What should I do?

[Mac2004]

I went to the Apple Store today and was planning on purchasing a Mac Mini Pro 2. However I saw that they had a new IMac G3 with 16gb memory instead of 8gb. They only had one available. Should I still buy the Mac Mini M2 Pro or should I get the IMac M3 with 16gb of memory?? As you know, you have to order IMacs online if you want one with 16GB of memory and it will take over 10 days to arrive. I’m not sure why they had a new one available. He said it was not a returned product either. Maybe someone ordered one online and then changed their mind after it was delivered to the Apple Store. Not sure. Is the IMac M3 with 16gb of memory faster and more powerful than the M2 Pro?

 

[mmkerc]

If all you are interested in is have the better technical computer, regardless of you actual computing needs, the M3 16gb computer is the faster more powerful computer. You do not state which iMac you are referring to but even the base iMac without the extra ports or gigabit ethernet is the better value due to the built in retina display.

 

[theluggage]

I went to the Apple Store today and was planning on purchasing a Mac Mini Pro 2.

What were you planning to do for a display?

The display in the iMac is going to be hard to beat if a 24" 4.5k display is just what you want - but if you want some other combination of size/resolution (maybe you want a pair of affordable 27" 4ks, or a 30"+ 4k screen, maybe you want to shell out for a 27" 5k) the Mac Mini would be more flexible.

It's likely that the regular M3 will be as good or better than the M2 Pro for some applications - it will likely depend very much on what applications you are using and whether faster single-core performance trumps having more cores. I doubt that the difference will be life-changing unless you have something that uses the hardware ray-tracing in the M3 GPU.

However, the "M2 Pro vs. regular M3" distinction is about more than just raw speed - the I/O and display support capabilities of the "pro" are an important difference. The regular-M3 iMac will either have just 2 TB ports or 2 TB + 2 USB C 3.2 ports (you'd need to check) and only supports 2 displays (i.e. the internal display + 1 external display). The M2 Pro Mini supports 3 displays, has 4 Thunderbolt/USB-C ports and the i/o bandwidth to back them up - plus a HDMI port which can free up a TB port in some cases.

Also - check the storage on the iMac. The iMac starts at 256GB, which is ok for basic use but a bit tight once you start installing 'pro' software, working with video, running virtual machines etc. The M2 Pro Mini starts at 512GB which is a more sensible size in 2023.

I don't think either choice would be bad - it depends on what your needs are. There will probably be M3 and M3 Pro Minis along sometime this year, but nobody knows for sure - and with the M3 vs. M3 Pro its even more important to remember the I/O and display support advantages of the Pro, and not just compare cores.

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't have access to benchmarks (and not looking them up), but I'm going to GUESS that an m2pro Mini (emphasis on the "pro") is going to be as fast or faster than an m3 (non pro) iMac.

M2pro Mini base model has 16gb of RAM and 512gb SSD.
If it was me, I'd special order for the 1tb SSD. I don't think it's available as an "in-stock" model at the Apple Store.

I consider the Apple Studio display overpriced for what you get.
Instead, I'd consider a good 27" 4k display.