Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) vs Apple Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)

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iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) compared with Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)

	AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)	AppleMac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2015	November 2024
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i5-6500, Intel Core i7-6700K or Intel Core i5-6600	Apple M4 or Apple M4 Pro
CPU cores
CPU cores	4	10, 12 or 14
CPU threads
CPU threads	4 or 8	–
Graphics
Graphics	AMD Radeon R9 M380 (2 GB GDDR5), AMD Radeon R9 M390 (2 GB GDDR5), AMD Radeon R9 M395 (2 GB GDDR5) or AMD Radeon R9 M395X (4 GB GDDR5)	10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPU
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	–	38 TOPS
Memory
Memory	8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB	16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 3 TB	256 GB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	3.2 GHz quad-core Core i5 with Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz in the M380 and M390 models; 3.3 GHz quad-core Core i5 with Turbo Boost up to 3.9 GHz in the M395 model. Only the M390 and M395 bases support the 4.0 GHz Core i7 upgrade, with Turbo Boost up to 4.2 GHz.	M4: 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores; M4 Pro: 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, or 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	AMD Radeon R9 M380 or M390 with 2 GB GDDR5; M395 with 2 GB GDDR5 in the upper base, configurable to M395X with 4 GB GDDR5 only in that base	M4: 10-core GPU; M4 Pro: 16-core or 20-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	M4: 120GB/s; M4 Pro: 273GB/s
Memory type
Memory type	1867 MHz DDR3; 8 GB standard as two 4 GB modules, configurable to 16 GB or 32 GB; four user-accessible SO-DIMM slots	–
Storage type
Storage type	M380 base: 1 TB 7200-rpm hard drive, 1/2/3 TB Fusion Drive or 256/512 GB SSD. M390 base: 1/2/3 TB Fusion Drive or 256/512 GB/1 TB SSD. M395 base: 2/3 TB Fusion Drive or 256/512 GB/1 TB SSD. The 1 TB Fusion Drive has 24 GB of flash; 2/3 TB Fusion Drives have 128 GB.	SSD
Media engine
Media engine	–	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode engine; video encode engine; ProRes encode and decode engine; AV1 decode
Display
Screen size
Screen size	27″	None built in
Resolution
Resolution	5120 × 2880	–
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	–
Display type
Display type	LED-backlit Retina 5K display with IPS technology and support for millions of colours	–
Display features
Display features	P3 colour gamut; Apple does not publish brightness or refresh rate in this model's specification sheet	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 2, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack	3 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 2	Up to 3 (better)
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11ac	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.0	5.3
Front ports
Front ports	–	2 × USB-C with USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s); 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
Camera
Camera	FaceTime HD	–
Back ports
Back ports	Four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports with Mini DisplayPort output, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 3.5 mm headphone and optical digital audio output; Kensington lock slot. HDMI, DVI, VGA and dual-link DVI require separately sold adapters.	M4: 3 × Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and DisplayPort; M4 Pro: 3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s), USB 4 and DisplayPort; HDMI with multichannel audio output; Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), configurable to 10Gb Ethernet
External displays
External displays	Built-in display at full native resolution alongside up to two 4096 × 2160 displays, or one 5120 × 2880 dual-cable display; extended desktop and video mirroring	M4: up to three (two at up to 6K 60Hz over Thunderbolt, plus one at up to 5K 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K 60Hz over HDMI), or two (one at up to 5K 60Hz plus one at up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz); M4 Pro: up to three at up to 6K 60Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI, or two (one at up to 6K 60Hz plus one at up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 240Hz)
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers; supports Apple iPhone headset with microphone	Built-in speaker
Microphones
Microphones	Dual microphones	None built in
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Rechargeable Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2; optional Magic Trackpad 2 with Force Touch	–
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	Compact
Weight
Weight	9.54 kg	0.67 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	650 × 203 × 516 mm	127 × 127 × 50 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration. A built-in VESA mount version was also available.	–
Power supply
Power supply	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 155W maximum continuous power
Power use
Power use	–	M4 with 16GB and 256GB: 4W idle, 65W maximum; M4 Pro with 64GB and 8TB: 5W idle, 140W maximum
Noise
Noise	Apple's 3.3 GHz Core i5, 8 GB, 2 TB Fusion Drive and Radeon M395 test configuration: operator-position sound pressure 15.5 dB at idle, wireless web and hard-drive seek	5 dBA sound pressure at idle (operator position)
Colours
Colours	–	Silver
Materials
Materials	Recyclable aluminium enclosure; arsenic-free display glass; mercury-free LED backlight	–
In the box
In the box	iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead and Lightning to USB cable	Mac mini, power lead (1.8 m)