Mac mini vs Mac Studio: Was the M2 Pro upgrade worth the wait?

Best Prices Today: Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)

When Apple introduced the Mac Studio in March 202,2 we were impressed by its processing power and excellent value compared to the Mac Pro. The Mac Studio is a superb deal for content creators of any level, and, frankly, it’s a suitable replacement for Apple’s highest-end Mac in some situations. But not everyone needs all the power of a Mac Studio with M1 Max, let alone the $3,999 M1 Ultra.

So, despite the arrival of the Mac Studio, there has been a gap in Apple’s lineup. While the MacBook Pro has offered an M1 Pro and now an M2 Pro chip, there was no desktop Mac with such a chip until now. In January 2023, Apple introduced a new M2 Pro Mac mini. It’s the Mac we have been waiting for ever since Apple introduced the M1 Mac mini in November 2020 but left the higher-end Intel model around.

Now that we have the M2 Pro Mac mini, is the Mac Studio a less attractive proposition? Should you avoid the M1 Max Mac Studio and wait for Apple to introduce a version with the M2 Max chip in a new Mac Studio? Read on to get all the answers.

Mac Studio M1 Max vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Price

We love the price of the M1 Max Mac Studio. At $1,999/£1,999, it costs $1,500/£1,300 less than the M1 Max variant of the 16-inch MacBook Pro. At that price, there is more than enough left over to buy a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

The Mac mini M2 Pro also represents a bargain when compared to a similarly specced MacBook Pro. The M2 Pro Mac mini with a 10-core CPU and 16-Core GPU costs $1,299/£1,399 compared to the $1,999/£2,149 14-inch MacBook Pro with the same chip. We understand that these are very different machines, but it illustrates just how much you can save by buying one of Apple’s desktop Macs. The Mac mini and Mac Studio are the most cost-effective way to get Apple’s most powerful processors.

Comparing desktops, let’s take a closer look at what you get for your money:

• Mac Studio: M1 Max (10-core CPU, 24-core GPU), 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,999/£1,999
• Mac mini: M2 Pro (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU), 16GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,299/£1,399

Closing the gap between the two machines further: You can max out the Mac mini with an M2 Pro that has a 12-core CPU and 19-Core GPU with 32GB of memory for the same $1,999/£1,999 as the Mac Studio.

Another thing to consider is whether it is worth holding off on the purchase until Apple introduces the M2 Max variant of the Mac Studio, which is likely to happen at some point in 2023. Since we are discussing price here, we’ll note that it is likely that the Mac Studio will see a price hike when the new model is introduced, at least outside the U.S., so keep that in mind if you do decide to wait.

If you are going to buy either Mac take a look at our round up of the best Mac mini deals and the best Mac Studio deals.

Mac Studio M1 Max vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Design

The Mac Studio takes its design inspiration from the Mac mini. Both Macs are silver (there is no Space Gray version) and feature a big Apple logo on top. The Mac Studio measures 7.7 inches square, the same as the Mac mini, but it’s 3.7 inches tall, nearly three times the height of the Mac mini.

That extra space inside the Mac Studio means it benefits from a more efficient cooling system. The Mac Studio also offers a handy collection of ports on the front, including two USB-C ports and an SDXC card slot.

Mac Studio M1 Max vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Specs

Even though the M2 Pro is a newer chip than the M1 Max, the M1 Max, at least in terms of GPU cores, is the superior chip. But it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Here’s how the specs compare:

Mac mini M2 Pro

• Base model: 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,299/£1,399
• Additional options: 12-Core CPU, 19-Core GPU ($300/£300), 32GB memory ($400/£400), 1TB/2TB/4TB8TB SSD (up to $2,400)

Mac Studio M1 Max

• Base model: 10-core CPU, 24-Core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,999/£1,999
• Additional options: 32-Core GPU ($200/£200), 64GB memory ($400/£400), 1TB/2TB/4TB8TB SSD (up to $2,400)

CPU

In terms of CPU, it doesn’t look like a significant difference—there is a 10-core CPU as standard in both devices. But there are improvements in the newer chip, including a difference in the number of efficiency cores—up from two to four in the newer chip.

Apple claims that the M2 Pro and M2 Max offer 20 percent better CPU performance than the M1 Pro and M1 Max. This played out in our testing. As you can see from our Geekbench benchmarks, the Mac Studio with M1 Max (10-core) lagged behind in the multicore results. The Mac mini we compared it to was a build-to-order model with 12 cores, so an improvement is to be expected, but even in single-core benchmarks, the M2 Pro scored higher.

We saw a similar scenario in the Cinebench R23 benchmarks, with the 12-core Mac mini M2 Pro beating the M1 Max in the Mac Studio. Since the M1 Pro and M1 Max saw very similar benchmarks, we can certainly expect an improvement even with the standard 10-core CPU option.

GPU

When it comes to GPU cores things are a bit different. The standard Mac mini M2 Pro offers 16 graphics cores (up to 19), but the standard Mac Studio with M1 Max has a 24-core GPU (up to 32, and there will be up to 38 graphics cores in the M2 Max). While the GPU cores of the M2 Pro are ahead of those in the M1 Pro, the M1 Max still offers better graphics performance.

To get an idea of how this plays out in testing, in Geekbench 5 Compute benchmarks the 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 Pro (12-core CPU, 19-core GPU) scored against the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Max (10-core CPU, 32-core GPU).

Our iMovie benchmarks show the effect of the M1 Max’s two video encoding engines. The M2 Pro can’t quite keep up.

However, the faster CPU and Neural Engine in the M2 Pro make it faster than the M1 Max when applying the video stabilizing feature.

See how the M2 Pro and M2 Max compare here: M2 Pro vs M2 Max.

RAM

There are other ways in which the Max beats the Pro, whichever generation. The M1 Max has more memory bandwidth (400 GB/sec vs 200 GB/sec) and can offer more RAM than the M2 Pro can (64GB vs 32GB). Note that there is a 96GB RAM option for the M2 Max which may be coming to the Mac Studio, but there’s a catch—the 96GB RAM option is limited to the version of the M2 Max with 38 GPU cores, while the less expensive option with 30 GPU cores still tops out at 64GB.

Ports

The Mac Studio has the most ports, with two USB-C ports and one SDXC card slot on the front and four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, a 10Gb Ethernet jack, and one 3.5mm headphone jack on the back. The M2 Pro Mac mini has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, Gigabit Ethernet (10Gb ethernet costs an extra $100), and a headphone jack. Of course, there are plenty of USB-C hubs available if you want even more options.

You’ll notice that the Mac mini offers the newer HDMI 2.1 standard. HDMI 2.1 brings support for 4K at 240Hz and 8K at 60Hz. With HDMI 2.0, you could only connect one display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz. You can of course add additional displays via the Thunderbolt ports on both the Mac Studio and Mac mini. The Mac mini with M2 Pro supports up to three displays, while the Mac Studio supports up to four Pro Display XDRs and one 4K display.

The 2023 Mac mini also offers the new WiFi 6E standard and Bluetooth 5.3 while the Mac Studio has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Mac Studio M1 Max vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Buying Advice

Now that the M2 Pro Mac mini is here, the Mac Studio with M1 Max certainly looks less impressive than it did. You can now save $700/£700 by buying a Mac mini with M2 Pro, rather than the Mac Studio, and still get a machine that is plenty powerful enough for your needs.

But if you want the better M2 Pro chip and RAM, it makes more sense to look at the Mac Studio, even with an older M1 chip. It has more ports, a more powerful chip, and the convenience of front-facing ports. For the same $1,999, the choice between an M2 Pro Mac mini and a M1 Max Mac Studio shouldn’t be a difficult one.

However, we assume that there will be an M2 Max and M2 Ultra upgrade for the Mac Studio at some point in 2023, so it may be worth waiting. And there are also strong rumors of a new Apple silicon Mac Pro arriving within the coming months. But if you need a desktop Mac right now, the $1,299 Mac mini is a good bet until you start adding options.

For more Mac mini accessory options, read our feature on How to upgrade the M2 and M2 Pro Mac mini.

For more help deciding which Mac to buy read our Best Mac buying guide.

Best Prices Today: Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)