Mac mini (M5 Pro) vs MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro)
Quick look
| Figure | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £1,6993Apple UK store | £2,9994Apple UK store |
| Chip | M5 Prochip | M5 Prochip |
| CPU | 15-coreCPU | 18-coreCPU |
| GPU | 16-coreGPU | 20-coreGPU |
| Memory | 24GBunified memory, base | 24GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 1TBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Not available5No battery | Up to24 hrsvideo playback, claimed |
| Released | 22 September 20266ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 25 August 2026. | 11 March 20267ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 4 March 2026. |
| Security updates | Not available8Security updates | Not available9Security updates |
- Price
- The Mac mini M5 Pro is £1,699 on Apple’s UK store; the MacBook Pro M5 Pro is £2,999 on Apple’s UK store.
- Kind of Mac
- The Mac mini M5 Pro is a desktop; the MacBook Pro M5 Pro is a laptop. The MacBook Pro M5 Pro has a built-in 16.2-inch display, a camera and a battery, whereas the Mac mini M5 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 M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 50 x 127 x 127 mm | 16.8 x 355.7 x 248.1 mm |
| Weight | 0.73 kg | 2.14 kg |
| Colours | Silver | Space Black, 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 | Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 port, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Thunderbolt ports | 3 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 5 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.10 | No USB-A ports.11 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | No SD card slot.12 | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Not available13 | Yes |
| Keyboard | Not available14 | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID |
| Touch ID | Not available15 | Yes |
| Touch Bar | Not available16 | No Touch Bar.17 |
Display
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | Not available18 | 16.2 in |
| Resolution | Not available18 | 3456 x 2234 |
| Pixel density | Not available18 | 254 ppi |
| Display type | Not available18 | Liquid Retina XDR display |
| Brightness (SDR, outdoor) | Not available18 | 1,000 nits19 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | Not available18 | 1,600 nits |
| Refresh rate | Not available18 | 120 Hz |
| Wide colour (P3) | Not available18 | Yes |
| Nano-texture option | Not available18 | Yes |
Chip and memory
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M5 Pro chip | Apple M5 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 15 | 18 |
| Super cores | 520 | 619 |
| Performance cores | 1020 | 1219 |
| GPU cores | 16 | 20 |
| 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 | M5 Pro with 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU19 |
| Memory (base) | 24GB | 24GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 64GB | 64GB19 |
| Memory options | 24GB, 48GB or 64GB | 24GB, 48GB or 64GB19 |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents21 | No, as Apple documents22 |
| Memory bandwidth | 307 GB/s | 307 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 1TB |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB | 4TB19 |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB | 1TB, 2TB or 4TB19 |
| 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 engineAV1 decode |
Battery and power
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | Not available5 | 100 Wh |
| Rated charge cycles | Not available5 | 1,000 cycles23 |
| Video playback (claimed) | Not available5 | 24 h |
| Wireless web (claimed) | Not available5 | 17 h |
| Included power adapter | Not available24 | No power adapter in the box.17 |
| Fast charging | Not available5 | Yes |
| Maximum continuous power | 155 W | Not available25 |
Connectivity
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) | Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) |
| Bluetooth | 6 | 6 |
| Ethernet | 2.5Gb Ethernet (100/1000/2500BASE‑T Multi‑Gigabit Ethernet; configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) | No Ethernet port.17 |
| External displays (base) | 3 | 3 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | Mac mini M5 Pro1 | MacBook Pro M5 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Not available26 | 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View |
| Camera resolution | Not available26 | 12 MP |
| Speakers | Built-in speaker27 | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers |
| Microphones | Not available28 | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming29 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple UK store — Mac mini M5 Pro, 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 24GB, 512GB — From £1,699 ·
↩Apple UK store — 16-inch MacBook Pro M5 Pro, 18-core CPU, 20-core GPU — From £2,999 ·
↩Doesn’t apply: no battery
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils a more powerful Mac mini featuring the all-new M6 and M5 Pro ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max ·
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Mac mini (M5 Pro): No USB-A ports.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro): No USB-A ports.
↩Mac mini (M5 Pro): 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, M5 Pro): No Touch Bar. No power adapter in the box. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) - 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 (M6 or M5 Pro) - Tech Specs ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs ·
↩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 ·
↩
Not published by Apple
Mac mini M5 Pro. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, 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.
MacBook Pro M5 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, M5 Pro or M5 Max) - Tech Specs; Identify your MacBook Pro model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 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 M5 Pro? · Should I upgrade my MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.