Mac mini vs Mac Studio: which one to buy in 2023?

Until recently, Apple’s most powerful standalone desktop was the Mac Studio. Its M1 Max delivered the highest processing power, making it the best choice for video editors, gamers and developers. But there was no desktop with the new M2 chip. So Apple gave us a new Mac mini with the M2 Pro.

It offers all the “Pro”features at a lower price. But can the Mac mini beat the Mac Studio? Let’s compare Mac mini 2023 and Mac Studio and find out.

Difference between Mac mini 2023 and Mac Studio

Mac mini and Mac Studio have a similar look, Apple silicon chipsets and two USB-A connectors. But there are many differences, including performance, memory size, support for external displays, price, etc.

Take a look at the comparison table to get a general idea:

Mac mini 2023 vs Mac Studio: An in-depth comparison

Now that you know the fundamental differences between both devices, let’s dive in and see if the M2 Pro Mac mini is better than the M1 Max Mac Studio. After our analysis, you can decide which one suits your use cases and requirements.

Design and appearance

Mac mini and Mac Studio share the same silver metal body with the Apple logo. The dimensions are almost the same; the only difference is that Mac Studio is 3 times taller to fit a dual fan system. In addition, vents at the back push hot air out for a more efficient cooling system. In addition, Mac Studio weighs twice as much as mini. So in terms of portability, the Mac mini 2023 wins.

CPU

The main controversy between Mac Studio and Mac mini has to do with performance. So first let’s check the benchmarks to understand their single and multi-core performance.

Source: Geekbench

It’s clear that the new Mac mini is better at general tasks than the Mac Studio. Here I compared the 12-core M2 Pro Mac mini (16GB RAM) to the base Mac Studio model. If you pick up the M1 Ultra Mac Studio, you’ll get 23,350 multi-core points. Thus, advanced users can choose M1 Ultra Mac Studio, and ordinary users will be satisfied with the smooth operation of M2 Pro Mac mini.

As we saw in Apple’s M1 and M2 chip comparison, the M1 Max is equipped with two video decoding engines, four video encoding engines, and four ProRes encoding and decoding engines. So, the Media Engine has received a twofold improvement.

However, the M2 Pro cannot beat the M1 Ultra in terms of Media Engine. Thus, Mac Studio is the best choice for video editing.

Processor performance

The 12-core M2 Pro has a 20% performance boost over the M1 Pro and M1 Max. In addition, the new chip has four additional performance cores to improve efficiency. So, the 10-core CPU M1 Max is clearly behind. In addition, the M1 Max Mac Studio has 57 billion transistors that can perform up to 11 trillion operations per second.

If you ask me, Mac Studio has an advantage, regardless of test scores, because it can be tuned for maximum performance.

GPU performance

Many readers have asked me to compare Mac mini and Mac Studio for gaming and photography. The M2 Pro features an advanced 19-core GPU that is 2.5 times more powerful than the M1 chips. On the other hand, the M1 Max has a 24-core GPU (upgraded to 32-core) which is more suitable for graphically intensive activities such as gaming and image rendering.

What’s more, Geekbench 5 Metal GPU tests show that the M2 Pro scored 52,700 points while the M1 Max scored 64,700 points. So Mac Studio still delivers 3.4x better graphics performance. You can play up to 9 streams of 8K ProRes video and 8K rendering speed is 5 times faster.

Memory

If you’re concerned about storage capacity, you can set up the M1 Max Mac Studio for up to 64GB of combined storage with 400GB/s of memory bandwidth. However, the M2 Pro Mac mini is limited to 32 GB of combined memory with a bandwidth of 200 GB/s.

This should be sufficient for most users. Plus, you can get up to 8TB SSD with both devices.

What’s more, the M1 Ultra Mac Studio can have up to 128GB of unified memory. In this way, intensive developers can take advantage of Mac Studio’s extreme RAM and high memory bandwidth.

External display support and connectivity

Mac Studio has two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, four Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports (up to six), one HDMI 2.0 port, a 10GB Ethernet jack, one SDXC card slot, and one 3.5mm headphone jack. The 10 GB Ethernet connection and SDXC card port provide faster Internet speeds and fast image and video transfer.

On the other hand, Mac mini has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, one HDMI 2.1 port, two USB-A ports, Ethernet, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Ethernet connection only supports Gigabit LAN. You can power two Pro Display XDR monitors and one 4K monitor, while Mac Studio can power two more Pro Display XDR monitors.

With the HDMI 2.1 update, you can now drive 4K@240Hz and 8K@60Hz external monitors. In addition, Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.3 have improved wireless connectivity.

When it comes to ports and connectivity, there is little difference between Mac mini and Mac Studio. So, choose Mac Studio if you’re interested in transfer speed and versatility.

Mac mini or Mac Studio: which one should you choose?

Before making a purchase decision, pay attention to the price.

Both Mac mini and Mac Studio have multiple configurations and different price points.

• Mac Studio: $1999 for M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 32GB of combined memory, and 512GB of SSD storage.
• Mac mini: $1,299 for M2 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB of combined memory, and 512GB of SSD storage.

The Mac Mini is perfect if you want a high level of performance and compatibility with an external 8K display at a reasonable price. It offers maximum single-core performance. But you should consider the M1 Ultra Mac Studio for the highest multi-core performance if price doesn’t matter.

In addition, M1 Max Mac Studio can be an option for maximum GPU performance, more RAM, high memory bandwidth, support for five monitors, and a built-in SDXC card slot.

However, not everyone wants the $3,999 M1 Ultra, or the full power of Mac Studio with the M1 Max. If it’s an urgent requirement, I’d suggest picking an M2 Pro Mac mini and saving $700 or waiting for a Mac Studio with an M2 chip.

What powerful car would you choose? Let me know in the comments.