Apple Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) vs Apple Power Macintosh 9600/350

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

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) compared with Power Macintosh 9600/350

	AppleMac mini (M4 or M4 Pro)	ApplePower Macintosh 9600/350
Overview
Released
Released	November 2024	August 1997
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4 or Apple M4 Pro	PowerPC 604e 350 MHz (Power Macintosh 9600/350)
CPU cores
CPU cores	10, 12 or 14	1
Graphics
Graphics	10-core GPU, 16-core GPU or 20-core GPU	IXMICRO Twin Turbo 128M8 (8 MB VRAM)
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	38 TOPS	–
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)	64 MB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 8 TB (better)	4 GB
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	350 MHz PowerPC 604e with 64 KB L1 cache, 1 MB L2 cache, 100 MHz cache bus and 50 MHz system bus
GPU
GPU	M4: 10-core GPU; M4 Pro: 16-core or 20-core GPU; hardware-accelerated ray tracing	Bundled IXMICRO Twin Turbo 128M8 PCI video card with 8 MB VRAM; Apple lists output up to 1600 × 1200 pixels
Memory type
Memory type	–	64 MB standard with twelve 168-pin DIMM slots, expandable to 768 MB according to Apple
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	M4: 120GB/s; M4 Pro: 273GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	4 GB internal SCSI hard drive, 1.44 MB floppy, 24× CD-ROM and built-in Iomega Zip drive
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	–	Six PCI slots, one occupied by the bundled graphics card; pre-wired 5.25-inch SCSI expansion bay and two 3.5-inch drive bays
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	Ethernet
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	Apple Desktop Bus, external DB-25 SCSI, two serial ports, AAUI and 10BASE-T Ethernet, DB-15 video on the graphics card, stereo audio input and output
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)	Bundled graphics card supports one external display at up to 1600 × 1200 pixels
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in speaker	–
Microphones
Microphones	None built in	–
Design and power
Type
Type	Compact	Tower
Weight
Weight	0.67 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	127 × 127 × 50 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Apple lists 17.3 × 9.7 × 17.3 inches (height × width × depth) and 35 lb
Power supply
Power supply	Built-in; 100–240V AC; 155W maximum continuous power	Apple lists a 560 W maximum
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)	Apple's 5 August 1997 announcement says the 9600/350 was available immediately worldwide with Mac OS 8. Its support sheet lists original system software as 7.6.1.