Apple Mac mini (Early 2006) vs Apple Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleMac mini (Early 2006) | AppleMac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | February 2006 | November 2024 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core Solo T1200 or Intel Core Duo T2300 | Apple M4 or Apple M4 Pro |
| CPU cores | 1 or 2 | 10, 12 or 14 |
| Graphics | Intel GMA950 | 10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPU |
| AI engine (NPU) | – | 38 TOPS |
| Memory | 512 MB, 1 GB or 2 GB | 16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better) |
| Storage | 60 GB to 120 GB | 256 GB to 8 TB (better) |
| CPU | 1.5 GHz single-core Intel Core Solo T1200 or 1.66 GHz dual-core Core Duo T2300, with 2 MB L2 cache and 667 MHz frontside bus; exact identities cross-checked with EveryMac | 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 | Intel GMA950 shares 64 MB DDR2 with main memory; maker footnote specifies minimum 80 MB graphics/setup usage, leaving 432 MB available from a standard 512 MB 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 | 512 MB standard as two modules of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300); factory options 1 or 2 GB and maximum 2 GB | – |
| Storage type | Core Solo has a 60 GB 5400 rpm SATA hard drive, configurable to 80, 100 or 120 GB; Core Duo has 80 GB, configurable to 100 or 120 GB. Solo Combo drive reads DVDs and burns CDs; Duo 8x SuperDrive burns DVDs with 2.4x double-layer support. | 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 | None built in | None built in |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 4 × USB-A, 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 | 802.11g | Wi-Fi 6E |
| Bluetooth | 2.0 + EDR | 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 |
| Back ports | Four USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port at 8 W, DVI output, Gigabit Ethernet, combined optical digital/analogue audio input and combined optical digital/headphone output. DVI, FireWire and audio input described here because the main port list has no fields for them; no HDMI or DisplayPort. | 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 | DVI digital output up to 1920 × 1200; included VGA adapter supports up to 1920 × 1080. Optional Apple DVI to Video Adapter provides S-video/composite output. | 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 | Built-in speaker | Built-in speaker |
| Microphones | – | None built in |
| Keyboard and mouse | Apple Remote and DVI-to-VGA adapter; display, keyboard and mouse sold separately | – |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | Compact | Compact |
| Weight | 1.31 kg | 0.67 kg (better) |
| Width × depth × height | 165.1 × 165.1 × 50.8 mm | 127 × 127 × 50 mm |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Power supply | Maximum continuous power 110 W; 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 |
| In the box | Mac mini, Apple Remote, power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Tiger, iLife '06 and Front Row; Rosetta translates compatible PowerPC applications. | Mac mini, power lead (1.8 m) |
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