Mac mini (M5 Pro) vs Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Quick look
| Figure | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,6993Apple UK store | £1,3994launch price |
| Chip | M5 Prochip | M2 Prochip |
| CPU | 15-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 16-coreGPU | 16-coreGPU |
| Memory | 24GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Released | 22 September 20265ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 25 August 2026. | 24 January 20234ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 17 January 2023. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The Mac mini M5 Pro is £1,699 on Apple’s UK store; the Mac mini M2 Pro is £1,399 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
True to scale
Front faces, from Apple’s published dimensions, drawn to one scale and superposed. 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 M5 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 50 x 127 x 127 mm | 35.8 x 197 x 197 mm |
| Weight | 0.73 kg | 1.28 kg |
| Colours | Silver | Silver |
| Ports | Front: two USB-C ports with support for USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s), 3.5mm headphone jack. Back (M5 Pro): 2.5Gb Ethernet port (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet), HDMI port, three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) 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 |
| Thunderbolt ports7 | 3 | 4 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.8 | 2 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.9 | No SD card slot.10 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
Chip and memory
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M5 Pro chip | Apple M2 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 15 | 10 |
| Super cores | 511 | Not available12 |
| Performance cores | 1011 | 6 |
| Efficiency cores | Not available13 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 16 | 16 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M5 Pro with 15-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M5 Pro with 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU | M2 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M2 Pro with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 24GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 64GB | 32GB |
| Memory options | 24GB, 48GB or 64GB | 16GB or 32GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents14 | No, as Apple documents14 |
| Memory bandwidth | 307 GB/s | 200 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB | 8TB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engine |
Battery and power
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum continuous power | 155 W | 185 W |
Connectivity
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | 2.5Gb Ethernet (100/1000/2500BASE‑T Multi‑Gigabit Ethernet; configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) | Gigabit Ethernet (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) |
| External displays (base) | 3 | 3 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple UK store — Mac mini M5 Pro, 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 24GB, 512GB — From £1,699 ·
↩- ↩
Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils a more powerful Mac mini featuring the all-new M6 and M5 Pro ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Different Thunderbolt generations. Mac mini M5 Pro: Thunderbolt 5. Mac mini M2 Pro: Thunderbolt 4.
↩Mac mini (M5 Pro): No USB-A ports.
↩Mac mini (M5 Pro): No SD card slot.
↩Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023): No SD card slot.
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) - Tech Specs ·
↩Doesn’t apply: this chip has no super cores
↩Apple lists this chip’s cores as 5 super cores, 10 performance cores, with no efficiency cores
↩Apple Support (UK) — Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩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 Mac mini model ·
↩
Not published by Apple
Mac mini M5 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, microphones, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7: the Mac chart has no entry for this Mac, so no figures are shown (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils a more powerful Mac mini featuring the all-new M6 and M5 Pro, read 9 Oct 2026.
Mac mini M2 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, microphones, 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.
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 M5 Pro? · Should I upgrade my Mac mini M2 Pro (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.