and if) they update the prices on the website.
I'm debating finally replacing my late-2014 model mac Mini, which mostly acts as a server for a variety of things at home (Home Assistant, Plex, others...). It's actually holding up to the workload quite nicely, but I'm starting to run into issues where the older OS isn't supported anymore (it's on Monterey; latest available for it).
Tempted to get the Studio, as the extra performance would help the replacement remain useful longer, but do I need it when this 16GB i7 is still chugging along dutifully? Hmmm
Tempted to get the Studio, as the extra performance would help the replacement remain useful longer, but do I need it when this 16GB i7 is still chugging along dutifully? Hmmm
It would be hard to justify more than a base Mac Mini M4 for that purpose. Performance-wise its 10x your Mac Mini, which like my Mac Mini 2018 i3 is already rarely pushed to the limit for home tasks. Maybe -- maybe -- the Studio will get an extra year or so of support over the Mac Mini M4, but it won't have 3x the life for your purposes.
Very true. My biggest concern, I think, is memory - have a few VMs running on this thing and I think things are starting to get a little cramped. All-in-all though I'm impressed how well this thing's holding up to what I've thrown at it...