- The M2 Mac Studio is here.
This powerhouse of a computer
builds on everything the original Mac Studio offered.
But when the M2 Mac mini starts at $600,
is it really worth the extra $1,400 for the Mac Studio?
I'm comparing the base models of the Mac mini
and the Mac Studio.
I wanted to get a sense of how the performance differs
between these two popular choices.
And before you rush to the comment section and go,
Christian, why are you comparing a $600 Mac
against a $2,000 Mac?
That's not exactly an apples to apples comparison.
Well, it's kind of because Apple has designed their lineup
in a way where you have to compare these two choices.
I get it, there's a $1,400 price difference
between these two computers.
But when you look at the Mac mini
and think about upgrading it,
if you do one storage upgrade and one RAM upgrade,
all of a sudden you're spending
a thousand dollars on a Mac mini.
And if you're gonna spend a thousand dollars,
you might as well spend 300 more
and get the M2 Pro version.
But now you're spending $1,300 on a Mac mini.
And if you're gonna spend $1,300 on a Mac mini,
why not just spend 2,000 on a Mac Studio?
And, look, I understand that not everyone has $2,000
to drop on a computer,
but I'm just trying to make the point here
that it's really set up to where you may just wanna go
for the base model Mac mini
or think about upgrading to the Mac Studio.
It's kind of like the Mac mini is an economy car,
and, yeah, there's different trim levels of cars,
but at some point, if you're gonna buy
the highest trim level of the economy car,
you might as well just buy a nicer car
that has a better interior even at the lowest trim level.
So in all seriousness, I do think it's fair
to compare the base model Mac mini
to the base model Mac Studio,
not because the specs are equal but because a lot of people
are gonna be considering one or the other.
I'll address what everyone is wondering about first,
speed and performance.
I really expected the Mac Studio
to run circles around the Mac mini,
but that was only partially true
when it came to high performance tasks.
For lightweight tasks, like launching apps,
checking email, web browsing, using Slack, using Zoom,
I could not tell a difference between these two computers.
It wasn't until I did high performance tasks
that I started to see the clear advantage to the Mac Studio.
The Mac mini is capable of doing light tasks
like basic photo editing in Photoshop or Lightroom
or editing a simple 4K video in Final Cut Pro.
But when I tried to use Premiere Pro on the Mac mini,
that's where everything fell apart.
I opened a 4K timeline
and I couldn't even play it back in 1/8 quality
without it stuttering and being completely unusable.
And when I tried to render out the timeline,
it said it was gonna take 45 minutes
and the ETA was counting up.
And the computer was just freezing and glitching
when I was trying to do other tasks while it was rendering.
I wasn't using proxies,
but this is not something I've ever done
on any of my other Macs.
So I definitely wouldn't recommend the Mac mini
when it comes to creative tasks
that require a lot of graphics performance.
The Mac Studio performed much better in this area,
playing that same 4K timeline at half quality
without rendering it and with no proxies.
But one thing that really impressed me about the Mac mini
was the ability to use two 27-inch 4K monitors
without any hiccups.
I really wouldn't expect a $600 desktop to do that,
but using programs like Slack and Zoom
and checking email with all the screen real estate
was honestly a joy.
If I didn't have any graphics-intense tasks to handle,
I honestly wouldn't mind using this Mac mini
as my primary computer, for the most part.
Let's talk about I/O.
This is really where the Mac Studio pulls ahead.
It's got four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports,
a 10-gigabit ethernet port, an HDMI port,
and a headphone jack.
And those are just the ports on the back.
The base model Mac Studio
has an additional two USB-C ports
and an SD card reader on the front.
I/O is really important to me,
even if I'm just using a computer for lightweight tasks.
And the I/O on the Mac mini
has been extremely frustrating and limiting.
You only have two Thunderbolt 4 ports
instead of four on the Mac Studio,
and you only have a gigabit ethernet jack
instead of a 10-gigabit ethernet jack.
There's also no USB-C ports on the front
and no SD card slot,
so you effectively have two USB-C connectors
that you can utilize instead of six on the Mac Studio.
However, I do realize that the Mac mini
is Apple's entry level desktop and it's not designed
for creatives doing resource-demanding tasks.
The I/O on the Mac mini is enough to get you by
for a basic productivity desk setup,
but the Mac Studio is perfect with all the I/O it offers
and I've never felt limited by it.
I don't like being limited.
I like finding tools that allow me
to get my tasks done effectively.
When I started testing both of these Macs,
I was able to quickly sign in with all of my accounts
using a password manager.
We've all heard that it's best practice
to use a unique, randomly-generated password
for each website, but how are you supposed to keep track
of all those passwords?
That's a problem a password manager can solve.
1Password is my personal favorite password manager
and they've sponsored this video.
1Password gives you all the tools you need
to secure your online accounts.
Store passwords, credit card numbers,
passport details, and other sensitive information.
You can share your password securely
with friends and family
and conveniently access your vault
using face ID or fingerprint unlock.
And 1Password recently announced the ability
to save and sign in with passkeys,
so you can eliminate the need for passwords completely
on sites that support it.
I've already started migrating my accounts to passkeys,
and I have so much more peace of mind.
1Password is offering 25% off for new users,
so go to this link to get started.
Thanks to 1Password for sponsoring today's video.
And now, let's take a look at the reliability
of these two Macs.
Both the Mac mini and Mac Studio
have been insanely reliable.
Last year, when I tested the M1 Mac mini,
I had some issues with my monitors cutting out
and I also had issues with Bluetooth,
with my mouse and keyboard stuttering.
I haven't had any of those issues this year
with the Mac mini, and the Mac Studio has been perfect.
So I'm glad to see that Apple has fixed the issues
from last year.
The base model Mac mini offers an insane value
for the $599 price tag.
We all know that Macs have a reputation for being expensive,
but the smoothness and performance you get out of this Mac
is absolutely unreal.
I would not hesitate to buy this Mac
if you have a work from home job
and you're doing things like using Slack
and checking messages.
This Mac mini is going to do that perfectly.
And it's gonna work great with a dual monitor set up
so you can have a bunch of screen real estate.
The base model Mac Studio is $1,400 more,
but I still think you're getting a great value.
Comparatively, you're getting less value
out of the Mac Studio than you would out of the Mac mini.
But for a $2,000 Mac, you're getting a lot more
than you would with a MacBook or iMac of the same price,
thanks to all the ports and computing power.
I've been using the M1 Mac Studio
since it came out last year,
and it's the best Mac I've ever owned.
I love all the ports.
The computing power is everything I need.
And I'm able to accomplish
all my ultra high performance tasks without any issue.
This M2 Mac Studio builds on last year's model
so I can definitely recommend it.
So when it comes to base model versus base model,
I would get the Mac mini
if you aren't doing high performance tasks
and you don't need the I/O.
The Mac mini is the perfect Mac for casual users
who want a desk set up with one to two monitors.
If you work from home
and you want a lot of screen real estate
for emails, and Slack, and Zoom,
this Mac mini packs a serious punch for the price.
But if you're someone like me
who values having a lot of ports,
I would spring for the Mac Studio.
I realize that sounds insane
to spend an extra $1,400 just for ports,
but I personally can't stand being limited by ports.
Before I had my Mac Studio, I would use an iMac
or a MacBook as my primary Mac at my desk,
and I was always so frustrated by the ports limitation.
I just wanted Apple to make a Mac that had more I/O,
and they finally did.
And after using the Mac Studio for a year,
I can't imagine it any other way.
But what if power is your main concern?
Well, it may be worth looking
into the M2 Pro version of the Mac mini for $1,300.
But if you're gonna spend 1,300 on a Mac mini,
it may be worth the extra 700 to just get the Mac Studio.
You're gonna get double the RAM,
you're gonna get way more ports,
you're gonna get an even more powerful chip,
not to mention much better cooling in the Mac Studio.
So in the end, it really comes down to your use case.
I would buy the M2 Mac mini for productivity tasks,
and I think it would work well for photo editing
if you're on a budget.
But if you're working with audio or video,
I would definitely spring for the Mac Studio.
It is absolutely worth it for the additional I/O
and processing power you get.
And once you get past the price tag,
I don't think you'll be disappointed.
But no matter which Mac you choose, setting it up is a pain.
And one of the things I hate most
is having to re-sign in with all of my accounts.
So I would definitely recommend checking out 1Password
and entering all your logins now,
so when you get your new Mac,
you can just sign in with all your accounts
and be on your way.