Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) vs Mac mini (M4 Pro, 2024)
Quick look
| Figure | Mac Studio M4 Max1 | Mac mini M4 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,0993launch price | £1,3994launch price |
| Chip | M4 Maxchip | M4 Prochip |
| CPU | 14-coreCPU | 12-coreCPU |
| GPU | 32-coreGPU | 16-coreGPU |
| Memory | 36GBunified memory, base | 24GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Released | 12 March 20253ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 5 March 2025. | 8 November 20244ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 29 October 2024. |
| Security updates | Not available5Security updates | Not available6Security updates |
- Price
- The Mac Studio M4 Max is £2,099 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the Mac mini M4 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 Studio M4 Max1 | Mac mini M4 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 95 x 197 x 197 mm | 50 x 127 x 127 mm |
| Weight | 2.74 kg | 0.73 kg |
| Colours | Silver | Silver |
| Ports | Four Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, two USB 3 (USB-A) ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI 2.1 port, 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack; on front (M4 Max): two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s), SDXC card slot (UHS-II) | Front: two USB-C ports with support for USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s), 3.5mm headphone jack. Back (M4 Pro): Gigabit Ethernet port (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet), HDMI port, three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports |
| Thunderbolt ports | 4 | 3 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 5 |
| USB-A ports | 2 | No USB-A ports.7 |
| HDMI | HDMI 2.1 port | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | Yes | No SD card slot.8 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
Chip and memory
| Specification | Mac Studio M4 Max1 | Mac mini M4 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M4 Max chip | Apple M4 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 14 | 12 |
| Performance cores | 10 | 8 |
| Efficiency cores | 4 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 32 | 16 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M4 Max with 14-core CPU and 32-core GPU, or M4 Max with 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU9 | M4 Pro with 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M4 Pro with 14-core CPU and 20-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 36GB | 24GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 128GB9 | 64GB |
| Memory options | 36GB; 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (16-core CPU and 40-core GPU)9 | 24GB, 48GB or 64GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | Not available10 | No, as Apple documents11 |
| Memory bandwidth | 410 GB/s | 273 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 8TB9 | 8TB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB9 | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB |
| Media engine | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode enginesAV1 decode | Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode |
Battery and power
| Specification | Mac Studio M4 Max1 | Mac mini M4 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum continuous power | 480 W | 155 W |
Connectivity
| Specification | Mac Studio M4 Max1 | Mac mini M4 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | 10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector) | Gigabit Ethernet (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) |
| External displays (base) | 5 | 3 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | Mac Studio M4 Max1 | Mac mini M4 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Speakers | Built-in speaker12 | Built-in speaker13 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever ·
↩- ↩
Security updates: no end date published.
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Mac mini (M4 Pro, 2024): No USB-A ports.
↩Mac mini (M4 Pro, 2024): No SD card slot.
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs ·
↩Not published by Apple.
↩Apple Support (UK) — Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2024) - 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 Studio model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) — Mac mini (M4 Pro, 2024) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
Mac Studio M4 Max. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, microphones, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model, read 9 Oct 2026.
Mac mini M4 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 (2024) - Tech Specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple’s new Mac mini is more mighty, more mini, and built for Apple Intelligence, 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 Studio M4 Max (2025)? · Should I upgrade my Mac mini M4 Pro (2024)?
Other comparisons
The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.