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Apple Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) vs Apple Mac Pro (Late 2013)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)AppleMac Pro (Late 2013)
Overview
ReleasedNovember 2024December 2013
Performance
ProcessorApple M4 or Apple M4 ProIntel Xeon E5-1620 v2, Intel Xeon E5-1650 v2, Intel Xeon E5-1680 v2 or Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2
CPU cores10, 12 or 144, 6, 8 or 12
CPU threads–8, 12, 16 or 24
Graphics10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPUDual AMD FirePro D300 (2 GB GDDR5 each), Dual AMD FirePro D500 (3 GB GDDR5 each) or Dual AMD FirePro D700 (6 GB GDDR5 each)
AI engine (NPU)38 TOPS–
Memory16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB12 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB
Storage256 GB to 8 TB256 GB to 1 TB
CPUM4: 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 cores3.7 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.
GPUM4: 10-core GPU; M4 Pro: 16-core or 20-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracingDual 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–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)
AI engine16-core Neural Engine–
Memory bandwidthM4: 120GB/s; M4 Pro: 273GB/s–
Storage typeSSDPCIe-based SSD; 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB. No internal hard-drive bays or optical drive.
Expansion slots–No internal PCIe card slots; peripherals and compatible external expansion chassis connect through Thunderbolt
Media engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode engine; video encode engine; ProRes encode and decode engine; AV1 decode–
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports3 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack4 × USB-A, 6 × Thunderbolt 2, 2 × Ethernet, HDMI, headphone jack
Ethernet1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displaysUp to 3Up to 6
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6E802.11ac
Bluetooth5.34.0
Front ports2 × USB-C with USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s); 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones–
Back portsM4: 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 EthernetFour 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 displaysM4: 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)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.
SpeakersBuilt-in speakerBuilt-in speaker; HDMI supports multichannel audio output
Keyboard and mouse–Keyboard, mouse and display sold separately
MicrophonesNone built in–
Design and power
TypeCompactCompact
Weight0.67 kg5 kg
Width × depth × height127 × 127 × 50 mm167 × 167 × 251 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
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 supplyBuilt-in; 100–240V AC; 155W maximum continuous power100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 450 W
Power useM4 with 16GB and 256GB: 4W idle, 65W maximum; M4 Pro with 64GB and 8TB: 5W idle, 140W maximum–
Noise5 dBA sound pressure at idle (operator position)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–Highly recyclable enclosure; BFR-free and PVC-free, with regional exceptions for the power lead
ColoursSilver–
In the boxMac mini, power lead (1.8 m)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.

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