Design Specs: Once Bigger, the Mac mini Sizes Down
When Apple introduced the Mac Studio in 2022, it was impossible to miss the design similarities to the Mac mini. Both had a square 7.7-by-7.7-inch footprint, an all-aluminum chassis, rounded corners, and a minimalist aesthetic adorned with just an Apple logo.
The 2023 Mac mini (Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The 2023 Mac mini is the perfect example, measuring 1.4 by 7.7 by 7.7 inches (HWD) and with a single cluster of ports on a rear I/O panel. The Mac Studio, by comparison, measures 3.7 by 7.7 by 7.7 inches and looks like a doubled-up Mac mini with some added front ports.
The 2025 Mac Studio (Credit: Brian Westover)
That larger Studio body provides space for a more robust cooling system, which is essential to managing the higher-tier hardware inside. Thanks to the more substantial cooling in the Mac Studio, chips like the M4 Max and M3 Ultra can work their hardest without throttling.
But then, in 2024, Apple redesigned the Mac mini to look, in some ways, even more like the Mac Studio. Apple gave the compact desktop a smaller footprint (5 by 5 inches) but a taller profile (2 inches high) that more closely follows the proportions of the Mac Studio. The Mac mini even gets some front-facing connections, with a pair of USB-C ports and an audio jack on the face of the little system.
Taller, smaller: The 2024 Mac mini (Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Inside, the redesigned Mac mini adds a new thermal management system. It doesn’t add the bulk of a big heat sink but instead co-opts the same kind of ventilated air intake around the base that’s used on the Mac Studio.
When I compare the two, the Mac mini is now more clearly a Mini-Me version of the larger Mac Studio, and both have been updated with improved cooling and internals.
“Mini” also means a vast difference in weight. The Mac mini tips the scales at well under 2 pounds (1.5 pounds for the M4 configuration, or 1.6 pounds for the M4 Pro). The Mac Studio, on the other hand, weighs 6 or 8 pounds, depending on whether you get the M4 Max or the M3 Ultra. (The latter comes with a heavier copper heat sink inside.)
Winner: Tie
Ports and Connections: Much More on the Mac Studio
Both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio come with nothing but a power cable in the box. If you want a keyboard, a mouse, or a monitor, you’ll need to purchase those or provide your own. At least, thanks to a decent selection of ports, both machines will easily work with the usual Mac accessories, and both models are outfitted with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
However, you’ll find some key differences between the two systems regarding ports and peripheral support. For starters, the Mac mini has fewer ports overall…
2024 Mac mini: The rear ports (Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Three Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port reside on the back of the mini; the last can be configured to a 10Gbps connection. On the front, it has two USB-C 3.1 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. In the M4 model, those are Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the M4 Pro configuration supports Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.
The back of the Mac Studio (Credit: Brian Westover)
The Mac Studio has two possible port loadouts, depending on whether you get the M4 Max or the M3 Ultra configuration. The M4 Max model has four Thunderbolt 5 ports, two USB Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 output, and a 10Gbps Ethernet jack in the back. It also supplies a headphone jack, two USB-C ports, and an SDXC card slot in front.
The M3 Ultra expands the Thunderbolt 5 support to those front ports, bringing the total number to six.
You’ll see a lot of overlap between the different Mac desktops, but the Mac mini doesn’t have an SDXC card slot or USB-A ports. You can still connect many accessories over USB-C or Bluetooth (like the Apple Magic Keyboard or Magic Mouse), but anything using the older USB-A standard will require an adapter.
The Mac mini may be great, but it doesn’t have the same level of connectivity as the Mac Studio.
Winner: Mac Studio
Display Options: Supported Monitors and Video Outputs
If you’re deciding between the Mac Studio and the Mac mini, display support might be one of the biggest things to consider. Both machines support multiple external displays, but the similarities end here.
(Credit: Apple)
Let’s start with the Mac mini. The M4 and M4 Pro options have some minor differences in display support, but both can handle video output to up to three monitors.
The M4 setup allows for three total displays, with two displays at a stunning 6K resolution at a 60Hz refresh rate over Thunderbolt, plus one more display that can either be 5K at 60Hz (via Thunderbolt) or 4K at 60Hz (via HDMI). Or, if you’re willing to drop down to just two displays, you run a single display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz, and on the second monitor, you can ramp up the resolution (to 8K, over Thunderbolt) or the refresh rate (running at 4K at 240Hz over HDMI or Thunderbolt).
But if you upgrade to the Mac mini with the M4 Pro processor inside, the three-monitor support expands to three 6K displays over Thunderbolt or HDMI. For a higher resolution or faster refresh rate option, you can pair a single 6K/60Hz monitor with either an 8K screen or a faster 240Hz panel.
(Credit: Brian Westover)
Complicated enough? The Mac Studio, meanwhile, brings a lot more display capabilities to the table. The Studio with M4 Max, for instance, can handle five displays: four 6K 60Hz units connected via Thunderbolt, plus a fifth 4K screen at up to 144Hz over HDMI. If you want a higher resolution or refresh rate, you can use a single 8K display or a 240Hz display with a pair of 6K monitors.
The M3 Ultra-equipped Mac Studio can handle up to eight displays (more than double what the Mac mini can support) with 6K resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. And for the ultimate, if you want a multi-screen 8K setup, this system can support as many as four 60Hz 8K displays. Or it can output to four 240Hz 4K screens. That’s hard to top.
Winner: Mac Studio
Audio: Sound Outputs and…Internal Speakers?
Few people consider speaker quality when buying a desktop, but it’s worth noting that the Mac mini and the Mac Studio each use an internal speaker that delivers OK, but not outstanding, sound.
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Both systems also have an audio jack for connecting headphones or speakers and support multichannel audio via HDMI. If you connect the systems to a compatible soundbar or speaker system, these Mac desktops will even support Dolby Atmos.
Winner: Tie
Processor Benchmarks: Performance for Diverse Workloads
The Mac mini is clearly for general use, working with the two lower-tier M-series (M4 and M4 Pro) processors. The Mac Studio is designed for professional use in more demanding applications, using the higher-tier M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to provide workstation-grade performance.
(Credit: Apple)
The result is drastically different performance levels. The Mac mini is a fine option for general use and even some media creation, especially in the M4 Pro configuration we reviewed last year.
But the Mac Studio? With higher-tier M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips, it’s built for unbridled power to serve the most demanding professionals. Whether you’re editing 4K or 8K video or rendering complex engineering models, the Studio is anything but mainstream, delivering some of the best test results we’ve seen in any category.
Bear in mind, though, that the two Mac Studio models are drastically different in an important way. The M4 Max provides better graphics performance than the more expensive M3 Ultra due to its more refined M4 architecture, but the M3 Ultra leverages more cores to brute-force its way to leading performance in the most demanding applications.
Winner: Mac Studio
Graphics Power Benchmarks: 3D, Gaming, and Workstation Speeds
This dichotomy in performance between the Mac Studio and the Mac Mini really hits home when looking at their graphics results. The Mac mini is no slouch, driving plenty of power for mainstream media demands, whether you are editing a YouTube video or playing games.
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The Mac Studio, on the other hand, delivers performance on par with some discrete Nvidia and AMD GPUs. It uses those dozens of GPU cores to muscle through everything from AAA games to back-breaking professional applications.
The most capable model here for all-around graphics performance is the M4 Max-equipped Mac Studio, but interestingly, the M4 Pro Mac mini often outperforms the top-spec M3 Ultra Mac Studio despite using older graphics hardware.
However, in more demanding workstation tests, the M3 Ultra takes the lead, driving better performance across the board and making short work of video editing and model rendering tasks that the Mac mini might not even be able to carry out.
Winner: Tie
Memory and Storage Capacity: Scalability for Demanding Tasks
Just as you’ll find a split between the processor options in the Mac mini and the Mac Studio, you’ll see a big difference in memory and storage options.
The Mac mini has two RAM options for its base models (16GB or 24GB), and it can be up-configured with 32GB, 48GB, or 64GB. The Mac Studio starts at 36GB for the M4 Max model, which can be bumped up to 48GB, 64GB, or 128GB.
But the M3 Ultra model jumps higher, starting at 96GB and scaling up to 256GB or 512GB of RAM. It’s total overkill for mainstream buyers, but ideal for professional tasks like working with ultra-high-resolution video (say, 8K ProRes raw footage) or audio compositions with hundreds of tracks and plug-ins, as well as handling AI workloads and development entirely on the device.
The Mac mini’s storage options start with a modest 256GB or 512GB SSD but can be configured up to 2TB (in the M4-based model) or 8TB (with the M4 Pro one). The Mac Studio begins at 512GB or 1TB, depending upon the CPU inside, and can scale up to 8TB (for M4 Max) or 16TB (for M3 Ultra).
All told, the specifics of memory and storage drive home that the Mac mini is far more suitable to mainstream users, while the Mac Studio is for a more exacting, professional market that needs those expensive, lofty levels of RAM and storage.
Winner: Tie
Pricing: The Value Proposition of Mac mini vs. Studio
The most significant differences between the two machines are the night-and-day price tags. The starter model ($599) of the Mac Mini is a budget desktop priced for the average consumer, and even the very cheapest Mac Studio is clearly not that.
The Mac Studio starts at $2,000—within the range of some high-end shoppers—but it scales up to more than $14,000 at the extremes, deep in the realm of professional gear. That’s not to say that the Mac mini isn’t a great system for some professional applications, but rather that the Mac Studio is designed to be a workstation desktop that isn’t, first and foremost, for mainstream use.
Winner: Mac mini
Verdict: Mac mini Wins on Price, Mac Studio Dominates on Performance
Comparing the Mac mini and the Mac Studio should drive home the idea that there’s not always a clear winner between two systems. We may declare the Mac Studio a “winner” on port selection and raw power, but those aspects don’t make it a better system for you unless they match your particular needs.
In the final analysis, the Mac mini and the Mac Studio represent two ends of Apple’s desktop spectrum. The Mac mini delivers exceptional value for mainstream users, balancing performance and affordability in a way that’s hard to ignore. For those whose work demands extreme processing power, display support, and connectivity, the Mac Studio is the clear choice, but at a significantly higher price that only the most invested pros would consider.
Attempting to crown a single victor would overlook the distinct strengths of each system; there is no one-size-fits-all choice. Based purely on price and broad capability, the Mac mini is more popular, and rightly so. But we must recognize that Apple has crafted two machines for profoundly different audiences, each delivering a tailored experience that aligns with specific needs and budgets. The real “winner” here? It’s the user who selects the Mac that best syncs up with their needs. That could be you.
