Apple announced new Mac mini and Mac Studio models last month, both of which are available for pre-order now. This is the first time in years that Apple has reviewed both of its desktop Macs simultaneously, so which should you choose?
There are now two desktop Macs to choose from after the Mac Pro was discontinued, but prices have changed significantly. The Mac Studio starts at $2,499 and goes up to $5,499 for the M5 Ultra model, while the Mac mini starts at $899 with the M6 chip and $1,699 with the M5 Pro.
These prices are in addition to general Mac and iPad increases Apple made in June, which took the Mac mini from $599 to $799, the M4 Pro configuration from $1,399 to $1,599, and the Mac Studio from $1,999 to $2,499. The M5 Ultra adds another $200 to the price of the post-June M3 Ultra, putting it $1,500 above what the M3 Ultra cost at launch.
Our guide helps answer the question of how to decide which of these two desktop Macs is best for you. The two machines now share a large number of key features, including:
- A square silver aluminum case with no color options
- Apple’s N1 chip, bringing Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 to both machines for the first time
- Neural accelerators integrated into each GPU core
- Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
- A media engine with hardware accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW, plus AV1 decoding
- A next-generation SSD architecture that Apple says is up to twice as fast as before
- Genlock support over USB-C to sync a screen with a camera, including iPhone 17 Pro
- One HDMI port with multi-channel audio output
- A 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones
Beyond that, the two lines diverge in terms of chip generation, memory capacity, ports, and external display support.
| Mac mini (M6) | Mac mini (M5 Pro) | Mac Studio (M5 Max) | Mac Studio (M5 Ultra) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M6 chip | M5 Pro chip | M5 Max chip | M5 Ultra chip (two dual-die M5 Max chips joined by UltraFusion) |
| Made with TSMC’s 2nm process | Made with TSMC’s 3nm process | Manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm process | Manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm process |
| 12-core processor (2 super cores + 4 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores) | 15 or 18 core processor (up to 6 super cores + 12 performance cores) | 18-core processor (6 super cores + 12 performance cores) | 30 or 36 core processor (up to 12 super cores + 24 performance cores) |
| 12-core GPU | 16 or 20 core GPU | 32 or 40 core GPU | 64 or 80 core GPU |
| Dual 16-core neural engine | 16-core neural engine | 16-core neural engine | 32-core neural engine |
| Up to 170 GB/s memory bandwidth | 307 GB/s memory bandwidth | Up to 614 GB/s memory bandwidth | 1.2 TB/s memory bandwidth |
| Unified memory of 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB | 24 GB, 48 GB or 64 GB unified memory | 32-core GPU: 36 GB of unified memory 40-core GPU: 48 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB of unified memory |
64-core GPU: 96 GB or 256 GB of unified memory 80-core GPU: 96 GB, 256 GB or 512 GB of unified memory |
| 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB storage | 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB storage | 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB storage | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB or 16TB storage |
| Video decoding engine | Video decoding engine | Video decoding engine | Two video decoding engines |
| Video encoding engine | Video encoding engine | Two video encoding engines | Four video encoding engines |
| ProRes encoding and decoding engine | ProRes encoding and decoding engine | Dual ProRes encoding and decoding engines | Four ProRes encoding and decoding engines |
| Support for up to three displays: two at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 165 Hz, plus a third at 5K 60 Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K 60 Hz over HDMI | Support for up to three displays, all at 6K 60 Hz or 4K 165 Hz | Support for up to five 4K displays, four 6K displays, or two 8K displays | Support for up to eight 4K displays, eight 6K displays, or four 8K displays |
| Two displays per Thunderbolt port | All three displays via a single Thunderbolt port | ||
| Three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back | Three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back | Four Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back | Four Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back |
| Two USB-C ports on the front | Two USB-C ports on the front | Two USB-C ports on the front | Two Thunderbolt 5 ports on the front |
| Two rear USB-A ports | Two rear USB-A ports | ||
| 2.5 GB Ethernet or 10 GB Ethernet port | 2.5 GB Ethernet or 10 GB Ethernet port | 10 GB Ethernet port | 10 GB Ethernet port |
| SDXC (UHS-II) card slot | SDXC (UHS-II) card slot | ||
| Bottom power button | Bottom power button | Rear power button | Rear power button |
| From $899 | Starting at $1,699 | Starting at $2,499 | Starting at $5,499 |
Both cases remain unchanged, so the dimensions of the two devices remain drastically 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 (9.5cm) |
| 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 | M6: 1.5 pounds (0.67 kg) M5 Pro: 1.6 pounds (0.73 kg) |
M5 Max: 6.0 pounds (2.7 kg) M5 Ultra: 8.0 pounds (3.6 kg) |
Most customers should choose the M5 Pro Mac mini over the M5 Max Mac Studio, saving $800 over the base models. The gap widens in custom configurations, as the Mac Studio’s memory and storage levels start higher and climb even higher.
There is an unusual situation at the bottom of the lineup this year. The $899 Mac mini is the only machine of the four with a latest-generation chip, and the M6 is Apple’s first 2nm chip. Its dual 16-core Neural Engine, which Apple says system frameworks can drive simultaneously, is also more Neural Engine hardware than that provided by the M5 Pro or M5 Max. If your workload relies on on-device machine learning rather than sustained CPU or GPU throughput, the cheapest Mac in this comparison is obviously not the weakest for the task. The trade-offs are Thunderbolt 4 rather than Thunderbolt 5, 32GB memory and a 2TB storage cap, and a single video encoding engine.
You should only consider the Mac Studio if you have a professional workflow that can truly take advantage of the M5 Max or M5 Ultra, along with the additional ports, display outputs, and memory capacity. If you need the Mac Studio, you probably already know that you’re looking for a very powerful machine that can handle a specific intense workload. The M5 Ultra is Apple’s first quad-die M-series chip, and its four ProRes engines, four video encoding engines, and 1.2 TB/s of memory bandwidth are aimed squarely at multi-stream video work and large local AI models. The 512GB memory cap is unmatched anywhere else in the Mac lineup, and it’s what allows models with hundreds of billions of settings to run entirely on the device.
The Mac Studio still has a superior selection of ports, with four rear Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M5 Max and six total on the M5 Ultra, plus an SDXC, USB-A, and 10GB Ethernet card slot as standard. This makes a practical difference for anyone working with fast external storage or camera support. The Mac mini has reduced some of the distance by moving to 2.5 GB Ethernet as standard, instead of Gigabit.
Clustering on Thunderbolt 5 and RDMA doesn’t differentiate between the two machines, since it arrived in macOS 26.2 last December and works on any Mac with Thunderbolt 5, including the M5 Pro Mac mini and the previous generation Mac Studio. The exception is the M6 Mac mini, which has Thunderbolt 4 and cannot participate.
Both Mac mini models still have three external displays, but they now reach 165Hz in 4K, compared to 144Hz on the M4 generation, and the M5 Pro model drives all three through a single Thunderbolt port. For a three-monitor desktop setup at high refresh rates, the M5 Pro Mac mini is sufficient. It is only above three screens, i.e. at 6K and 8K, that the Mac Studio becomes necessary.
A notable exception appears at the top of the Mac mini range. An M5 Pro Mac mini configured with extra memory and storage gets close enough to the $2,499 Mac Studio that the comparison changes somewhat. For a few hundred dollars, the “Mac Studio” replaces a chip with about twice the memory bandwidth, a second video encoding engine, much better display support, and room for up to 128 GB of unified memory. If you’re already spending a lot on a Mac mini, price out the Mac Studio before committing.
If you plan to keep the machine for many years, the ceiling of the Mac Studio matters more than its starting price, because it is the only one of the two configurable beyond 64 GB of unified memory. Buyers weighing the M6 Mac mini versus the M5 Pro Mac mini should note that the new generation of chips and the newest process node are both found in the cheaper machine and that the M5 Pro’s advantages focus on multi-core and graphics performance rather than longevity.
To some extent, purchasing decisions should be driven by budget, but any savings on the computer itself can be put toward a good external display such as Apple’s Studio Display, which starts from $1,599 and was one of the few products spared from June’s price hikes. An M6 Mac mini paired with a Studio Display costs $2,498, a dollar less than a bare M5 Max Mac Studio with nothing to plug in. An M5 Pro Mac mini and a Studio Display together cost $3,298, which is $799 more than the base Mac Studio and $2,201 less than the M5 Ultra Mac Studio with no display at all.
Both machines are available for pre-order now and will arrive on Tuesday, September 22, at educational prices of $799 and $1,599 on the two Mac mini models and $2,299 and $5,099 on the two Mac Studio models. Mac Studio configurations with 512 GB of unified memory are not expected until the end of October.
