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

[Mity]

I really like this lineup - there's something for everyone. I'm still waiting for the revised Mini because the Studio is too powerful for my needs. And I hope they make it in space gray. I found it odd that the current Mini is only available in gray with the Intel chip.

 

[jasnw]

Still not a big hole. Really the only thing they are missing is a mini with an M1 pro or an M2 chip. I confess that’s kinda what I was looking for too, but you have to admit they just closed the gap significantly between the Mac pro and the Mac mini with the Mac Studio.

When you say "only thing" that's the thing I'm looking/hoping for. A Mini box with am M1 Pro in it. Not tons of memory and internal SSD space, but a higher-end processor.

 

[Fortran-man]

Don’t forget. Mac Mini intel and Mac mini M1 both have major problems supporting 2 screens. No amount of motherboard replacements, os updates, cable replacements or screen replacements have fixed these issues. Once the machine gets hit, something hardware related (?) tells the os to shut off of flicker the second screen. Sleep, deep sleep or shutdowns often result in loss of a screen.

apple won’t / can’t fix this.
it is infuriating.

the better heat sink / motherboard for Mac studio might mix this, ?

bottom line.

stay away from Mac Minis if you need 2 screens.
I have 2 of them. Both failures.

 

[Tagbert]

I've been looking at this very question, but the answer I get is I want something Apple doesn't make, and may never make. That's something between the M1 Mini and the M1 Max Studio. Perhaps a Mini with an M1 Max? I don't really see why the M1 Max can be in a laptop but needs to be in a Studio-like enclosure for a desktop. That $1300 jump between Mini and Studio bothers me.

that $1300 gap is not so much if you actually upgrade the M1 to 16GB. If you configure both to 16GB/512GB there is only a $900 difference.

I suspect, by the time Apple gets into the M2 updates, you will find something in there that meets your needs. Whether it is an M2 than can be configured with 32GB of RAM or adding an M2 Pro to either the Mini or the Studio, that gap is likely to close.

 

[jasnw]

And that's what I'm waiting for, and hoping I'm not disappointed. A road map would be nice. Pigs will fly hypersonic before we see such a thing, but it would be nice.

 

[Scary Spice]

It’s a pretty easy task trying to decide between the Studio or the Mini: if you’ve got the cash, the Studio is the clear choice.

The hard decision is choosing a Mac Studio over a Mac Pro. Now that conundrum will lead to sleepless nights and drive you mad

Until the Mac Pro is updated to Apple silicon I wouldn't consider it a choice. I liquidated all my intel Macs after seeing how good the first M1 Macs were (while they still had some value). Intel Macs are a dead end.

PS my M1 Ultra Studio arrives the week of April 27 and I can't wait!

 

[dogface1956]

So it's either low end or high end? No middle ground at all on this is there?

If you need a machine for basic tasks like web surfing, running MS office, etc the Mac Mini is your friend. The middle ground now is the Mac Studio Max at $1,999 if you want a machine with more ports and more power than the Mac Mini. If want a machine that gives you the power of Mac Pro without the expandability and can live with no memory expansion or internal expansion then the Mac Studio Ultra is for you. If you need more memory, the ability to add cards and internal storage, upgrade video then the Mac Pro is your choice right now, though when Apple upgrades the Mac Pro who knows what will happen with memory or video expansion.

 

[Treq]

I understand, but to expect an Apple product to be mainstream priced in silly. I have been using Apple computers since the 512K in the early 80's and they have NEVER been priced the "the average guy". In 1990 when they released the IIFX, it was running 9-11K depending on build spec.

The Mac mini has always been competitively priced. For equivalent hardware they usually come out on top especially when you consider the power consumption and form factor. There simply hasn’t really been anything on the pc side that can compete. Even the NUC can’t really compare price size when you go feature for feature and cpu power to cpu power.

 

[HazardousT]

If you need a machine for basic tasks like web surfing, running MS office, etc the Mac Mini is your friend. The middle ground now is the Mac Studio Max at $1,999 if you want a machine with more ports and more power than the Mac Mini. If want a machine that gives you the power of Mac Pro without the expandability and can live with no memory expansion or internal expansion then the Mac Studio Ultra is for you. If you need more memory, the ability to add cards and internal storage, upgrade video then the Mac Pro is your choice right now, though when Apple upgrades the Mac Pro who knows what will happen with memory or video expansion.

You're probably right but I'm having a hard time stomaching the price. Besides I didn't need another box to take up more real estate on my already overcrowded desktop it would seem asinine to put it on the floor.

 

[Trusteft]

Don’t forget. Mac Mini intel and Mac mini M1 both have major problems supporting 2 screens. No amount of motherboard replacements, os updates, cable replacements or screen replacements have fixed these issues. Once the machine gets hit, something hardware related (?) tells the os to shut off of flicker the second screen. Sleep, deep sleep or shutdowns often result in loss of a screen.

apple won’t / can’t fix this.
it is infuriating.

the better heat sink / motherboard for Mac studio might mix this, ?

bottom line.

stay away from Mac Minis if you need 2 screens.
I have 2 of them. Both failures.

I had no idea there was such an issue with the M1. Thanks.

 

[dogface1956]

In a day and age when gas prices are at an all time high, inflation is going through the roof, and your dollar is losing more and more value Apple decides to practically double the price of a consumer level product.

the problem I have with this is with Apple you never know what to expect next. We can speculate all we want but we have no idea what comes next or when it will happen.

The Mac Pro is a business related item and definitely not something a home user would ever need but $3500 is not a good starting point for a middle ground product. Some argue that you don't have to buy the display, and that's true, but why would I want to downgrade from the display I currently have which is essentially the same screen being offered in a separate package for an additional $1600?

Then get a Mac Mini 8/8 core with the 16GB, 1TB options for $1,299 and purchase the $1,599 Studio Display for 2,899 that we be a big step up from your current iMac or purchase the 24" Inch iMac with 8/8 cores, 16GB, 1TB for $2,099 and live with a smaller screen and better performance. Then sell your 27" iMac for what you can get and figure that as your discount on your purchase from Apple. Problem solved

 

[Treq]

When you say "only thing" that's the thing I'm looking/hoping for. A Mini box with am M1 Pro in it. Not tons of memory and internal SSD space, but a higher-end processor.

Yeah, I get it. I was hoping for the same. Still it would be arrogant of me to think my needs are the same as a huge number of people. They may still be coming out with such a product but the gap in the apple product line is much, much smaller today than it was last week. I ordered the base studio. I can afford the extra few hundred dollars it costs me over what I figure an M1 pro mini would cost. But my needs might be satisfied by an M1 mini maxed out. I just don’t want that design anymore. The last mini I bought (2018) sucked due to its bad Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and hdmi. I heard many of this problems persist with the M1 mini and I don’t want that form factor anymore. I’m hoping they have fixed it with the studio. If not it goes back within the return window. Anyway, the gap just got a lot smaller. And a new mini is still on the horizon… but maybe not until 2023.

 

[watakoola]

Don’t forget. Mac Mini intel and Mac mini M1 both have major problems supporting 2 screens.
>snip<
stay away from Mac Minis if you need 2 screens.
I have 2 of them. Both failures.

No. Not all. My Intel mini supports two screens via either the mini or via my eGPU.

Anyway... I'm conflicted as the Intel mini is still quite a beast and runs far faster than my old, beloved cheese-grater. I sorta feel I'm going to be 'forced' to upgrade to Apple Silicon as Intel support wanes - especially with software packages.

Thus: I'd love an Apple Silicon machine, but there's absolutely nothing wrong speed-wise with the Intel version.

Are other Intel mini owners feeling the same? I'd be interested to hear your opinion.

 

[Treq]

No. Not all. My Intel mini supports two screens via either the mini or via my eGPU.

Anyway... I'm conflicted as the Intel mini is still quite a beast and runs far faster than my old, beloved cheese-grater. I sorta feel I'm going to be 'forced' to upgrade to Apple Silicon as Intel support wanes - especially with software packages.

Thus: I'd love an Apple Silicon machine, but there's absolutely nothing wrong speed-wise with the Intel version.

Are other Intel mini owners feeling the same? I'd be interested to hear your opinion.

Well I got the 2018 intel mini with the top cpu option and it is trash. Worst Mac I ever owned. Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth issues abound as well as hdmi issues. All probably due to the excess heat produced by the crappy intel chip. It thermally throttles all the time. And I have to switch from hdmi to thunderbolt-hdmi dongle just to get my monitor to be recognized again. From what I’ve read, the M1 kicks it’s ass in just about every category. Even for non M1 native apps running under Rosetta 2 while the intel is running native apps.

 

[jasnw]

Well, guess it's time to chillax until reviewers and owners have boxes in their hands and can tell us what these new systems are really like.

 

[Mity]

Don’t forget. Mac Mini intel and Mac mini M1 both have major problems supporting 2 screens. No amount of motherboard replacements, os updates, cable replacements or screen replacements have fixed these issues. Once the machine gets hit, something hardware related (?) tells the os to shut off of flicker the second screen. Sleep, deep sleep or shutdowns often result in loss of a screen.

apple won’t / can’t fix this.
it is infuriating.

the better heat sink / motherboard for Mac studio might mix this, ?

bottom line.

stay away from Mac Minis if you need 2 screens.
I have 2 of them. Both failures.

The specs state that it should work with 1 6K and 1 4K display but I've heard the same complaint on various YouTube reviews. Does it work well with just one screen, especially 4K?

 

[andreyush]

Reality is that the mini is going to meet the needs of 99% of buyers.

Exactly. People that say MacStudio can only go for mid-range work are delusional. They think they are doing Hollywood level stuff or I am not even sure at this point. M1 and M1 Pro will cover the needs of everyone leaving the Max and Ultra for Pros.

 

[mac1984]

Mac mini is capable of handling less-demanding workloads.
Mac Studio is a mid-ranged system that is capable of handling demanding workloads.
Mac Pro is a "no limits" system, capable of handling the most demanding workloads.

I thought the Mac Studio beats the Mac Pro in benchmarks? Probably only get the Mac Pro if you want it intel based and/or need expandability.

 

[SR 7]

My own metric is that I've been able to purchase the computer I need for $2,000 +/- $500, including monitor and everything else, for the past several decades. Now Apple is breaking this curve, and not in a good way.

My Apple TV no longer was capable of downloading certain apps so I needed the “newest” version. I saw it was priced at like $190! For a dumb Apple TV stick.

Instead of purchasing that after all these years of Apple products, I went and got the Amazon Fire Stick that does more and costs 1/6th the price of Apple TV. It was so good and such a great price point that I bought 3, one for each room.

I waited years to add a new desktop computer and now that it’s out they removed the iMac 27 and now u need to pay around $3,500 for something that isn’t basic AF like the $600 mini or the new pathetic 24” iMac?

Apple has really become a ****** company man.

 

[harriska2]

One tiny little datapoint I've amassed...

I use Handbrake to transcode videos from time to time. My preset uses the VTB h.265 codec. I've tried on both my M1 mac mini and M1 Max MBP. Both work at the exact same speed.

I have no doubt the hardware acceleration makes it faster than it would be otherwise, but it's clear that the chunk of the die that Handbrake is able to leverage is the same across the M1 family.

Handbrake is absolutely not optimized for the M1 chip. It is butt slow. My i5 mac mini runs circles around my son's 14"MBP for Handbrake. Once they optimize (and I'm certain they will at some point in time), I think it will be a very different story.

 

[harriska2]

My Apple TV no longer was capable of downloading certain apps so I needed the “newest” version. I saw it was priced at like $190! For a dumb Apple TV stick.

Instead of purchasing that after all these years of Apple products, I went and got the Amazon Fire Stick that does more and costs 1/6th the price of Apple TV. It was so good and such a great price point that I bought 3, one for each room.

I waited years to add a new desktop computer and now that it’s out they removed the iMac 27 and now u need to pay around $3,500 for something that isn’t basic AF like the $600 mini or the new pathetic 24” iMac?

Apple has really become a ****** company man.

I have lots of Apple stuff (phones, watches, mac minis, mbp, ipads) but the Apple TV is one I will never own. It is too closed a system and too expensive for what I need. We use simple $30 Rokus and they work a treat.

 

[utazdevl]

All the specs are just numbers to me. I have an M1 Mac Mini and with all these new things on the Studio, I struggle to understand how much better my digital life will get if I invest $2000 to upgrade. Here is what I really want to know:

1) it takes an hour to transcode an 2 Hour HD film from MKV to MP4. How long would it take on a Studio?
2) I have a 32 inch QHD monitor and a 15.4 inch portable screen hooked up right now. It is kind of glitchy sometimes. Will a Studio solve that issue?
3) My bluetooth devices sometimes get sluggish or are not seen by my mini. Would a Studio fix this?
4) How much faster in day to day workload in Photoshop will a Studio be than my current Mini?

Not expecting people to have answers here (especially to 2 and 3, since no one has really been hands on yet) but specs about "Neural Engines" and "Core CPUs" are so abstract to me. I need tangible comparisons to make a spend like this worthy.

 

[theluggage]

Was hoping for a guide taking the rumoured M2 and M2 Pro Mac Mini into consideration. Buy the Mac Studio or wait for M2/Pro Mac Mini.

Just making educated guesses & presuming that the M2 will follow the same Pro/Max/Ultra cadence as the M1 did, but the regular M1 Air, Mini and 13" MBP will be approaching 18 months old in a few months - so M2 versions could be along fairly soon. However, the M1 Pro/Max only launched last October, so it seems plausible that they'll be following at least 6 months behind the regular M2.

The M1 Max, has twice the CPU cores and 4x the GPU cores of the M1, 8x the RAM capacity, twice the TB4 ports, supports twice the number of displays etc. whereas the regular M2 is expected to gain a couple of GPU cores over the M1 and maybe (just speculating) will support 32GB RAM due to newer LPDDR tech. Bottom line: the M1 Max Studio will still kick sand in the face of any M2 Mini that appears in the next few months.

The M2 will probably still be slower than the M1 Pro (since it still has half the CPU cores, even if they're individually a bit faster) but that will be a closer-run thing which may be why we didn't get a M1 Pro Mini if an M2 one is arriving soon.

If a M2 Pro Mini appears - and if the rumours of it having 12 cores are true - then that would certainly make things interesting, but I seriously doubt that the Mini willget M2 pro before the 14/16" MBP get it - at which point you'll be waiting for the M2 Max Studio...

Folks keep saying, “But when you add the monitor…”
Who, at this point, doesn’t own a decent monitor?

Those who own an iMac?

I think those two points show that there are really two questions here:
A: "I was waiting for the M1 Pro Mini - do I settle for a M1 Mini or shell out $2k for the studio"
B: "I was waiting for the 27" M1 Pro/Max iMac replacement - what do I do now?"

The answer to B is simple but annoying: 27" iMac is dead. Bargain-priced 5k panel if you get the Mac built in is no more. Yeah, I think it is a mistake, too: complaints on a postcard to Tim Cook. If you want anything like a 5k iMac, pay $1600 for essentially the same display that used to cost $1800 bundled with the CPU of a $1100 Mac Mini.

As for A, nothing has really changed display wise. It would have been nice to have a sensibly-priced Apple display that was guaranteed to work seamlessly, and to enjoy the 5k "sweet spot" for MacOS. People have been rocking their Minis for years without needing an Apple display and there is a huge choice of shapes, sizes and resolutions. 5k ain't worth paying twice the price of 4k for something without even a fully adjustable stand.

Mini vs. Studio: the M1 Mini is, however you cut it, the lowest powered Mac, although thanks to M1 its good for an awful lot more than facebook and spreadsheets... If you're even considering the Studio there's no point comparing the $699 entry model with the $3999 Studio Ultra. Best comparison is:

Mac Mini M1 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 4+4 core CPU 8 core GPU = $1099
M1 Max Studio, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 8+2 core CPU, 24 core GPU = $1999

So $900 is a pretty big step but not quite as frightening as some of the comparisons in the original article. In either case, you'll need a monitor and you can get a decent one for well under $1k - but the days when you could get a 5k display for, effectively, under $1k by going iMac are just gone.

 

[harriska2]

My 2018 Mac Mini has occassional issues with blanking out my 4k monitor for about 2-3 seconds. Does it about 3 times a week. Also, I gave up using bluetooth, although my airpods are working much better under Monterey than under Mohave. My i5 with 8gb/1TB SSD cost about $1500, plus I spent about $150 upgrading the memory to 32 GB. I would say upgrading to the Studio Max with 32 GB/500 GB SSD or even 1 TB SSD for $200 more would be a great deal if the monitor and bluetooth issues are taken care of. That said, my 2018 mini is likely to continue serving me for the next year or 2 until Apple wants to make it slow or stop supporting it.

Currently I can buy (military discount):
2018 i5 mini for $1709 with 32 GB/1TB SSD
2022 M1 Max Studio for $1979 with 32 GB/1TB SSD

For $270 it is a no-brainer.

The M1 Mini isn't an option for me, I really prefer 32 GB memory as I keep my machines for 4-7 years. I am waiting to see if Apple upgrades the M1 mini to an M2 mini but once you get the memory to 32 GB and SSD to 1 TB I suspect the price difference won't be very big.

 

[harriska2]

All the specs are just numbers to me. I have an M1 Mac Mini and with all these new things on the Studio, I struggle to understand how much better my digital life will get if I invest $2000 to upgrade. Here is what I really want to know:

1) it takes an hour to transcode an 2 Hour HD film from MKV to MP4. How long would it take on a Studio?
2) I have a 32 inch QHD monitor and a 15.4 inch portable screen hooked up right now. It is kind of glitchy sometimes. Will a Studio solve that issue?
3) My bluetooth devices sometimes get sluggish or are not seen by my mini. Would a Studio fix this?
4) How much faster in day to day workload in Photoshop will a Studio be than my current Mini?

Not expecting people to have answers here (especially to 2 and 3, since no one has really been hands on yet) but specs about "Neural Engines" and "Core CPUs" are so abstract to me. I need tangible comparisons to make a spend like this worthy.

My questions, too.