After moving from Intel to the M1 in 2020, Apple has given the Mac mini a big refresh to kick off 2023. The new desktop has much more range when it comes to configurations and will cover more use cases with the option of picking the M2 or M2 Pro chip. Let’s dig in!
Mac mini comparison: M2 and M2 Pro vs M1
CPU, GPU, memory, neural engine
The M2 is a moderate upgrade over the M1, but the M2 Pro brings a much greater range of power and capability to the Mac mini – serving as a step up without having to go all the way to the Mac Studio.
| M2 Pro Mac mini | M2 Mac mini | M1 Mac mini | |
| Processor | Up to 12-core | 8-core | 8-core |
| Graphics | Up to 19-core | 10-core | 8-core |
| Storage | Up to 8TB | Up to 2TB | Up to 2TB |
| RAM | Up to 32GB | Up to 24GB | Up to 16GB |
| Neural engine | 16-core | 16-core | 16-core |
Apple says the M2 has an up to 18% faster CPU and up to 35% faster GPU than the M1. M2 also offers up to 24GB RAM, 50% more memory bandwidth, and a 40% faster neural engine than M1.
For more power, Apple says the M2 Pro gives 20% faster CPU and 30% faster GPU performance than the M1 Pro. And the M2 Pro neural engine has seen a 40% speed increase over its predecessor (note: the M1 Pro was never available in the 2020 Mac mini).
You’ve got up to 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU options with the M2 Pro plus up to 32GB RAM.
And another upgrade with the M2 Pro chip is dedicated ProRes encode and decode engines.
I/O
Both the M2 Pro and M2 Mac mini get upgrades when it comes to I/O. First, you’ve got WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 on both builds.
Then the M2 Pro gets more improvements with double the Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports (4), support for up to 3 external displays, and up to 8K output via HDMI (presumably HDMI 2.1 but Apple doesn’t specify).
M2 Pro Mac mini I/O
| M2 Pro Mac mini | M2 Mac mini | M1 Mac mini | |
| USB-C/Thunderbolt ports (up to 40 Gbps) | 4 | 2 | 2 |