Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) vs Apple Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) | AppleMac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | May 2015 | November 2024 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4590 | Apple M4 or Apple M4 Pro |
| CPU cores | 4 | 10, 12 or 14 |
| CPU threads | 4 | – |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon R9 M290 (2 GB GDDR5) | 10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPU |
| AI engine (NPU) | – | 38 TOPS |
| Memory | 8 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB | 16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better) |
| Storage | 256 GB to 3 TB | 256 GB to 8 TB (better) |
| CPU | Fixed 3.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5-4590 with Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz; exact chip identified in Macworld and The Register's tests. Apple's configure-to-order section is headed 3.5 GHz and repeats options from the higher model; those processor options are excluded from this entry. | 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 | AMD Radeon R9 M290 with 2 GB GDDR5; the higher model's M290X and optional M295X are outside this configuration | M4: 10-core GPU; M4 Pro: 16-core or 20-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing |
| AI engine | – | 16-core Neural Engine |
| Memory bandwidth | – | M4: 120GB/s; M4 Pro: 273GB/s |
| Memory type | 1600 MHz DDR3; 8 GB (two 4 GB modules), configurable to 16 GB or 32 GB; four user-accessible SO-DIMM slots | – |
| Storage type | 1 TB 7200-rpm hard drive, configurable to 3 TB hard drive, 1 TB or 3 TB Fusion Drive, or 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB flash storage (SSD) | SSD |
| 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 | 27″ | None built in |
| Resolution | 5120 × 2880 | – |
| Panel | IPS LCD | – |
| Display type | 27-inch Retina 5K display with IPS technology and support for millions of colours | – |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × Thunderbolt 2, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack | 3 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack |
| Ethernet | 1 Gb/s | 1 Gb/s |
| External displays | Up to 1 | Up to 3 (better) |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac | Wi-Fi 6E |
| Bluetooth | 4.0 | 5.3 |
| 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 | FaceTime HD | – |
| Back ports | Four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports with Mini DisplayPort output, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone and optical digital audio output; Kensington lock slot. 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 | Built-in display at native resolution alongside one external display up to 3840 × 2160; 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 | Stereo speakers; supports Apple iPhone headset with microphone | Built-in speaker |
| Microphones | Dual microphones | None built in |
| Keyboard and mouse | Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse; optional Magic Trackpad | – |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | All-in-one | Compact |
| Weight | 9.54 kg | 0.67 kg (better) |
| Width × depth × height | 650 × 203 × 516 mm | 127 × 127 × 50 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. A built-in VESA mount version was also available. | – |
| Power supply | 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase | Built-in; 100–240V AC; 155W maximum continuous power |
| Power use | – | M4 with 16GB and 256GB: 4W idle, 65W maximum; M4 Pro with 64GB and 8TB: 5W idle, 140W maximum |
| Noise | – | 5 dBA sound pressure at idle (operator position) |
| Colours | – | Silver |
| Materials | Recyclable aluminium and glass enclosure; arsenic-free display glass and mercury-free LED backlight | – |
| In the box | iMac with Retina 5K display, Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Mouse and power lead; OS X Yosemite | Mac mini, power lead (1.8 m) |
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