Let’s address the mini elephant in the room first. The new Mac Mini is cute. It’s like my Mac Studio and one of my Mac Minis got together and had a child. It’s just so cute!

But I don’t buy my computers for their fun factor. I buy computers because of their well-balanced price/performance.

Also: the 13 Mac Studio peripherals I can’t live without — and why

Don’t get me wrong. A $599Mac Mini starting with 16 GB of RAM is an ideal Mac purchase for regular computer users who already have a keyboard, monitor and mouse. But for me?

Well, it’s close. But no cigar.

My daily driver is an M1 Max Mac Studio with 64 GB of RAM and 4 TB of internal storage. I now have 3.46 TB, so I better trim down what I keep on this machine. As I’ve mentioned before, my Mac Studio has held up well over the years, but it’s recently started to squeak under the CAD workloads I’ve put it through.

Besides my daily writing, my heaviest applications for my machine are CAD, 4K video editing, and programming (along with virtual machine simulation of networks for programming).

Also: I bought a Mac Studio: here are the specs I chose and why

I make my computers sweat.

Still, the M4 Pro Mac Mini is close. As much as I’d love to get some desk space back, it’s not ideal. So let’s take a look at the four reasons why a maxed out mini Mac Mini makes a mediocre Mac Studio imitation.

1. Missing SD card port on the front

It may seem like a small detail, but I constantly use the SD card port that is now iconic on the front of the Mac Studio. When I heard the rumors that the Mac Mini would have ports on the front, I was hopeful, but the SD card slot is missing.

Also: the Mac Studio feature is keeping me from buying a new M4 Mac Mini this fall

Of course I can SD to USB C converter donglebut that’s not nearly as elegant as a slot in the front of the machine. It’s also a two-handed operation, which can be tricky at times.

The new Mac Mini adds a headphone jack. Frankly, I’m not convinced it’s a good trade for that SD port, especially considering the popularity of AirPods and how good AirPods Max are for editing video and audio over Bluetooth.

2. Not enough ports

On the new Mac Mini (and also on my Mac Studio), those two front ports are USB C. On the Mac Studio Ultra, those ports become Thunderbolt ports. That’s a win, except the Ultra makes the Mac Studio almost exactly twice the price I paid for mine. It’s a very expensive upgrade.

The Mac Mini’s port selection is quite impressive, especially for the M4 Pro. While there are only three Thunderbolt ports on the Mini versus four on the Studio, if you opt for the M4 Pro, those Thunderbolt ports jump from Thunderbolt 4 to the twice as fast Thunderbolt 5. Nice.

Unfortunately you lose the USB A connectors. I see the appeal for Apple to drop that form factor, but I’ll use my USB A ports.

It’s nice to see an Ethernet port on the back of the machine, which can be upgraded to 10GB for $100. And the HDMI port is always useful.

But here’s the thing. In order to use all 13 devices connected to my Mac Studio from an M4 Mac Mini, I would need to add something like the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 dock. That’s an extra $379.

I also find the headphone jack on the front of the new Mac Mini annoying. I would much prefer it to sit on the back and not protrude into my personal desk space.

3. More CPU cores but fewer GPU cores

The M4 Pro has a total of 12 CPU cores, while the M1 Mac Studio I use only has 10. That’s not as big an advantage for the M4 over the M1 Max as you might think (aside from the native processor speed, which is about twice as fast as the M1). The two additional cores that the M4 Pro Mac Mini offers are efficiency cores, which are essentially low-power workhorses.

The M4 Pro Mac Mini offers hardware-assisted ray tracing, a graphics feature that my Mac Studio does not have. But gaming relies heavily on the ray-tracing feature, and I have a dedicated PC that I built for playing games. It’s a feature I’ll never really care about.

Also: how I built the ultimate low-profile Starfield gaming PC for under $1200

The problem is that the M1 Max in my Mac Studio has 32 GPU cores. That’s twice as many as in the M4 Pro Mac Mini (although you can get four additional cores for $200, bringing the number to 20). As an active Final Cut user, I would notice the difference.

4. Not great value for money

I paid $3,799 for my Mac Studio. That included upgrades to the chip, 64 GB of RAM and 4 TB of storage. A comparably equipped M4 Pro Mac Mini costs $3,499, just a $300 difference.

Yes, the CPU is faster and Thunderbolt 5 is nice, but the price difference is only $300. For that $300 in the Mac Studio, you get an extra Thunderbolt port, two USB A ports, twelve extra GPUs, and an SD card slot on the front. Add in the cost of an external dock and the $300 difference is gone. You’d actually pay more for the Mac Mini.

I love the form factor of the new Mac Mini, but you just don’t get that much bang for your buck.

Not my new daily driver

I’ll skip replacing my Mac Studio with the M4 Mac Mini, no matter how cool it is. It’s entirely possible that as I replace some of my secondary machines, I’ll pick up one or more M4 Mac Minis, especially given the attractive entry price now that it comes with 16GB of RAM.

Also: MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air: How to Decide Which Apple Laptop is Best for You

And you? Are you planning on buying one of these new little critters? Are you currently using Mac Minis or Mac Studios? Let us know in the comments below.

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