Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) vs MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Pro, 2023)
Quick look
| Figure | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,3993launch price | £2,6994launch price |
| Chip | M2 Prochip | M2 Prochip |
| CPU | 10-coreCPU | 12-coreCPU |
| GPU | 16-coreGPU | 19-coreGPU |
| Memory | 16GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Not available5No battery | Up to22 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 24 January 20233ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 17 January 2023. | 24 January 20234ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 17 January 2023. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available7Security updates |
- Price
- The Mac mini M2 Pro is £1,399 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the MacBook Pro M2 Pro is £2,699 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
- Kind of Mac
- The Mac mini M2 Pro is a desktop; the MacBook Pro M2 Pro is a laptop. The MacBook Pro M2 Pro has a built-in 16.2-inch display, a camera and a battery, whereas the Mac mini M2 Pro has none of them.
True to scale
A desktop and a laptop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the front face of one and the footprint of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.
Specifications
Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.
Body
| Specification | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 35.8 x 197 x 197 mm | 16.8 x 355.7 x 248.1 mm |
| Weight | 1.28 kg | 2.15 kg |
| Colours | Silver | Silver, Space Grey |
| Ports | Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI port, Gigabit Ethernet port (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet), 3.5mm headphone jack | Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, MagSafe 3 port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports | 4 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | 2 | No USB-A ports.8 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.9 | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Not available10 | Yes |
| Keyboard | Not available11 | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Not available12 | Yes |
| Touch Bar | Not available13 | No Touch Bar.14 |
Display
| Specification | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | Not available15 | 16.2 in |
| Resolution | Not available15 | 3456 x 2234 |
| Pixel density | Not available15 | 254 ppi |
| Display type | Not available15 | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Brightness | Not available15 | 500 nits |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | Not available15 | 1,600 nits |
| Refresh rate | Not available15 | 120 Hz |
| Wide colour (P3) | Not available15 | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | Not available15 | No nano-texture display option.14 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M2 Pro chip | Apple M2 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 10 | 12 |
| Performance cores | 6 | 8 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 16 | 19 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M2 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M2 Pro with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU | M2 Pro with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU16 |
| Memory (base) | 16GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 32GB | 32GB16 |
| Memory options | 16GB or 32GB | 16GB or 32GB16 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents17 | No, as Apple documents18 |
| Memory bandwidth | 200 GB/s | 200 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB | 8TB16 |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB16 |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engine |
Battery and power
| Specification | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | Not available5 | 100 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | Not available5 | 1,000 cycles19 |
| Video playback (claimed) | Not available5 | 22 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | Not available5 | 15 h |
| Included power adapter | Not available20 | 140 W |
| Fast charging | Not available5 | Yes |
| Maximum continuous power | 185 W | Not available21 |
Connectivity
| Specification | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | Gigabit Ethernet (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) | No Ethernet port.14 |
| External displays (base) | 3 | 2 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | Mac mini M2 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Not available22 | 1080p FaceTime HD camera |
| Speakers | Built-in speaker23 | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Not available24 | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩- ↩
Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max ·
↩Doesn’t apply: no battery
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Pro, 2023): No USB-A ports.
↩Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023): No SD card slot.
↩Doesn’t apply: MagSafe is a notebook charging port
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Pro, 2023): No Touch Bar. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Determine battery cycle count for Mac laptops ·
↩Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box
↩Doesn’t apply: a notebook lists its power adapter, not a maximum continuous power
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) — Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
Mac mini M2 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2023) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new Mac mini with M2 and M2 Pro — more powerful, capable, and versatile than ever, read 9 Oct 2026.
MacBook Pro M2 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2023) - Tech Specs; Identify your MacBook Pro model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils MacBook Pro featuring M2 Pro and M2 Max, read 9 Oct 2026.
If you own one of them
Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my Mac mini M2 Pro (2023)? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M2 Pro (16-inch, 2023)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.