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Mac Mini vs. Mac Studio Buyer's Guide: 20+ Differences Compared

harriska2 said:
Not owning either (I have a 2018 mini), your comment is exactly my conclusion.
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I had a 2018 Mac Mini. It was a game changer for me, coming from a 2012 iMac. I upgraded to the M1 Mac Mini because Apple's trade-in value on the 2018 was so high, it basically gave me an "upgrade" for about $400. I was good with my Mi Mini (16GB or RAM), but it didn't feel like all that much "more" than my 2018 Mini. I also hated losing my ports, and had this weird thing that my Monitor would drop for about 2 seconds every once in a while, but come right back. Adding a 2nd monitor felt tenuous, like I was on the verge of overtaxing the machine. It also cost me one of my 2 USB-C ports (Monitor 1 was HDMI), leaving just 1 USB-C for any other high powered externals (I had to solve this with independently powered hubs and daisy chains). It functioned, though.

The Mac Studio felt more like that 2018 Mini. More drastic upgrade. Had everything I wanted with no additional items (like hubs) needed. I immediately got rid of 3 hubs i had hidden in the back of my machine. Monitor drop outs stopped and I upped my 2nd monitor to a full 4K monitor and have never had any issue. I also have 2 front facing USB-C's for portably hard drive connections and an SD card slot (that frankly, I never use). And the machine itself seems to have no limitations. I also feel better being more ahead of the RAM curve (it has 32GB and the max for the M1 Mini was 16GB).
 
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MacRumors said:


The all-new Mac Studio is Apple's most powerful custom silicon standalone desktop computer, overtaking the entry-level M1-based Mac mini that Apple launched in November 2020.

mac-studio-vs-mac-mini.jpg

The Mac Studio starts at $1,999, dwarfing the $699 starting price of the Apple silicon-based Mac mini, so do you need the latest high-end Mac, 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.

Comparing the Mac mini and the Mac Studio

The Mac mini and the Mac Studio share some fundamental features, including a similar silver aluminum design, Apple silicon chipsets, and two rear USB-A ports. Apple lists these same features of the two devices:

Similarities

  • Apple M1-series chip
  • 16-core Neural Engine
  • HDMI port supports multichannel audio output
  • Two USB-A ports
  • 10Gb Ethernet (optional on Mac mini)
  • 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0
  • Built-in speaker
  • Silver aluminum design

Although these Macs share some features, the two machines have much more in contrast than they do in common, including different chips, memory capacities, ports, and external display support capabilities.

Differences


Mac mini
  • M1 chip
  • 8-core CPU
  • 8-core GPU
  • Up to 16GB unified memory
  • Up to 2TB storage
  • Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
  • 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Support for one display up to 6K and one display up to 4K
  • Starts at $699


Mac Studio
  • M1 Max chip or M1 Ultra chip
  • Up to 20-core CPU
  • Up to 64-core GPU
  • Up to 128GB unified memory
  • Up to 8TB storage
  • Media engine with two video decode engines, up to four video encode engines, and up to four ProRes encode and decode engines
  • Up to six Thunderbolt 4 ports
  • 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones
  • Support for up to four Pro Display XDRs and one 4K display
  • SDXC card slot (UHS-II)
  • Starts at $1,999


M1 vs. M1 Max and M1 Ultra

The M1 chip has an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU. In the Mac Studio, the M1 Max features a 10-core CPU and up to a 32-Core GPU. The M1 Ultra in the Mac Studio combines two M1 Max chips for extreme performance, resulting in a 20-core CPU and up to a 64-core GPU. We will update this article when benchmarks for the Mac Studio are available, but the Mac Studio is expected to trounce the Mac mini when it comes to performance.

m1-max.jpg

The M1 Max and M1 Ultra also feature a dedicated media engine with two video decode engines, up to four video encode engines, and up to four ProRes encode and decode engines, meaning these chips are better for tasks like video editing.

Choose the Mac mini or Mac Studio should primarily be guided by which chipset you need. The M1 is an efficiency-focused chip with outstanding performance for everyday tasks, while the M1 Max and M1 Ultra are high-performance chips designed to deliver extreme capability.

Memory and Storage

The M1 in the Mac mini is paired with either 8GB or 16GB of unified memory. The M1 Max can offer 32GB or 64GB of unified memory, while the M1 Ultra doubles the capability of the M1 Max to 64GB and 128GB of unified memory. This may be an important consideration for some workflows, and only the Mac Studio features large amounts of memory.

The M1 Mac mini starts with 256GB of storage and can be configured up to a total of 2TB of storage. The Mac Studio, on the other hand, starts with 512GB of storage and can be configured up to a total of 8GB of storage. While it is possible to add external storage, both the SSD storage and unified memory of both computers are non-upgradeable so it is important to choose the right configuration at the point of purchase.

Ports and External Display Support

Both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio feature two USB-A ports and one HDMI port, but while the Mac mini has two Thunderbolt ports, the Mac Studio has up to six depending on which configuration you choose. Both machines also feature a 3.5mm headphone jack, but the Mac Studio's 3.5mm jack supports high-impedance headphones. The Mac Studio also features a SDXC card slot (UHS-II).

The Mac mini supports one 6K display and one 4K display for a total of two, while the Mac studio can support four 6K displays and one 4K display, for a total of five.

What About the Intel Mac Mini?

Apple continues to sell its older, Intel-based Mac mini, starting at $1,099. This high-end Mac mini model features two additional Thunderbolt ports, up to a six-core Intel Core i7 processor with Intel UHD Graphics 630, up to 64GB memory, and support for up to three 4K displays or one 5K display and one 4K display. It is also demarcated by its Space Gray enclosure.

mac-mini-intel-gray.jpg

Despite theoretically being the Mac mini high-end model, it is effectively an aging 2018 model and is often surpassed by the M1 chip in the Mac mini. Unless you definitely need more Thunderbolt ports, more memory, the ability to connect to additional external displays, or have a specific need for an Intel-based system, you should buy the M1 model.


The‌ M1 ‌Mac mini‌ is a more modern device that will be the best option for the vast majority of users. Not only is the ‌M1‌ ‌Mac mini‌ markedly more powerful in practice, but it is also much less costly than its Intel predecessor.

As an older Intel-based machine, the high-end Mac mini does not directly compare to the Mac Studio, and any prospective customers who are confident they need more Thunderbolt ports, more memory, or the ability to connect to additional external displays will be much better off buying the Mac Studio if they can afford it.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it is clear that the Mac mini and Mac Studio are very different machines intended for different customer bases. To some extent, purchasing decisions should be driven by budget, but it is worth bearing in mind that any savings on the desktop computer itself can be put toward a good external display such as the Apple Studio Display, which starts from $1,599. For example, a Mac mini paired with a Studio Display comes to $2,298, which is just $300 more than a lone base model Mac Studio with no display.

You should only consider the Mac Studio if you have a professional workflow that can leverage the extreme power of the M1 Max or M1 Ultra, as well as its wider selection of ports. If you need the Mac Studio, you will likely know that you are looking for a highly powerful machine that is capable of supporting an intense workflow.

For some workflows, the ability to upgrade the Mac mini to 16GB of memory, up to 2TB of storage, and 10Gb Ethernet can make it a very capable machine. This may be a good option for professionals or "prosumers" that have specific needs or can't stretch to the Mac Studio. Nevertheless, the Mac Studio has much greater potential, making it a better long-term option if you can afford it.

For most users, the M1 Mac mini is still a powerful and versatile machine that can tackle all but the most intense tasks. It still has useful ports such as USB-A and Ethernet, which are absent from Apple's laptops, and boasts excellent performance that surpasses the M1 MacBook Air or the M1 MacBook Pro.

Article Link: Mac Studio vs. Mac Mini Buyer's Guide
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You seem to wrap things up with "Overall, it is clear that the ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌ are very different machines intended for different customer bases." I don't think you've backed this up at all. Many businesses, including mine, have been pushing the Mac mini as hard as we can to do our typical "power user" administrative work and our graphic design work, InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop, etc. We are definitely doing "intense workflows" but you haven't made it clear which of the things we do would benefit from the multicore performance boost of the Studio, which (aside from the simple benefits of double the RAM and more useful ports) is the main difference between the two platforms. The question remains, do we stay with our maxed-out minis, or will we really see increased throughput from the Studio. These are questions from within a single customer base, I think the machines are not at all targeted toward different groups. There hasn't been any choice before; now there is. It's hard to evaluate based on information presented which is the better way to go.
 
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I want to delete this (#302, not #303), which was accidentally posted, and I don't see that option.
 
k9gardner said:
You seem to wrap things up with "Overall, it is clear that the ‌Mac mini‌ and ‌Mac Studio‌ are very different machines intended for different customer bases." I don't think you've backed this up at all. Many businesses, including mine, have been pushing the Mac mini as hard as we can to do our typical "power user" administrative work and our graphic design work, InDesign, Acrobat, Photoshop, etc. We are definitely doing "intense workflows" but you haven't made it clear which of the things we do would benefit from the multicore performance boost of the Studio, which (aside from the simple benefits of double the RAM and more useful ports) is the main difference between the two platforms. The question remains, do we stay with our maxed-out minis, or will we really see increased throughput from the Studio. These are questions from within a single customer base, I think the machines are not at all targeted toward different groups. There hasn't been any choice before; now there is. It's hard to evaluate based on information presented which is the better way to go.
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Yes, how they summarized is a cop-out. It is like saying the Studio is for those with a bigger budget (which they sort of said). That isn't a valid business justification in most companies.

"Every workflow is different" is the mantra. Are you memory constrained? (check for swapping) Are you CPU constrained? (100% usage) GPU constrained? Other than getting one to test with what you could do is to check with each software house to get their feedback on how much their products can take advantage of the Pro/Max/Ultra differences.
 
I have the Mac Mini with the base configuration (8gb RAM and 256gb ssd). I have a Caldigit T3 hub, an external TB3 hard drive (1tb) and an Akitio TB2 drive connected. I don't do any video or photo editing but plan to soon. So the Mac Mini is golden for me right? No way.

The Mac Mini constantly runs into "Out of Application Memory Error." The Caldigit T3 generally works fine but it intermittently drops my keyboard and/or mouse when those are plugged into the USB-A ports on the back. So I have to use the USB ports on the back of the Mac Mini. The external TB3 hard drive (in a Sabrent m.2 enclosure) randomly disconnects from the T3 hub (so I am very leery about using it as the boot drive for the setup). By randomly, I don't mean every day I would say at least once every 2 weeks.

I have seen a lot of tips on how to avoid the "out of application memory error" but I want to get my projects done, not spend a lot of time fooling around with the tool. (By the way, of course I get error messages that the internal ssd is running low on space but until I figure out how to get my Microsoft Outlook files off of the internal drive and onto an external drive, that problem is not going away. These Microsoft files currently consume about 40gb of space on the internal SSD.)

A 16gb RAM/1 tb SSD Mac Mini might solve these problems but that would cost $1100 at the Apple Refurbished store. This makes the cost of a 32gb RAM/1tb SSD Mac Studio (around $2100 at Adorama) more attractive. I don't want to make the purchase until I understand whether these same problems will crop up on the Mac Studio if I continue to use Firefox (with normally 20 tabs or more open), along with eDrawMind, Devonthink 3 and a couple of other apps open. I believe the Mac Studio won't improve the speed of my day to day tasks very much but hope that it would eliminate the down time I experience now and give me a platform on which I can expand to photo and video editing without making these problems arise again.

Now I could switch to my Windows desktop (16gb RAM; 1tb SSD; 4tb 7200rpm hard drive; 1660ti external video card for about 900 all in). But I like the way the Mac system works.
 
GandalfvsRand said:
I have the Mac Mini with the base configuration (8gb RAM and 256gb ssd). I have a Caldigit T3 hub, an external TB3 hard drive (1tb) and an Akitio TB2 drive connected. I don't do any video or photo editing but plan to soon. So the Mac Mini is golden for me right? No way.

The Mac Mini constantly runs into "Out of Application Memory Error." The Caldigit T3 generally works fine but it intermittently drops my keyboard and/or mouse when those are plugged into the USB-A ports on the back. So I have to use the USB ports on the back of the Mac Mini. The external TB3 hard drive (in a Sabrent m.2 enclosure) randomly disconnects from the T3 hub (so I am very leery about using it as the boot drive for the setup). By randomly, I don't mean every day I would say at least once every 2 weeks.

I have seen a lot of tips on how to avoid the "out of application memory error" but I want to get my projects done, not spend a lot of time fooling around with the tool. (By the way, of course I get error messages that the internal ssd is running low on space but until I figure out how to get my Microsoft Outlook files off of the internal drive and onto an external drive, that problem is not going away. These Microsoft files currently consume about 40gb of space on the internal SSD.)

A 16gb RAM/1 tb SSD Mac Mini might solve these problems but that would cost $1100 at the Apple Refurbished store. This makes the cost of a 32gb RAM/1tb SSD Mac Studio (around $2100 at Adorama) more attractive. I don't want to make the purchase until I understand whether these same problems will crop up on the Mac Studio if I continue to use Firefox (with normally 20 tabs or more open), along with eDrawMind, Devonthink 3 and a couple of other apps open. I believe the Mac Studio won't improve the speed of my day to day tasks very much but hope that it would eliminate the down time I experience now and give me a platform on which I can expand to photo and video editing without making these problems arise again.

Now I could switch to my Windows desktop (16gb RAM; 1tb SSD; 4tb 7200rpm hard drive; 1660ti external video card for about 900 all in). But I like the way the Mac system works.
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I have a 32gb 1TB 2018nintel mini with 1 USB3 10tb hd and a 4tb ssd usb3 drive. Never had a problem. I use a cheapo ugreen usb3 hub. All my data is on the external.
 
The only reason I'm thinking about the Mac Studio over the M2 Mac mini is external graphic support.

I'm curious if Sidecar on an iPad counts as one of the displays. How is that treated?

I normally use two 27" 5k monitors , and a third small screen (20" 1920x1080) display...

Would Sidecar count as a fourth monitor for the m2 Mac mini? I'm planning to use sidecar on my iPad as a teleprompter. Thx.
 
What the heck is a going on with the Mac Studio? The Mac Pro will have the M2 Ultra and the Mac Mini has the M2 Pro. The Mac Studio and Mac Pro can’t both have the same chip. Will Apple cancel the Mac Studio?
 
ThisBougieLife said:
The Mac Mini is now eclipsing the price of the Mac Studio. That makes the line-up confusing.
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There's an "overlap" between the fully tricked out (ignoring storage) Mac Mini and the absolute base model Mac Studio. The Mini will probably be slightly faster in general because of the faster single core CPU speeds, but probably not a game changer.

That's all.

The Mac Studio range could still be better if you have graphics jobs that can use the full 32 core GPU option, if you need 64GB RAM option, the front ports or the extra display. Or you may just prefer the design.

So, there are cheaper Mini options if you don't need the power (but were previously forced to the studio for, e.g. better display support and more TB ports, where the old M1 Mini was marginal) and more expensive Studio options if you do. It's only a problem if that particular $2k Studio model really was your sweet spot.

That said, it would be nice if Apple, the 4th largest PC maker and trillion-dollar-whatever company could contrive to keep their whole computer line current.
 
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I wonder how much impact the amount of GPU cores have in Handbrake using Videotoolbox (HW Encoder). Let's say Pro 16 cores vs max 32 cores (regardless of m1 or m2)

Also - can anyone explain to me why i would need higher memory bandwidth (200 vs 400 vs 800) ? I mean obviously the more the merrier. But real world application / test where one would see a 2-3 fold increase in computing power?
 
More evidence that apple should just refresh everything at once so you are not comparing the M1 Ultra with the M2 Max and other such nonsense.
 
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MacRumors said:
The Mac Studio debuted in 2022 as Apple's most powerful custom silicon standalone desktop computer. Now, with the launch of the latest Mac mini models, the Mac Studio faces a formidable competitor that offers "Pro" capabilities at a substantially lower price point.
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I like that consumers finally have some more choices to what to use as a desktop. The M2 pro Mac mini is a nice step up from the older M1 Mac mini this year for desktop users. Still an even cheaper M2 Mac mini also.

We are still waiting for the 24” iMac to be updated with the same M2 SoC updates. Both will have some effect on Mac Studio sales obviously. Should see the iMac in March, April time frame.

Ultimately when 5K display competition finally arrives for the Studio Display with the expected Samsung Viewfinty S9 5K display the marketplace activity should increase a lot for Apple for Mac mini users.
 
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It's interesting how we get the M2 and M2 Pro in the Mini, the M2 Pro and the M2 Max in the MBP, but not yet the M2 Max and M2 Ultra in either the Studio or the Mac Pro - makes for a weird line-up.

This said, no matter how enticing it may be to get the M2 Pro in the Mini, with the way Apple prices upgrades, it makes no sense to go for a beefed-up Mini when the base Studio is already so good (M1 Max vs M2 Pro, 32 vs 16 GB of RAM, etc).
 
I would have gotten a Mac Mini had it been out when my Intel NUC died. I got the base Mac Studio, it's a bit overkill, but I'm happy it's working much better than the NUC was.
 
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icanhazmac said:
I disagree:

Mini $699 is super basic.
Studio $1999 is middle ground.
Studio $3999 is high end.
Pro is.... pro.
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let's be real: the base model is already a powerful machine. it will be enough for most people (including some creative professionals, depending on your ram needs).
 
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crsh1976 said:
It's interesting how we get the M2 and M2 Pro in the Mini, the M2 Pro and the M2 Max in the MBP, but not yet the M2 Max and M2 Ultra in either the Studio or the Mac Pro - makes for a weird line-up.
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The other shoe expected to fall is what will be the base model of upcoming 2023 Mac Pro? So from both a lower and higher price perspective along with consumers considering updated 2023 M2 Pro/Max MBPs as a option also you will see consumers considering other Mac solutions than March 2022 Mac Studio + Studio Display solution.

What a difference a year makes for sure.
 
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Realityck said:
The other shoe expected to fall is what will be the base model of upcoming 2023 Mac Pro? So from both a lower and higher price perspective along with consumers considering updated 2023 M2 Pro/Max MBPs as a option also you will see consumers considering other Mac solutions that March 2022 Mac Studio + Studio Display solution.

What a difference a year makes for sure.
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apparently the future new mac pro will use the exact same case as the previous one; with the same chip as the mac studio. it's really a machine for those who'd like to replace their previous mac pro with an arm equivalent; and be able to keep the same PCIe configuration. You won't be able to add ram (and it remains to see if it will support external GPU; you'd think it would). They're making it an even more niche product.
 
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