The new M2 series MacBook Pro and Mac mini models launched today and mark the debut of the first M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. We have the M2 Pro Mac mini on hand and thought we’d take a look at the machine and do a series of benchmarks to see how it stacks up against Apple’s lineup.
Base model Mac mini machines come with either an M2 or M2 Pro chip, and like the now-discontinued Intel model, the M2 Pro has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the M2 version only has two. Other than that distinction, the two Mac mini models are identical externally, offering two USB-A ports, an Ethernet port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Because Apple went from an older Intel chip to an Apple silicon chip with the high-end M2 Pro Mac mini, there is no direct comparison we can make. Other M-series chips already outperformed the previous generation Intel Mac mini, but to give some perspective, we thought we’d share some benchmarks comparing the M2 Pro Mac mini to the M1 Max MacBook Pro.
The M1 Max MacBook Pro has a 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU, and the high-end base Mac mini with the M2 Pro chip has a 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU.
Here are our test results:
Speedometer (web response)
- M2 Pro Mac Mini – 383
- M1 Max MacBook – 319
Cinebench
M2 Pro Mac Mini:
- Multi-core – 11696
- Single core – 1642
M1 Max MacBook Pro:
- Multi-core – 12240
- Single core – 1528
Geekbench
M2 Pro Mac mini:
- Single Core – 1886
- Multi-core 11862
- OpenCL – 38712
- Metal – 45831
M1 Max MacBook Pro:
- Single core – 1787
- Multi-core – 12721
- OpenCL – 55866
- Metal – 67403
Obviously, the M1 Max surpasses the M2 Pro when it comes to the GPU because it has twice the GPU cores, but the performance is not doubled. The M2 Pro Mac mini is closer in performance to the M1 Max than you might expect.
The M2 Pro Mac mini is priced from $1299, a solid price for the performance it delivers. If you’re looking for a desktop machine that’s affordable but can still be used for video editing, 3D rendering and similar tasks, it’s worth a look. Be sure to watch our video above to see our full range of benchmarks, and we’ll have an M2 Max MacBook Pro video coming tomorrow.
