Apple Mac mini (2018) vs Apple Mac Pro (Late 2013)

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Mac mini (2018) compared with Mac Pro (Late 2013)

	AppleMac mini (2018)	AppleMac Pro (Late 2013)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2018	December 2013
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i3-8100B, Intel Core i5-8500B or Intel Core i7-8700B	Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2, Intel Xeon E5-1650 v2, Intel Xeon E5-1680 v2 or Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2
CPU cores
CPU cores	4 or 6	4, 6, 8 or 12
CPU threads
CPU threads	4, 6 or 12	8, 12, 16 or 24
Graphics
Graphics	Intel UHD Graphics 630	Dual AMD FirePro D300 (2 GB GDDR5 each), Dual AMD FirePro D500 (3 GB GDDR5 each) or Dual AMD FirePro D700 (6 GB GDDR5 each)
Memory
Memory	8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB	12 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB
Storage
Storage	128 GB to 2 TB (better)	256 GB to 1 TB
CPU
CPU	3.6 GHz quad-core Core i3 with 6 MB shared L3 cache; 3.0 GHz six-core Core i5 with Turbo Boost up to 4.1 GHz and 9 MB cache; configurable to 3.2 GHz six-core Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 4.6 GHz and 12 MB cache	3.7 GHz quad-core, 3.5 GHz six-core, 3.0 GHz eight-core or 2.7 GHz twelve-core Intel Xeon E5. Exact identities are E5-1620 v2, E5-1650 v2, E5-1680 v2 and E5-2697 v2, cross-checked against Geekbench device records and Ars hardware testing; Intel specifications supply thread counts and maximum Turbo frequencies.
GPU
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics 630; exact i3-8100B model identified by Tom’s Guide; i5-8500B and i7-8700B identified in Apple’s Common Criteria security target	Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2 GB GDDR5 per GPU, D500 with 3 GB per GPU, or D700 with 6 GB per GPU. Memory is specified separately for each GPU, rather than pooled. All graphics options are available by upgrading the original quad-core base configuration.
Memory type
Memory type	2666 MHz DDR4 SO-DIMM; 8 GB, configurable to 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB	Four user-accessible slots for 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC memory; 12 GB (three 4 GB modules), 16 GB (four 4 GB), 32 GB (four 8 GB) or 64 GB (four 16 GB)
Storage type
Storage type	PCIe-based SSD; launch Core i3 starts at 128 GB and Core i5 at 256 GB; configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB; 128 GB Core i7 combinations omitted because their configure-to-order availability is not independently verified	PCIe-based SSD; 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB. No internal hard-drive bays or optical drive.
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	–	No internal PCIe card slots; peripherals and compatible external expansion chassis connect through Thunderbolt
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	4 × Thunderbolt 3, 2 × USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack	4 × USB-A, 6 × Thunderbolt 2, 2 × Ethernet, HDMI, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 3	Up to 6 (better)
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5	802.11ac
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.0	4.0
Back ports
Back ports	Four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports with DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3 up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; two USB-A ports up to 5 Gb/s; HDMI 2.0; Gigabit Ethernet, configurable to 10 Gb Ethernet with 1/2.5/5/10 Gb support; 3.5 mm headphone jack	Four USB 3 USB-A ports, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, HDMI 1.4 Ultra HD, 3.5 mm headphone jack with headset support, and a separate combined optical digital audio output/analogue line-out minijack. Thunderbolt ports are divided across three controllers, as explained in Macworld and Ars reviews.
External displays
External displays	Two displays up to 4096 × 2304 at 60 Hz over Thunderbolt 3 plus one up to 4096 × 2160 at 60 Hz over HDMI 2.0; alternatively, one 5120 × 2880 display at 60 Hz over Thunderbolt 3 plus one 4096 × 2160 display at 60 Hz over HDMI 2.0	Apple's current support specifications allow six Thunderbolt displays or three dual-cable 5K displays. The launch announcement specified support for three 4K displays; the later 5K statement should not be read as launch-day capability.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; HDMI 2.0 supports multichannel audio output	Built-in speaker; HDMI supports multichannel audio output
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	–	Keyboard, mouse and display sold separately
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Compact
Weight
Weight	1.3 kg (better)	5 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	197 × 197 × 36 mm	167 × 167 × 251 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Cylindrical enclosure; 251 mm high and 167 mm in diameter, with 5 kg weight from Apple's Japanese specification sheet. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; maximum continuous power 150 W	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 450 W
Noise
Noise	–	Apple's overview reports 12 dBA operator-position sound pressure at idle, while the acoustic table reports 14 dB at idle and 14.5 dB during wireless web. These are conflicting maker statements; no single noise value is selected.
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium enclosure	Highly recyclable enclosure; BFR-free and PVC-free, with regional exceptions for the power lead
Colours
Colours	Space Grey	–
In the box
In the box	Mac mini, power cord	Mac Pro and power lead. Launched with OS X Mavericks; the current support page describes the later macOS Mojave release. Original standard configurations were quad-core with 12 GB memory and D300 graphics, and six-core with 16 GB and D500. The current support sheet also lists an eight-core standard configuration with 16 GB and D700. Configurations below include independent processor, memory, graphics and storage upgrades of the original quad-core base, so 12 GB or D300 with a higher-core processor represents a customised base model.