Mac Mini M2 vs M2 Pro

I have an old IMac which is about ten years old. I know very little about the Mac Mini and primarily use MacBooks. Lately I have started “using” the old IMac and it certainly needs an upgrade. I am a basic user: email, docs, photos, web browsing, etc. would there be any benefit to go with the newly announced M2 Pro version of the Max Mini? What are the main differences? Thank you

M2 is a nice system, you even have the option of 24GB RAM. M2 Pro… if you get 32GB, though, it’s basically up to Mac Studio pricing. There “could” be reasons to prefer a mini over studio even at the same price (e.g.rack-mounting & space limited maybe) but if you have a use for a Pro, seems like Studio would be the way to go & get the M1 Max instead.

I too am looking to replace my dad's 21.5" Late 2013 iMac - Model A1418 EMC 2638.

I know a lot of people think 8GB RAM is too little for anyone, but he only uses Chrome (for gmail and news), Zoom, and H&R block software once a year for taxes. Only reason I am considering upgrading is because it runs macOS 10.15 Catalina that doesn't get security updates anymore.

FreakinEurekan said:

M2 is a nice system, you even have the option of 24GB RAM. M2 Pro… if you get 32GB, though, it’s basically up to Mac Studio pricing. There “could” be reasons to prefer a mini over studio even at the same price (e.g.rack-mounting & space limited maybe) but if you have a use for a Pro, seems like Studio would be the way to go & get the M1 Max instead.

Studio is much more $$$ though.

Mojer said:

I have an old IMac which is about ten years old. I know very little about the Mac Mini and primarily use MacBooks. Lately I have started “using” the old IMac and it certainly needs an upgrade. I am a basic user: email, docs, photos, web browsing, etc. would there be any benefit to go with the newly announced M2 Pro version of the Max Mini? What are the main differences? Thank you

I say for your use, no main differences. I use an M1 (not Pro) for email/docs/light video editing and Photoshop and it is plenty fast.

My only advice is to get an M2 with 16GB RAM. This will breathe a little bit more life into your Mac down the road.

I dont get these advices about "upgrade to Studio!", OP stated that they dont do much with their computers and just wanted to know if there would be much of a difference, REAL LIFE difference for relatively easy tasks between M2 and M2 Pro and whether is worth the money difference, at least thats how I understood.

And then come folks who start suggesting that Studio would be better, for light'ish tasks, smh...

OP, take a look at M1 and M1 Pro comparison threads here, that should be rough, very rough estimate as to whether you need M2 Pro given that M2 ir "regular" and M2 Pro is slightly beefed up with more cores.

Mojer said:

I have an old IMac which is about ten years old. I know very little about the Mac Mini and primarily use MacBooks. Lately I have started “using” the old IMac and it certainly needs an upgrade. I am a basic user: email, docs, photos, web browsing, etc. would there be any benefit to go with the newly announced M2 Pro version of the Max Mini? What are the main differences? Thank you

M2 Pro Mac mini has double memory bandwidth, more CPU and GPU cores, 2x more Thunderbolt 4 ports, and can support more displays. As a basic user the M2 is more than enough. Get 16 GB RAM, as it will speed up computer intensive tasks.

Mojer said:

I have an old IMac which is about ten years old. I know very little about the Mac Mini and primarily use MacBooks. Lately I have started “using” the old IMac and it certainly needs an upgrade. I am a basic user: email, docs, photos, web browsing, etc. would there be any benefit to go with the newly announced M2 Pro version of the Max Mini? What are the main differences? Thank you

For your use case, i think that even the base mac mini configuration (M2, non-Pro) will be more than enough and will destroy your old iMac.

OP - that is a good question.

I am looking at replacing my late 2012 27 iMac with a new Mac Mini. I use it for basic stuff, like internet, Plex for 4k movies, photography work. Was planning on getting 16gb RAM and 1 TB storage. Should I be getting a M2 or M2 Pro? Guess for $300 not a big deal, but want to make sure.

Mojer said:

I have an old IMac which is about ten years old. I know very little about the Mac Mini and primarily use MacBooks. Lately I have started “using” the old IMac and it certainly needs an upgrade. I am a basic user: email, docs, photos, web browsing, etc. would there be any benefit to go with the newly announced M2 Pro version of the Max Mini? What are the main differences? Thank you

The base Mini would be perfect for you. Get the base Mini for $599 and it will run circles around your iMac.

GDF said:

OP - that is a good question.

I am looking at replacing my late 2012 27 iMac with a new Mac Mini. I use it for basic stuff, like internet, Plex for 4k movies, photography work. Was planning on getting 16gb RAM and 1 TB storage. Should I bet getting M2 or M2 Pro? Guess for $300 not a big deal, but want to make sure.

That would be my recommendation.

Heat_Fan89 said:

That would be my recommendation.

So get the M2 Pro? Thanks!

I assume there are a number of people like me, excited by today's announcements but stuck between an M2/24GB or M2pro/16GB. I do a lot of visual design and 3D modeling. There is about a $300USD price difference, which is significant, but not a dealbreaker. I watched Max Tech video a while ago that showed only a small benefit when upgrading an M2 laptop from 16GB to 24GB. And the current M1pro chip bests the M2 in almost every way. So... I'm leaning base M2pro 16GB. Thoughts?

jeff_ said:

I assume there are a number of people like me, excited by today's announcements but stuck between an M2/24GB or M2pro/16GB. I do a lot of visual design and 3D modeling. There is about a $300USD price difference, which is significant, but not a dealbreaker. I watched Max Tech video a while ago that showed only a small benefit when upgrading an M2 laptop from 16GB to 24GB. And the current M1pro chip bests the M2 in almost every way. So... I'm leaning base M2pro 16GB. Thoughts?

I'm not sure I understand your 'small benefit' going from 16gb to 24gb. I don't want to speculate on your reasoning. Perhaps you can explain, and let some people here add to that.

I’ll probably get the low-end M2 mini this year. Apple has again limited the number of ports on a new device, now with just two Thunderbolt type. I can understand the high end M2 mini being more money, but how expensive would it have been to put 4 TB ports on both models? I don’t use any USB-A devices.

Global_traveler said:

I’ll probably get the low-end M2 mini this year. Apple has again limited the number of ports on a new device, now with just two Thunderbolt type. I can understand the high end M2 mini being more money, but how expensive would it have been to put 4 TB ports on both models? I don’t use any USB-A devices.

I don’t understand why they even have USB-A slots. Why not USB-C? Next years iPhone will all be USB-C’s, so what would anyone need a USB-A slot for. Seems antiquated decision, unless I just don’t get it.

GDF said:

I don’t understand why they even have USB-A slots. Why not USB-C? Next years iPhone will all be USB-C’s, so what would anyone need a USB-A slot for. Seems antiquated decision, unless I just don’t get it.

On my Dell workstation in my art studio I ran out of on board USB ports (7) and dropped in a Sonnet PCIe USB card for 4 more ports. People have existing hubs and interfaces that require A. Also from personal experience there is a TON of interference from scanners/printers running off hubs instead of direct connection.

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Back to the M2 vs M2 Pro debate, I'm on the fence about which to get. I need a machine I can burn into the ground doing various video rendering for clients analog -> digital conversions. Right now I mainly focus on photographic media but I have the equipment for doing more video conversions than just my own backlog.
Since everything is external for me I can get away with the base 256GB storage, what I would need is 16GB of ram or higher. The M2 is $799 for 16GB and the base M2 Pro is $500 more at $1299.

Coming from a 2018 i7 Mini before my Dell workstation I would for sure see a huge benefit from either. I'm just not sure $500 is worth it. Is it a big leap or just a hop?

GDF said:

I don’t understand why they even have USB-A slots. Why not USB-C? Next years iPhone will all be USB-C’s, so what would anyone need a USB-A slot for. Seems antiquated decision, unless I just don’t get it.

Because the Mac Mini is a BYODKM (bring your own display keyboard and mouse) and the majority of accessories from third parties are still USB-A or HDMI.

djc6 said:

I too am looking to replace my dad's 21.5" Late 2013 iMac - Model A1418 EMC 2638.

I know a lot of people think 8GB RAM is too little for anyone, but he only uses Chrome (for gmail and news), Zoom, and H&R block software once a year for taxes. Only reason I am considering upgrading is because it runs macOS 10.15 Catalina that doesn't get security updates anymore.

Yep. I'm replacing my dad's circa 2010 Mac mini with a base M2 model. It's gotten slow with OS updates over the years, but it's perfectly fine for the 3 or 4 times a year that he needs something more than an iPad or cell phone. Might try looking for a used M1 too though...