That being said, the two machines have much more in contrast than they do in common, including different chip options, memory capacities, ports, and external display support capabilities.Mac mini (2024) Mac Studio (2023) M4 or M4 Pro chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 3nm (N3E) process) M2 Max or M2 Ultra chip (made with TSMC's enhanced 5nm (N5P) process) 4.30 GHz maximum CPU clock speed 3.50 GHz maximum CPU clock speed M4: 10-core CPU (4 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores) M4 Pro: 12- or 14-core CPU (8 or 10 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores) M2 Max: 12-core CPU (8 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores) M2 Ultra: 24-core CPU (16 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores) M4: 10-core GPU M4 Pro: 16- or 20‑core GPU M2 Max: 30- or 38-core GPU M2 Ultra: 60‑ or 76-core GPU Updated GPU architecture with improved efficiency Hardware-accelerated ray-tracing Dynamic caching LPDDR5X memory LPDDR5 memory M4: 120GB/s memory bandwidth M4 Pro: 273GB/s memory bandwidth M2 Max: 400GB/s memory bandwidth M2 Ultra: 800GB/s memory bandwidth M4: 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB unified memory M4 Pro: 24GB, 48GB, or 64GB unified memory M2 Max: 32GB, 64GB, or 96GB unified memory M2 Ultra: 64GB, 128GB, or 192GB unified memory M4: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB storage M4 Pro: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage M2 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage M2 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB storage 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second M2 Max: 16-core Neural Engine, 15.8 trillion operations per second M2 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine, 31.6 trillion operations per second Video decode engine, video encode engine, and ProRes encode and decode engine M2 Max: Video decode engine, two video encode engines, and two ProRes encode and decode engines M2 Ultra: Two video decode engines, four video encode engines, and four ProRes encode and decode engines AV1 decode Dedicated display engine Support for up to three external displays M2 Max: Support for up to five external displays M2 Ultra: Support for up to eight external displays M4: Three rear Thunderbolt 4 ports M4 Pro: Three rear Thunderbolt 5 ports Four rear Thunderbolt 4 ports Two front USB-C ports M2 Max: Two front USB-C ports M2 Ultra: Two front Thunderbolt 4 ports Two rear USB-A ports Gigabit Ethernet or 10Gb Ethernet port 10Gb Ethernet port SDXC card slot (UHS-II) Bottom power button Rear power button M4: Starts at $599 M4 Pro: Starts at $1,399 M2 Max: Starts at $1,999 M2 Ultra: Starts at $3,999 Following the Mac mini's redesign this year, the dimensions of the two devices are now radically different, with the Mac Studio dwarfing the Mac mini in every way.Mac mini Mac Studio Height 2.0 inches (5.0 cm) 3.7 inches (9.5 cm) Width 5.0 inches (12.7 cm) 7.7 inches (19.7 cm) Depth 5.0 inches (12.7 cm) 7.7 inches (19.7 cm) Weight M4: 1.5 pounds (0.67 kg) M4 Pro: 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) M2 Max: 5.9 pounds (2.7 kg) M2 Ultra: 7.9 pounds (3.6 kg) To some extent, purchasing decisions should be driven by budget, but it is worth bearing in mind that any savings on the desktop computer itself can be put toward a good external display such as Apple's Studio Display, which starts from $1,599.
The Mac mini is also a better choice for most users at the current time since its chip technology is two generations ahead of the Mac Studio, offering higher clock speeds, much faster single-core performance, a redesigned GPU architecture, AV1 decode, a markedly more powerful Neural Engine, and more.
For example, an M4 Pro Mac mini paired with a Studio Display comes to $2,898, which is just $899 more than a lone base model Mac Studio and $1,101 less than the M2 Ultra Mac Studio with no display.
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