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Mac Studio or Mac mini Pro: which desktop?
Both are small, quiet and fast. The deciding factors are GPU power, ports and how much noise you tolerate.
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Mac mini (M4 Pro)
Workstation-class performance in a five-inch box. With Thunderbolt 5 it is a credible replacement for much bigger desktops.
Our score9.0 / 10
Released2024
Launch price$1,399
Our take
Workstation-class performance in a five-inch box. With Thunderbolt 5 it is a credible replacement for much bigger desktops.
Every Mac we review becomes someone’s main computer for at least a month. We pay most attention to sustained performance, fan noise, battery life on real workdays and how far the base memory goes.
Pros
- Huge performance per dollar
- Thunderbolt 5
- Small footprint
Cons
- Fan audible under sustained load
- Expensive upgrades
Specifications
| Chip | M4 Pro, 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU |
|---|---|
| Memory | 24GB unified memory (configurable) |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, Ethernet, two front USB-C |
Mentioned in
9.3Reviews
Mac mini M4 review: the small Mac that does everything
Five inches square, silent in daily use and $599 with 16GB of memory. The best-value Mac ever made.
