MacBook Pro (16-inch, M3 Pro, Nov 2023) vs Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
Quick look
| Figure | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,5993launch price | £1,3994launch price |
| Chip | M3 Prochip | M2 Prochip |
| CPU | 12-coreCPU | 10-coreCPU |
| GPU | 18-coreGPU | 16-coreGPU |
| Memory | 18GBunified memory, base | 16GBunified memory, base |
| Storage | 512GBstorage, base | 512GBstorage, base |
| Battery life | Up to22 hrsvideo playback, claimed | Not available5No battery |
| Released | 7 November 20233ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 30 October 2023. | 24 January 20234ReleasedIn Apple Stores; orderable online from 17 January 2023. |
| Security updates | Not available6Security updates | Not available7Security updates |
- Price
- The MacBook Pro M3 Pro is £2,599 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the Mac mini M2 Pro is £1,399 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
- Kind of Mac
- The MacBook Pro M3 Pro is a laptop; the Mac mini M2 Pro is a desktop. The MacBook Pro M3 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 laptop and a desktop are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the footprint of one and the front face 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 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 16.8 x 355.7 x 248.1 mm | 35.8 x 197 x 197 mm |
| Weight | 2.14 kg | 1.28 kg |
| Colours | Space Black, Silver | Silver |
| Ports | Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB‑C) ports, MagSafe 3 port, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack | 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 ports | 3 | 4 |
| Thunderbolt version | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 4 |
| USB-A ports | No USB-A ports.8 | 2 |
| HDMI | HDMI port | HDMI port |
| SD card slot | Yes | No SD card slot.9 |
| Headphone jack | Yes | Yes |
| MagSafe | Yes | Not available10 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID | Not available11 |
| Touch ID | Yes | Not available12 |
| Touch Bar | No Touch Bar.13 | Not available14 |
Display
| Specification | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display size | 16.2 in | Not available15 |
| Resolution | 3456 x 2234 | Not available15 |
| Pixel density | 254 ppi | Not available15 |
| Display type | Liquid Retina XDR display | Not available15 |
| Brightness | 600 nits | Not available15 |
| Peak brightness (HDR) | 1,600 nits | Not available15 |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | Not available15 |
| Wide colour (P3) | Yes | Not available15 |
| Nano-texture option | No nano-texture display option.13 | Not available15 |
Chip and memory
| Specification | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Chip | Apple M3 Pro chip | Apple M2 Pro chip |
| Apple silicon | Yes | Yes |
| CPU cores | 12 | 10 |
| Performance cores | 6 | 6 |
| Efficiency cores | 6 | 4 |
| GPU cores | 18 | 16 |
| Neural Engine cores | 16 | 16 |
| Chip options | M3 Pro with 12-core CPU and 18-core GPU16 | M2 Pro with 10-core CPU and 16-core GPU, or M2 Pro with 12-core CPU and 19-core GPU |
| Memory (base) | 18GB | 16GB |
| Memory (maximum) | 36GB16 | 32GB |
| Memory options | 18GB or 36GB16 | 16GB or 32GB |
| Memory upgradeable by user | No, as Apple documents17 | No, as Apple documents18 |
| Memory bandwidth | 150 GB/s | 200 GB/s |
| Storage (base) | 512GB | 512GB |
| Storage (maximum) | 4TB16 | 8TB |
| Storage options | 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB16 | 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 | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 100 Wh | Not available5 |
| Rated charge cycles | 1,000 cycles19 | Not available5 |
| Video playback (claimed) | 22 h | Not available5 |
| Wireless web (claimed) | 15 h | Not available5 |
| Included power adapter | 140 W | Not available20 |
| Fast charging | Yes | Not available5 |
| Maximum continuous power | Not available21 | 185 W |
Connectivity
| Specification | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) | Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Ethernet | No Ethernet port.13 | Gigabit Ethernet (configurable to 10Gb Ethernet) |
| External displays (base) | 2 | 3 |
Camera and audio
| Specification | MacBook Pro M3 Pro1 | Mac mini M2 Pro2 |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | Not available22 |
| Speakers | High-fidelity six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers | Built-in speaker23 |
| Microphones | Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming | Not available24 |
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, Nov 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Mac mini (2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new MacBook Pro featuring M3 chips ·
↩- ↩
Doesn’t apply: no battery
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩Security updates: no end date published.
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M3 Pro, Nov 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
↩MacBook Pro (16-inch, M3 Pro, Nov 2023): No Touch Bar. No nano-texture display option. No Ethernet port.
↩Doesn’t apply: the Touch Bar was only fitted to MacBook Pro
↩Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro (16-inch, Nov 2023) - Tech Specs ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — MacBook Pro: how to remove or install memory ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini ·
↩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) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your MacBook Pro model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac mini model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) — Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023) ·
↩
Not published by Apple
MacBook Pro M3 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, Nov 2023) - Tech Specs; Identify your MacBook Pro model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new MacBook Pro featuring M3 chips, read 9 Oct 2026.
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.
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 MacBook Pro M3 Pro (16-inch, Nov 2023)? · 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.