Mac mini vs Mac Studio: M2 Pro vs M2 Max?

Best Prices Today: Apple Mac Studio (M2 Max, 2023)

When Apple introduced the Mac Studio in March 2022 we were impressed by its processing power and excellent value combined. Now the Mac Studio has been updated with Apple’s M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips it is still a superb deal for content creators of any level, but Apple’s offering has changed over the months since the original Mac Studio launched. Now the Mac Studio has competition from an M2 Pro Mac mini on one side and the M2 Ultra Mac Pro on the other.

As long as you don’t need the expansion options of the Mac Pro, the M2 Ultra Mac Studio, which shares the same specs as the Mac Pro, will meet the needs of all but the most demanding creative. But not everyone needs all the power of a Mac Studio with M2 Ultra, and some don’t even need the power of the M2 Max, for those the M2 Pro Mac mini could be more than sufficient.

In this article, we are concerned with how the M2 Pro Mac mini compares with the M2 Max Mac Studio. We will discuss the Mac Pro vs the M2 Ultra Mac Studio elsewhere.

Mac Studio vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Price

In January 2023, Apple introduced the M2 Pro Mac mini. This Mac filled a gap in Apple’s lineup: while the MacBook Pro offered an M1 Pro and now the M2 Pro chip, there was no desktop Mac with such a chip, until the arrival of this Mac mini. Starting at $1,299/£1,399 the Mac mini with M2 Pro is also a lot cheaper than the equivalent MacBook Pro at $1,999/£2,149 (that leaves plenty to buy a nice monitor to use with your Mac).

How does the price of the Mac mini M2 Pro compare with the Mac Studio though? Starting at $1,999/£2,099 the Mac Studio costs $700/£700 more than the Mac mini with M2 Pro, which is quite a leap, but you do get a 30-core GPU in the Mac Studio, while the M2 Pro Mac mini only offers a 16-core GPU as standard.

For another $300 you can get a 19-core GPU option for the Mac mini. In that case, the 10-core CPU in the Mac mini is updated to a 12-core CPU, which is identical to the 12-core CPU in the M2 Max Mac Studio. So you can match the CPU in the Mac Studio in a $1,599 Mac mini, which might be an option to consider if you don’t need the extra GPU cores. If you add 32GB unified memory to that Mac mini to match that of the Mac Studio then you almost have the same Mac, bar the GPU cores, for the same price of $1,999/£2,099.

Incidentally, the M2 Max MacBook Pro starts at $2,899 (that’s a build-to-order option) making the Mac Studio, at almost $1,000 less, look even more attractive.

The Mac mini M2 Pro also represents a bargain when compared to a similarly specced MacBook Pro. The M2 Pro Mac mini with a 10-core CPU and 16-Core GPU costs $1,299/£1,399 compared to the $1,999/£2,149 14-inch MacBook Pro with the same chip. We understand that these are very different machines, but it illustrates just how much you can save by buying one of Apple’s desktop Macs. The Mac mini and Mac Studio are the most cost-effective way to get Apple’s most powerful processors.

Comparing desktops, let’s take a closer look at what you get for your money:

• Mac Studio: M2 Max (12-core CPU, 30-core GPU), 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,999/£2,099
• Mac mini: M2 Pro (10-core CPU, 16-core GPU), 16GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,299/£1,399
• Build-to-order Mac mini: M2 Pro (12-core CPU, 19-core GPU), 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,999/£2,099

If you are going to buy either Mac take a look at our round-up of the best Mac mini deals and the best Mac Studio deals.

Mac Studio vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Design

The Mac Studio takes its design inspiration from the Mac mini. Both Macs are silver (there is no Space Gray version) and feature a big Apple logo on top. The Mac Studio measures 7.7 inches square, the same as the Mac mini, but it’s 3.7 inches tall, nearly three times the height of the Mac mini.

That extra space inside the Mac Studio means it benefits from a more efficient cooling system. The Mac Studio also offers a handy collection of ports on the front, including two USB-C ports and an SDXC card slot.

Mac Studio vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Specs

When considering the CPU cores there isn’t a huge leap between the M2 Pro and M2 Max: the exact same CPU is available for both. However the standard Mac mini M2 Pro ships with a 10-core CPU, compared to the 12-core CPU in the Mac Studio with M2 Max. As we said above when discussing the price, you can opt for the 12-core CPU M2 Pro at the point of sale if you want that in your Mac mini.

There are two key differences between the two models. One is the amount of RAM supported: the M2 Pro can support up to 32GB unified memory, while the M2 Max can support up to 96GB memory (if you opt for the 28-core GPU option).

The other major difference is the number of GPU cores, with the Mac mini shipping with 16-cores, but maxing out at 19-cores, and the Mac Studio with M2 Max offering 30-cores as standard, and a 38-core GPU as a build-to-order option. And that’s not even considering the M2 Ultra, which offers a 60-core GPU as standard and 74-cores as a build-to-order option.

Here’s how the specs compare:

Mac mini M2 Pro

• Base model: 10-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 16GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,299/£1,399
• Additional options: 12-Core CPU, 19-Core GPU ($300/£300), 32GB memory ($400/£400), 1TB/2TB/4TB8TB SSD (up to $2,400)

Mac Studio M2 Max

• Base model: 12-core CPU, 30-Core GPU, 32GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, $1,999/£2,099
• Additional options: 38-Core GPU ($200/£200), 64GB memory ($400/£400), 96GB memory (+$800/£800), 1TB/2TB/4TB8TB SSD (up to $2,400/£2,400)

CPU

You can get an idea of how the CPUs compare from our benchmarks below. We’ve tested the M2 Pro 12-core and the M2 Mac 12-core CPU and can confirm there is not a huge difference.

We ran the new Geekbench 6.1 benchmarks on the processor. Because our earlier benchmarks were made using Geekbench 5 we don’t have the benchmarks for the Mac mini in question, but we have run Geekbench 6.1 on the equivalent chip in the MacBook Pro and as you can see the results are similar, as you would expect from such closely matched CPUs.

We also ran the Cinebench R23 benchmarks on the Mac Studio, in that case, we do have the Mac mini M2 Pro to compare to. Here you can also see how similar the two CPUs are.

GPU

When it comes to GPU cores things are a bit different. The standard Mac mini M2 Pro offers 16 graphics cores (up to 19), but the standard Mac Studio with M2 Max has a 30-core GPU (up to 38-core GPU).

To get an idea of how this plays out in testing, in Geekbench 6.1 Compute benchmarks the 38-core GPU Mac Studio scored a lot more than the M2 Pro in the MacBook Pro (we don’t have the Geekbench 6.1 scores for the Mac mini, but it is the same chip in question here).

If you are a gamer you can also expect much better performance from the Mac Studio, as per our video game benchmarks.

See how the M2 Pro and M2 Max compare here: M2 Pro vs M2 Max.

RAM

There are other ways in which the Max beats the Pro, whichever generation. The M2 Max has more memory bandwidth (400 GB/sec vs 200 GB/sec) and can offer more RAM than the M2 Pro can (96GB vs 32GB). Note that there is a catch with the 96GB RAM option for the M2 Max–it is limited to the version of the M2 Max with 38 GPU cores, while the less expensive option with 30 GPU cores still tops out at 64GB.

Mac Studio vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Ports

The Mac Studio has the most ports, with two USB-C ports and one SDXC card slot on the front and four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI 2.0 port, a 10Gb Ethernet jack, and one 3.5mm headphone jack on the back. The M2 Pro Mac mini has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, Gigabit Ethernet (10Gb ethernet costs an extra $100), and a headphone jack. Of course, there are plenty of USB-C hubs available if you want even more options.

The M1 Max Mac Studio was held back by its HDMI port, which was HDMI 2.0 rather than the Mac mini’s newer HDMI 2.1 standard. HDMI 2.1 brings support for 4K at 240Hz and 8K at 60Hz. The 2023 Mac Studio offers HDMI 2.1, so there is no longer a limitation (HDMI 2.0 can only connect one display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz.) This means that the M2 Max Mac Studio can now support up to eight 4K displays, six 6K displays, or three 8K displays, where previously it was limited to four Pro Display XDRs and one 4K display. The Mac mini with M2 Pro supports three displays.

The 2023 Mac Studio also gains the new WiFi 6E standard and Bluetooth 5.3 as the Mac mini M2 Pro did earlier in 2023. The older Mac Studio only offered Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Mac Studio vs Mac mini M2 Pro: Buying Advice

Now that the M2 Max has arrived in the Mac Studio it is certainly a more attractive option than it was, but even with the M1-series chips the Mac Studio was still a great option for those looking for a powerful Mac that didn’t break the bank.

The Mac mini with M2 Pro is certainly a contender though. The main differences between the two machines as the support for more RAM and the additional graphics cores in the Mac Studio. The Mac Studio costs more than the Mac mini, but you get your money’s worth (especially when you compare it to how much the M2 Max equipped MacBook Pro costs). When you consider that, if you were to spec a Mac mini up to a similar allocation of RAM and CPU cores, it would cost the same as the Mac Studio, and still lack the extra GPU cores, it’s clear which is the best value for money machine.

But if you don’t need as much power, and you don’t use the most graphics-intensive apps, then the Mac mini with M2 Pro will be more than sufficient and represents a good saving on the cost of the Mac Studio. You can now save $700/£700 by buying a Mac mini with M2 Pro, rather than the Mac Studio, and still get a machine that is plenty powerful enough for your needs.

With that saving you could buy a hub plus a 4TB SSD and still have cash in your pocket. For more Mac mini accessory options, read our feature on How to upgrade the M2 and M2 Pro Mac mini.

The Mac Studio offers much more though, aside from the extra RAM and GPUs, you’ll find more ports (including some that are front-facing) and support for more displays.

For more help deciding which Mac to buy read our Best Mac buying guide.