Mac mini M2 Pro vs Mac Studio M1 Max: differences and commonalities

Mac mini M2 and M2 Pro essentially mean two things: the end of the Intel era for this type of product – only the Mac Pro resists in the Apple portfolio – and a significant leap in performance compared to the previous generation, now no longer in the catalogue. Then there is a third aspect that needs to be explored – we will do it on this occasion – or the possible overlap of the new offer with Mac Studio, “Mac mini in maxi format” (and not only for the dimensions) that the Cupertino announced in March last year together with Studio Display.

M2/M2 Pro vs M1 Max/Ultra, decidedly different starting prices, one small and the other more impressive (and heavy). The differences are certainly many, and you can see them even with the naked eye. But to really understand how the new Mac mini is different from Mac Studio, you have to go deeper. In this comparison let’s consider the most advanced version of the Mac mini – or the one with processor M2 Pro – and we are going to compare it with the basic setup of Mac Studio.

NOTE: for a comparison that is as “even” as possible, we have selected the Mac mini M2 Pro with 32GB of unified memory, i.e. equal to the amount of unified memory of the Mac Studio entry level proposal. The analysis of Mac mini and Mac Studio is limited to describing the differences and points in common between the two models.

These are the configurations considered:

• Mac mini M2 Pro with 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD | 2,039 euros
• Mac Studio M1 Max with 10-core CPU, 24-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 32GB of unified memory, 512GB SSD | 2,349 euros

Let’s start with the obvious: Mac mini M2 Pro and Mac Studio M1 Max they have different sizes (also the weight: 1.28kg vs 2.7kg), the former compact, the latter decidedly more abundant. There isn’t one better or a worse in this case, be clear, because different dimensions can correspond to different components and performance management (see cooling system). The configurations considered here are however quite similar in several areas: CPU, Neural Engine, RAM and SSD storage they are identical, the GPUs of the mini stops at 16-core, 24 are instead the cores of the Mac Studio. A pro in favor of Mac mini is the easier installation on the desk, especially when the available space is scarce.

Important differences are found in the memory bandwidth, doubled on Mac Studio (400GBps) compared to Mac mini M2 Pro (200GBps, 100GBps instead of Mac mini M2) and in media engine: on the mini there are a single engine for both video encoding and ProRes encoding/decoding, on Mac Studio they are two for the first and the same for the second. Here the difference can be appreciated not so much by the common user, but by those who have particular needs in the processing processes. The same goes for the doors: Given the space available, Mac Studio offers many more options than the Mac mini M2 Pro. In favor of the Mac mini is the connectivity upgrade: WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 compared to Mac Studio’s WiFI 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Apple had never gone so far with a Mac minithis is undoubted, but it must be kept in mind that the comparison proposed here is made between a customized version (Mac mini) and a basic version (Mac Studio). In other words, the starting point of the mini is much lower than that of the Studio, and to get to similar performance (on paper) you need to select a more elaborate.

And here we come to the question of price. Let’s look at three different scenarios:

• starting price:
  
  • Mac mini M2 Pro: 1,579 euros
  • Mac Studio M1 Max: 2,349 euros

• price of the potentially most similar versions:
  • Mac mini M2 Pro (model covered in this article): 2,039 euros
  • Mac Studio M1 Max (basic): 2,349 euros

• similarly priced configurations:
  • Mac Mini M2 Pro: 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine: 32GB unified memory; 512GB SSD | 2,384 euros
  • Mac Studio M1 Max: 10-core CPU, 24-core GPUs, 16-core Neural Engine; 32GB of unified memory; 512GB SSD | 2,349 euros

It is therefore clear that Mac mini M2 Pro and Mac Studio M1 Max are, yes, different from each other, but never as now can they be considered overlapping in some ways. It is the first time that Apple offers such a strong solution in the desktop environment at a relatively low price (remember among other things that Mac mini M2 starts at 729 euros), but in the final calculation we must also consider that the margins for a performance improvement are greater in Mac Studio.

Finally, let’s see i prices of the top versions of Mac Mini M2 Pro and Mac Studio M1 Max:

• Mac mini M2 Pro:
  
  • 12-core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16-core neural engine; 32GB of unified memory; 8TB SSD; 10 Gigabit Ethernet
  • 5,259 euros

• Mac Studio M1 Max:
  • 10-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core neural engine; 64GB of unified storage; 8TB SSD
  • 5,799 euros

• Mac Studio M1 Ultra:
  • 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 32-core neural engine; 128GB of unified storage; 8TB SSD
  • 9,249 euros

Mac mini M2 Pro and Mac Studio M1 Max in their maximum configuration have a price difference of 540 euros. The first is the most powerful Mac mini available today, while for Mac Studio there is also the M1 Ultra option: here the gap widens, both in terms of performance and price, a good 3,390 euros. A nest egg more than enough to add an Apple Studio Display with nanotexture glass and adjustable tilt and height support to our desk. And there would still be 1,481 euros left (2,509 euros the price of the Studio Display in that configuration).