Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
The upgrade to the M2 Pro , as well as display yield and wireless upgrades , made this more than a worthy successor to the aging Intel - found Mac miniskirt . But the price is just too gamey , and anyone who does n’t choose the pedestal model would be better off with the Mac Studio ’s least expensive pick instead .
Best Prices Today: Apple Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
And then there was one .
With the introduction of the unexampled Mac mini , Apple officially sell only one Mac that still uses an Intel chip – the Mac Pro . While the modest - end Mac miniskirt get an upgrade to the M1 processor just over two age ago , Apple continued to sell the 2018 Intel - based model as a more expensive choice . Apple has now updated the low - end model to the M2 and replaced that Intel - based framework with a newM2 Pro Mac mini .
The M2 poser pull in Wi - Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 and has been reduced in price from $ 699 to $ 599 . It ’s a fine entry - level system . The M2 Pro model add two extra Thunderbolt 4 ports ( for a total of four ) , upgrades the HDMI larboard to HDMI 2.1 ( bringing keep 4 K at 240Hz and 8 K at 60Hz ) , and of course , has a more powerful processor . It starts at $ 1,299 , a $ 200increaseover the outdated and now - disused Intel - based model .
That $ 1,299 ingress - level cost receive you a hack - back version of the M2 Pro that has only a 10 - core C.P.U. ( 6 performance substance , 4 efficiency cores ) and a 16 - effect GPU . To get thefullM2 Pro with 12 C.P.U. cores ( eight performance , four efficiency ) and 19 GPU cores , you have to pay off an spare $ 300 .
You ’ll also get only 512 GB of memory in that $ 1,299 simulation , which is a piece on the low side for that price . The parachuting to 1 TB costs another $ 200 . Add those two minimal upgrades together and you ’re looking at $ 1,799 for the full M2 Pro , 16 GB of RAM , and 1 TB of storage . That ’s the shape we tested here .
M2 Pro Mac mini: A few upgrades, but no design changes
It ’s courteous to see Apple jumpstart aboard the Wi - Fi 6E bandwagon with its new Mac minis , and the upgrade to Bluetooth 5.3 , while not currently being used for anything you ca n’t do with Bluetooth 5.0 , is a nice fleck of time to come - proofing . Even better is the M2 Pro version ’s two extra Thunderbolt 4 larboard , for a total of four , and HDMI 2.1 , which support resolution of up to 8 K at 60Hz or 4 K at 240Hz . However , keep in mind that resolution and refresh pace start to become special if you pilfer up two Thunderbolt displays at the same time . The maximum is three displays , two Thunderbolt 6 K at 60Hz , and one HDMI 4 K at 60Hz .
Jason Cross / Foundry
But that ’s where the rise cease . The rumor mill teased a aim refresh that we did n’t get , and while it does n’t necessarily need one , some color like the M1 iMac would have been courteous . We ’d even just take a Space Grey option , but no , the only available colour is still silver .
uncollectible , we ’ve been spoiled by the completely sensible decision to put a duo of USB - C ports and an SDXC card one-armed bandit on the front of the Mac Studio . That ’s the variety of user - friendly update we would have liked in a new Mac miniskirt , and it feel eldritch that it ’s not there .
M2 Pro Mac mini: CPU performance
The jump from Intel to Apple Silicon is notable , but you ’d be crazy to compare the sometime Intel Mac miniskirt to its replacement . That organisation had n’t been update in over four years , and itsbestprocessor was a Core i7 - 8700B. That ’s a Mobile River - orient CPU from Intel ’s 8th - generation Coffee Lake architecture , which was n’t even all that new at the time ( the latest is the 13th generation ! ) . you’re able to chance an former recapitulation of that organisation here , and marvel at how Apple has n’t made a meaningful design variety since around 2010 .
If you ’re singular how the regular M2 version of the Mac mini performs , we did n’t have one to try , but the M2 MacBook Air is probablyverysimilar in operation . Refer to ourM2 MacBook Air reviewfor those numbers .
Let ’s start with that linchpin CPU performance benchmark , Geekbench 5 .
Apple foretell up to 20 percent better CPU performance with the M2 Pro and M2 Max , and at least in multicore Geekbench 5 tests , they more or less nail it . Chalk that up to having four efficiency cores or else of two as in the M1 Pro and M1 Max , along with tweak to clock speeds . exclusive - center performance is about 10 percentage well .
Moving on to Cinebench ( which uses the CPU for offline 3D ray - trace rendering ) , we see a standardized situation .
One marrow is about 8 percent faster , while all 12 core beat the 10 - core M2 Pro and M2 Max by rough 20 percentage .
The HandBrake video converter is a test of C.P.U. performance or the specialised television computer hardware , depending on how it is configure . We transcode the 4 K variation of the royalty - freeTears of Steelvideo to H.265 using the CPU and the video encoders ( the “ VideoToolbox ” fabric version ) .
When using the CPU to encode , we handily outpace laptops that get hot and throttle but are only around 10 percent quicker than an M1 Max . When using the video encoders , that rush along up to around 18 percent faster .
And it ’s not a CPU test , but this is as good a station as any to put the results of a prompt storage benchmark . TheBlackmagic disc amphetamine testis a round-eyed prompt gratis test anyone can run to measure take and spell performance of their storage , place at telecasting product needs .
The SSD performance has about doubled since the first M1 days but has remained in the 5 - 6 GB / sec range since . These are exceptionally just public presentation numbers ; Apple does not mess around when it come to storage performance .
M2 Pro Mac mini: GPU performance
Apple says the GPU is up to 30 per centum faster than that find out in the M2 Pro . Some of that is owed to architectural improvement such as cache improvements , and some is just because there are more GPU cores . In this case , the M2 Pro has 19 essence while the M1 Pro had 16 .
There are n’t a lot of in high spirits - final stage games for the Mac , and even fewer with beneficial quotable benchmarking dick . Still , it ’s nice to see Rise of the Tomb Raider run at 1080p with the High preset at well over 100 flesh per second .
That ’s actually more than a 30 percent improvement , but central processor performance plays a factor here as well ( particularly since these are games optimize for Intel CPUs run with Rosetta displacement ) . It ’s interesting how standardized the M1 Max perform despite suffer 32 GPU cores , but these senior titles with Rosetta interlingual rendition are perhaps limited by CPU operation as well .
Geekbench has a GPU benchmark that punctuate using the GPU for general - purpose computation ( like face recognition or border detection ) rather than drawing 3D graphics .
The M2 Pro is about 20 pct faster here , but ca n’t keep up with the M1 Max and its 32 GPU nucleus .
Our iMovie examination , in which we stabilize and export a 4 K home movie , accent the video encoding computer hardware more than anything else , but the Stabilize role hits the Neural Engine and CPU pretty intemperately .
The M1 Max has two video encoding locomotive engine , so the M2 Pro ca n’t quite keep up with its exporting speed , and the M2 Pro is similar in public presentation to the M1 Pro . But the quick CPU and Neural Engine in the M2 Pro make it faster than the M1 Max when applying the telecasting stabilise characteristic .
Should you buy an M2 Pro Mac mini?
The M2 Pro is about what we ’d expect , functioning - wise . Take the gap between the M1 and M2 and apply that to the M1 Pro and there you have it — a expert Neural Engine , and usually somewhere between 10 percent and 20 percent estimable performance depending on what the limiting factors are . It ’s a squeamish upgrade from the M1 Pro and obviously a good deal better than the M2 . It goes without allege it absolutely smokes the Intel - based Mac mini it replaces , but that system was so one-time that we do n’t even habituate the same dick to benchmark it any longer .
If there ’s a problem with this system , it ’s the price . $ 1,099 was a well starting monetary value for an upper - tier Mac miniskirt , it ’s a real ignominy it went up by almost 20 per centum with the new model to $ 1,299 . With the lower - tier M2 Mac mini embark on at a lower $ 599 price , the gap is bigger than ever .
And anyone considering the M2 Pro Mac miniskirt probably wo n’t want the $ 1,299 model , which only has two CPU cores and three GPU cores incapacitate , along with only 512 GB of storage . They ’ll want to jump-start up to the full M2 Pro for another $ 300 and a 1 TB SSD for $ 200 for a marvelous total of $ 1,799 .
Consider that the entrance - level Mac Studio is $ 1,999 and has an M1 Max with a 24 - center GPU , double the memory bandwidth , and double the RAM ( 32 GB vs 16 GB ) . Plus , it ’s cause two USB - C ports and an SDXC slot up front . The only real vantage of the M2 Pro Mac miniskirt is Wi - Fi 6E and HDMI 2.1 .
Unless Apple drastically increase the Mac Studio cost when it gets an M2 Max upgrade , that will definitely be the good buy . The start price is just one issue ; the other , as always , is Apple ’s extortionate price on storage and RAM upgrades . charge up $ 400 to go from 16 GB to 32 GB of RAM , and $ 200 to go from a 512 GB SSD to 1 TB , is more than double the going retail rate for top - tier PC hardware . We ’re used to Apple charging a big exchange premium for this stuff , but it ’s get way out of handwriting , and the fact that none of it is upgradeable and you have to buy what Apple trade you at its crazy marked - up price only makes things worse .
I mean , the 14 - inch MacBook Pro with the same M2 Pro starts at just $ 700 more than the Mac mini andit ’s a whole laptop computer , with an HDR display , keyboard , trackpad , SDXC card slot , battery …
The M2 Pro Mac mini is a really nice machine . tops compact , mute , fast — a welcome surrogate for the Intel - base model of past times . Apple at long last embraced Wi - Fi 6E and HDMI 2.1 , too . The price exemplify a short value , though , even among Apple hardware . Had Apple observe the $ 1,099 starting price and offer slightly more fair upgrade pricing , it might have been a unlike story . At these prices , however , either wait for a refurbished building block or spring for the Mac Studio .
We also have an article to aid you decidewhich Mac to buyand for the best price be indisputable to check out ourBest Mac mini dealsround up .
For Mac mini supplement selection , read our feature onHow to upgrade the M2 and M2 Pro Mac mini .
