Apple Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) vs Apple Macintosh IIcx

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Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) compared with Macintosh IIcx

	AppleMac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)	AppleMacintosh IIcx
Overview
Released
Released	November 2024	1989
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4 or Apple M4 Pro	68030 16 MHz (Macintosh IIcx)
CPU cores
CPU cores	10, 12 or 14	1
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPU	–
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	38 TOPS	–
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)	1 MB or 4 MB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 8 TB (better)	40 MB to 80 MB
CPU
CPU	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	16 MHz Motorola 68030 with integrated memory-management unit and 68882 floating-point coprocessor; 0.5 KB L1 cache
GPU
GPU	M4: 10-core GPU; M4 Pro: 16-core or 20-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing	No built-in video; a compatible NuBus video card is required for a display
Memory type
Memory type	–	Eight 30-pin SIMM slots in two banks of four; Apple lists 1–128 MB using 120 ns memory and a 256 KB ROM. The original ROM uses 24-bit addressing without a 32-bit software extension.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	M4: 120GB/s; M4 Pro: 273GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	Internal 1.44 MB floppy drive and 40 or 80 MB internal SCSI hard-drive configurations
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	–	Three NuBus slots; Low End Mac describes the smaller case and tool-free internal access
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	–
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack	Headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	–
External displays
External displays	Up to 3	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
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	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	Two Apple Desktop Bus ports, DB-19 external floppy, DB-25 SCSI, printer and modem serial ports and sound output; no built-in video or Ethernet
External displays
External displays	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)	A NuBus video card is required; resolution and colour depth depend on the fitted card
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker	Internal speaker and sound output
Microphones
Microphones	None built in	–
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Compact
Weight
Weight	0.67 kg (better)	6.2 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	127 × 127 × 50 mm	302 × 366 × 140 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Apple's 5.5 × 11.9 × 14.4 inch and 13.6 lb reference dimensions; metric fields are rounded conversions
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 155W maximum continuous power	Maximum 159 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz; 3.6 V lithium clock battery and keyboard soft power
Power use
Power use	M4 with 16GB and 256GB: 4W idle, 65W maximum; M4 Pro with 64GB and 8TB: 5W idle, 140W maximum	–
Noise
Noise	5 dBA sound pressure at idle (operator position)	–
Colours
Colours	Silver	–
In the box
In the box	Mac mini, power lead (1.8 m)	Original System Software 6.0.3. Apple lists 7 March 1989 as introduction; a separate maker first-sale date was not established.