These changes are outlined below: Mac mini (late 2020) Mac mini (early 2023) Mac mini (late 2024) M1 chip (made with TSMC's 5nm (N5) process) M2 or M2 Pro chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 5nm (N5P) process) M4 or M4 Pro chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 3nm (N3E) process) 8 CPU cores (4 performance + 4 efficiency) M2: 8 CPU cores (4 performance + 4 efficiency) M2 Pro: 10 or 12 CPU cores (6 or 8 performance + 4 efficiency) M4: 10 CPU cores (4 performance + 6 efficiency cores) M4 Pro: 12 or 14 CPU cores (8 or 10 performance + 4 efficiency) 3.23 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 3.50 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 4.30 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 8 GPU cores M2: 10 GPU cores M2 Pro: 16 or 19 GPU cores M4: 10 GPU cores M4 Pro: 16 or 20 GPU cores Updated GPU architecture with improved efficiency Hardware-accelerated ray-tracing Video decode engine Higher-bandwidth video decode engine Higher-bandwidth video decode engine Hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW ProRes encode and decode engine ProRes encode and decode engine Support for AV1 decode LPDDR4X memory LPDDR5 memory LPDDR5X memory 68.25GB/s memory bandwidth M2: 100GB/s memory bandwidth M2 Pro: 200GB/s memory bandwidth M4: 120GB/s memory bandwidth M4 Pro: 273GB/s memory bandwidth 8GB or 16GB memory M2: 8GB, 16GB, or 24GB memory M2 Pro: 16GB or 32GB memory M4: 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB memory M4 Pro: 24GB, 48GB, or 64GB memory 16-core Neural Engine, 11 trillion operations per second 16-core Neural Engine, 15.8 trillion operations per second 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second Dedicated display engine The M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini represent the most significant update to Apple's compact desktop in years, marking an evolution not only in performance but in design and functionality as well.
All of the hardware differences between the 2020, 2023, and 2024 Mac mini models are detailed below: Mac mini (late 2020) Mac mini (early 2023) Mac mini (late 2024) Height: 1.41 inches (3.58 cm) Height: 1.41 inches (3.58 cm) Height: 2.0 inches (5.0 cm) Width: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm) Width: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm) Width: 5.0 inches (12.7 cm) Depth: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm) Depth: 7.75 inches (19.70 cm) Depth: 5.0 inches (12.7 cm) Weight: 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg) Weight (M2): 2.6 pounds (1.18 kg) Weight (M2 Pro): 2.8 pounds (1.28 kg) Weight (M4): 1.5 pounds (0.67 kg) Weight (M4 Pro): 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) Thermal design with rear air intake and exhaust Thermal design with rear air intake and exhaust New thermal design that drives air up through the base Wi-Fi 6 Wi-Fi 6E Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.0 Bluetooth 5.3 Bluetooth 5.3 3.5mm headphone jack 3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones 3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones HDMI 2.0 M2: HDMI 2.0 M2 Pro: HDMI 2.1 HDMI 2.1 Two rear USB-A ports Two rear USB-A ports Two front USB-C ports Two Thunderbolt 3/USB4 USB-C ports M2: Two Thunderbolt 4 ports M2 Pro: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports M4: Three Thunderbolt 4 ports M4 Pro: Three Thunderbolt 5 ports Maximum of two external displays Maximum of three external displays Maximum of three external displays 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage M2: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage M2 Pro: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB storage M4: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage M4 Pro: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage The chips offered across the three Mac mini generations are a key point of difference.
With higher clock speeds, more efficient core architecture, and memory bandwidth improvements, the M4 Mac mini brings noticeable gains in performance over the M1 and M2 models.
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