M2 Mac mini vs M2 Max Mac Studio - Worth $700 More?!

Always my go to Mac reviewer in YT. Now that the M3 is out, I'd love to see your recommendations on it over the Mac Studios. Thanks in advance!

I would really like to see the comparison on the base Studio Max between 32Gb and 64Gb of Ram. Thank you.

I am not a video editor. I am day trader using using 2-3 screens with many applications open/running at the same time PLUS I do daily Camtasia, screen capture, videos. I am currently on a Intel 27" iMac. Nearly ready to upgrade. I was hoping the NEW M3 iMac brought back the 27" but it didn't. SO... I am looking at mini/studio. Any advice???

Was on the fence but you just sold me on the $2K Mac Studio! Thank you for the thorough comparisons!

great video! couldnt ask for more

Hi Max, we met a long time ago at Sony Camera Camp and I always value your opinion. My wife is now working with Apple and I can get a small discount and I want to purchase the Mac Mini with 16gb and 512 storage or the new base model of the Mac Studio. As you have said it comes out to about $700 difference and I don't edit all that much and don't do Photoshop or after effects. So Id really only need it for light video editing and day to day use.
On the other hand I don't want to upgrade for over 5 years so should i just spend the extra money and get the Mac Studio? I always get the warranty as well.

Thanks for the comparison. I ended up getting the base Mini Pro as I don’t need an SD card slot and having ports on the back isn’t a big deal for my setup. I prefer a headset with built in mic for video calls and always use headphones for music because I live in an apartment and don’t want to bother the neighbours so the tinny speakers aren’t a problem either.

I watched a lot of videos before making the decision and didn’t find one that addressed my situation which is general computer use and a lot of video conferencing.

I tend to text, check email, browse the web, shop, bank, etc. from my phone these days and don’t need the portability I once did. My MacBook Pro has been gathering dust for the last five years. But now that I’m studying and working from home I need a good desktop setup where I might spend up to six hours a day on video calls where seeing and hearing others clearly is the most important thing.

I didn’t consider the iMac because I wanted to chose my own monitor, mouse and keyboard and to have the flexibility to change them. I guess my years of using Windows is showing.

I’m happy so far. The setup and data transfer went surprisingly fast over wi-fi (because I was too lazy to dig out an Ethernet or USB cable). My USB mouse and wired keyboard are really showing their age so I’ve ordered new Bluetooth ones. If I have any regrets it might be that I didn’t add more storage just in case I want to play with running the Windows OS. My apps and data are already taking up half the space so guess I’ll have to download some photos to external storage. Upgrading to a faster Ethernet might also future proof the device but the one on the base model should be fine for a few years.

I think this review would have been better if the base Mac mini was used

Your graphic infos are too much fast (short), no time to read…

The SSD artificial speed limitations are not great.

Why would anyone buy these when you can't upgrade anything. What a waste of money.

This video is exactly what I needed and made me go for a Mac Studio M2 Max 30c upgrading the RAM to 64GB and the SSD to 1TB
Thank you very much!

MAC Studio with 38 Cores & 1Tb is a nice performance at that price level

Got the M2 Max Mac Studio and love it!

Be careful about the fan noise...
I had an iMac Pro which ran extremely silent for a year before it started to become very loud and perform slower (despite clean installs).
I wouldn't be surprised that Apple makes their fans run more idle than they should within the first year.
This allows them to get nice reviews when a product is launched and also to get less complaints the first year (while arguing that later on, it's the customer's fault).
I don't say that's what's happening for sure but here you have it : a preview saying that despite de 40°C difference, don't worry, you are fine.
Well, physics is what is...

You all should add Lightroom AI denoise to your standard set of photography tests

My recommendation would be yo get the mac mini pro with 1TB with 16gb

If you need bit more wiggle room, just upgrade to 32gb but it makes almost close to max studio , so go with max studio.

Otherwise the sweet spot 1TB ssd , 16GB Ram, base variant of m2 pro.

for having 30-50 tabs, google drive, and maybe 1-2 apps open: Studio M2 Max 32 GB, 1TB ssd - OR - Mini M2 8/8 24gb, 1TB SSD???

For traders the more screens the better. I'm running a MB M1 Pro and I grew out of the native support for just 2 screens very quickly. It's jarring with the specs that I have that I'm not able to have 3+ screens without a circumvention. Looking to upgrade to a Studio M2 Max for this

Will a Mac mini pro with LG 5k - 27” ultra fine monitor be enough for photo editing/ post processing with occasional, but small 4K video editing.

I am strictly a hobbyist in bird photography.

I think I'm beginning to wrap my head around what Apple is trying to do, and it's all based on your age as a user:

If you're an elementary school student working from home, the iMac 24 is for you.
If you're a secondary school student working from classroom, the MacBook Air is for you.
If you're a college or university student working from dorm room, the MacBook Pro is for you.
If you're a senior citizen or a generic office worker for basic internet usage, the Mac mini is for you.
If you're a social media content creator that has no reason to mess with the internals, the Mac Studio is for you.
If you're a professional production creator that needs to modify the internals on demand, the Mac Pro is for you.

As for all the modifications at point of purchase, that's tailor made for the needs of the user within their age bracket, it's not about price points.

FYI the M2 Mac Mini Pro base model is $1099 after $150 off at Costco until July 30.

Thanks, great video!

I’m currently working on a show that has 4 multicam tracks for a total of 50 hd cameras, 30 + audio tracks, layers of effects, subtitles, etc and the base Mac Studio M1 does the job pretty well.

I’m just looking for something to do some light day trading with and some excel modeling for daily fantasy sports… no editing or any of that fancy stuff. Is the studio worth it for me or is the mini pro enough?

Very helpful! Thanks

It is criminal that Apple doesn't allow memory and storage upgrades after purchase. I'd max out the product after purchase, once my war chest was refilled. Instead, the only option is to pay up front or regret it later.

Please correct the Title of the Video to "M2 Pro Mac Mini vs M2 Max Mac Studio "..... M2 Pro needs to be specified ... or else is misleading 🙂

Real world experience of the Mac Mini M2 Pro 16gb for me has been really disappointing. Have been using Macboook Pro 2018 i9 32gb for heavy Logic Pro use the last few years. The biggest issue being throttling which causes an unworkable situation on huge projects (many of my projects are 220 tracks with masses of plugins). I went to the Mac Mini M2 Pro 16gb on the advice of many "people in the know" saying it will blow the Macbook out of the water. Yes it doesn't overheat and can handle maybe 20 more tracks than the Macbook before I get a CPU crash but its driving me insane. Constant buggy non CPU limit crashes (all plugins updated to silicon compatible) and the loading time of literally anything in Logic is woeful. It feels like i've gone back ten years in technology from the intel i9. So going to return it and go for a 32gb studio max and pray that this one is an improvement over the old 2018 Macbook. Worryingly i'm expecting to be disappointed.

69 Celsius--nice!

different test methods got different results. what are the difference of these tests?

I teach at a local university and do most word processing work. I might make a few 10 minute videos using Camtasia a dozen times a year and I use Canva to make things look pretty lol. No photo editing and heavy video editing.

The Mac Mini M2Pro with 32GB RAM and 1TB storage is $2244 with educational pricing. The Mac Studio M2 Max upgraded to 1TB is $2654.

I normally use my computers until they slow down enough they impact my workflow, so 6+ years.

Do you recommend the Mac mini M2 Pro to is it for the $410 to upgrade to the Studio based on the type of work I do?

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks you. Where does the M1 Studio fall in among the M2 Pro and M2 Studio?

Will these be able to power Apple 32-inch Pro Display XDR

I buy the m2 Mac mini pro maxed out, 18 days before the Mac Studio m2 max. But im very happy with my Mac, I do music production and it's really really fast! I can use more than 90 tracks!! on Logic Pro, and all plugins I need! (I use waves)

I just received my M2 Mac Studio.
I up graded to 38 gpu, 96 G of Ram and 1T of storage.
Looking too keep this machine for a while and edit Video. That is the reason for the upgrades.

Thank you for this. Just what I was looking for.

Does the studio still suffer from coil whine form the fan? my wifes M1 studio suffers from this.

You did the wrong review. You did review of processors instead of Mini vs Studio

thxxxxxxx

You guys have helped me so much, and your channel is awesome. Respect.

Are all thunderbolt ports have seperate controller?

The perfect config for 99% of users is the 10/16 core M2 Pro mini with 16gb RAM and 1tb SSD at $1499. You aren't limiting yourself with too little RAM or the 1/2 speed SSD, and you aren't overpaying for outrageously priced upgrades.

The $2199 Studio with 12/30, 32GB & 1TB SSD is the other logical point for people with really demanding workloads.

I'm still waiting for M2 iMacs and hoping that the M2 Pro from the Mini makes an appearance on that platform.

Wish you shared HLG or HDR PQ export times!

Always love your videos man but I gotta say the charts were confusing on this one. Would have been better if you had put the names of the machines (mini / studio) cause I can’t tell which is which!! :(

I’d love to see you use a 2017 or 2019 iMac (or similar) as a baseline to show us how fast these are compared to what a lot of folks would be upgrading from. It would be interesting to see.