Performance wise both suit your needs. Sure it's faster on more expensive machines. And the 2012 edition is indeed faster on multithreaded tasks, but really they are fast enough if you're not earning your money with it. And the new minis are faster single threaded, and the new one uses less power. (very handy if you let it on 24/7)
Better questions are:
- Do i want to spend almost double to get a laptop?
- Do i need te be mobile?
- Would i dock the laptop most of the time to external display ect?
Basically you have first to decide if you are ok with a desktop or you want a a laptop.
The pro of a macbook is that you can choose. you can always buy a screen, keyboard and mouse and dock it. But a Mini is never going to be a laptop.
But with the money you safe when buying a mini, you can buy an really nice external display.
Think about that, rather then performance wise 😉