Which would be more powerful, a new M4 Pro Mac Mini 48gb/1T or an M4 Pro MacBook Pro 14 with exactly the same specs?

[AdmiralKirk]

The difference is about £500 in the UK, and £650 if you add a nano screen to the MacBook Pro.

So there is a decent amount of cash left in your pocket in going for the Mini over the MacBook Pro.

HOWEVER, are they really like for like? About 80% of my use would be plugging the MacBook Pro into my dual screen home setup, but I could live with that being 100% if the Mini gives me exactly the same or even more power than the MacBook Pro with the same specs.

If the MacBook Pro is the same or more powerful than an identical spec Mini however, I’d rather get that?

What do you think? Is a MacBook Pro and a Mac Mini identical in performance at exactly the same specs, or is one better than the other for some reason?

 

[jabbr]

that price difference doesn't seem too bad considering you're getting a nice portable screen, battery, speakers, keyboard and trackpad.

I think it's hard to say about the performance difference between the two, as the M-series Pro chips haven't had any real thermal constraints in past models for either form factor. They're probably pretty similar.

I wonder how well the new tiny mini is able to keep cool (and quiet??). The MBP has dual fans.

 

[AdmiralKirk]

that price difference doesn't seem too bad considering you're getting a nice portable screen, battery, speakers, keyboard and trackpad.

I think it's hard to say about the performance difference between the two, as the M-series Pro chips haven't had any real thermal constraints in past models for either form factor. They're probably pretty similar.

I wonder how well the new tiny mini is able to keep cool (and quiet??). The MBP has dual fans.

That’s a very good point. The new Mini is very small and we don’t know what the thermals are like yet, so it’s possible the Mini starts throttling before the MacBook Pro does, and may be louder and harder to cool?

 

[jabbr]

... and may be louder and harder to cool?

yeah, I would not be surprised if the Mini was louder under full load. But maybe Apple pulled off some voodoo with the new cooling system.

 

[cassmr]

I think you'll have to wait for testing. I would imagine any difference, if it were to exist, would in practical terms be more theoretical. I.e we can make the mini throttle by doing xyz, but not macbook pro or vice versa. But unless they have really messed up the design of either machine, i think it would be surprising if there was a real world day to day disadvantage.

 

[Melbourne Park]

that price difference doesn't seem too bad considering you're getting a nice portable screen, battery, speakers, keyboard and trackpad.

You forgot the camera, microphone, the charger and the magsafe cable!! There's less ports though but there is an SDXC card slot. However a desktop is more robust. Should therefor add the price of a case?

there is however a real benefit of the Mac Mini in specification: you can buy a 64 GB version. To get 64 GB RAM in a MacBook Pro, you have to order the much more costly Max, otherwise 48 GB is the maximum RAM available.