Apple Mac mini (Late 2009) vs Apple Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro)

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Mac mini (Late 2009) compared with Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro)

	AppleMac mini (Late 2009)	AppleMac mini (M6 or M5 Pro)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2009	September 2026
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 or Intel Core 2 Duo P8800	Apple M6 or Apple M5 Pro
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	12, 15 or 18
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (shared memory)	12-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPU
Memory
Memory	2 GB or 4 GB	16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB, 48 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	160 GB to 1 TB	256 GB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo P8400 or 2.53 GHz P8700; the lower consumer model offers a 2.53 GHz upgrade, and the higher model offers 2.66 GHz P8800. The server has a 2.53 GHz P8700. Each has two cores, 3 MB shared L2 cache and 1066 MHz frontside bus; exact chip identities cross-checked with EveryMac. The factory matrix keeps the higher model's 4 GB memory and minimum 320 GB drive with the 2.66 GHz option.	M6: 12-core CPU with 2 super cores, 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores; M5 Pro: 15-core CPU with 5 super cores and 10 performance cores, or 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores
GPU
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics shares a minimum 256 MB DDR3 memory; available system memory varies with graphics use.	Neural Accelerators; hardware-accelerated ray tracing
AI engine
AI engine	–	Dual 16-core Neural Engine (M6); 16-core Neural Engine (M5 Pro)
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	M6: 153GB/s with 16GB, 170GB/s with 24GB or 32GB; M5 Pro: 307GB/s
Memory type
Memory type	Two SO-DIMM slots for 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 2 or 4 GB in consumer configurations and 4 GB in the server; maker-supported maximum 4 GB	–
Storage type
Storage type	Consumer model offers 160, 320 or 500 GB 5400 rpm Serial ATA hard drives and an 8x SuperDrive with double-layer DVD support. Server has two 500 GB 5400 rpm drives, totalling 1 TB, and no optical drive; the 1 TB configuration represents those two drives, not one 1 TB drive.	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
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	No internal PCI Express expansion slot	–
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	DisplayPort, 5 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	3 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	2.5 Gb/s (better)
External displays
External displays	Up to 2	Up to 3 (better)
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n	Wi-Fi 7
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	6
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
Back ports
Back ports	Five USB 2.0 ports up to 480 Mb/s, FireWire 800, Mini DisplayPort, Mini-DVI, Gigabit Ethernet and combined optical digital/analogue audio input and output minijacks. The main DisplayPort count represents Mini DisplayPort; Mini-DVI, FireWire and audio input are described here because the main port list has no fields for them.	M6: 3 × Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and DisplayPort; M5 Pro: 3 × Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) with Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s), USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and DisplayPort; HDMI with multichannel audio output; 2.5Gb Ethernet (RJ-45), configurable to 10Gb Ethernet
External displays
External displays	Extended desktop and mirroring; Mini-DVI up to 1920 × 1200 for DVI/VGA, Mini DisplayPort up to 2560 × 1600 using an optional dual-link DVI adapter. Mini-DVI to DVI adapter included; other display adapters optional.	M6: up to three (two at up to 6K 60Hz or 4K 165Hz, plus a third at up to 5K 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K 60Hz over HDMI), or two (one at up to 8K 60Hz, 5K 120Hz or 4K 240Hz, plus one at up to 5K 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K 60Hz over HDMI); M5 Pro: up to three at up to 6K 60Hz or 4K 165Hz, or two (one at up to 8K 60Hz, 5K 120Hz or 4K 240Hz, plus one at up to 5K 120Hz or 4K 200Hz); VRR and HDR supported
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker; combined optical digital audio output/headphone minijack and optical digital audio input/line-in minijack	Built-in speaker
Microphones
Microphones	–	None built in; Apple says an external microphone or headset is needed for calls
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Display, keyboard and mouse purchased separately; Apple Remote optional	–
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Compact
Weight
Weight	1.31 kg	0.67 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	165.1 × 165.1 × 50.8 mm	127 × 127 × 50 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Power supply
Power supply	External 110 W adapter; maximum continuous power 110 W, 50–60 Hz single phase. The UK support sheet publishes 100–120 V only for the US, Japan and South America, so no UK input-voltage figure is inferred.	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 155W maximum continuous power
Power use
Power use	–	M6 with 16GB and 256GB: 4W idle, 70W maximum; M5 Pro with 64GB and 8TB: 6W idle, 145W maximum
Noise
Noise	–	5 dBA sound pressure at idle (operator position); declared to ECMA-109 as 1.3 B sound power and 4 dB sound pressure at idle and wireless web (M5 Pro, 18-core CPU, 20-core GPU)
Materials
Materials	Recyclable aluminium and polycarbonate enclosure; BFR-free and PVC-free internal components; maker limits its external PVC-free cable claim to North America	100% recycled aluminium enclosure; 50% recycled content overall
Colours
Colours	–	Silver
In the box
In the box	Mac mini, Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, 110 W power adapter and cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Consumer model includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife '09; server includes Mac OS X Server 10.6 Snow Leopard.	Mac mini, power lead (1.8 m)