Apple Mac Mini M2 Pro, the proof: a concentrate of power and performance

And who expected it. Or rather: who expected it just like that. That Apple had to review and update its smallest computer, the Mac Mini, it was known. But that, by equipping it with the new M2 and M2 Pro chips, transformed it into a real mini-workstation was quite unpredictable. Let’s say enough because it was obvious that the new generation of Apple Silicon chips, M2 in fact, was intended for the Mini, as well as for the new MacBook Pros. Yet, the leap in performance that these new computers demonstrate can be seen immediately, even before judging the actual benchmark bench performance.

How

The Mac Mini is small, even on the outside, as it always has been. These M2s maintain the shape and size of the previous generation, the chassis is one color, zero external frills, a rounded aluminum square and a nice reflective Apple logo. The two models differ behind, the base M2 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the M2 Pro has 4 – and it makes sense, bringing double the power and more data management capabilities. The Mini is small and easily transportable, but don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s a “small computer”. On the contrary. The basic M2 is already interesting for several reasons, with performance similar to the Air and Pro M2 already presented some time ago. But the real novelty is the Mini with M2 Pro, which is what we tested, in our opinion an optimal configuration for pro/semipro use. And that brings it closer in terms of performance and even a little in price to the bigger “big brother”, the Mac Study. The latter remains the workstation of choice for those looking for Mac most powerful on the market, especially for the internal organization of the M1 Max and M1 Ultra chiplets. And yet.

Stress tests

Of the basic M2 we have said in past reviews, M2 is an excellent processor, well above the entry level, and the Mac Mini base costs 729 euros (8gb of Ram, 256 of SSD, 8 core cpu, 10 core gpu). M2 Pro is another matter. We stressed it as much as possible during the test, not only with the usual benchmarks which also gave excellent results, but given what it promises on the M2 Pro card, we treated the Mini as if it were a Mac Study. That is, giving it to process multiple video streams in 4K in Final Cut Pro with rather demanding third-party plugins (MotionVFX, Boris) with tracking of objects and faces and musical sessions with an average of about forty tracks, again loaded with native instruments and effects (therefore without external DSPs), specifically UadX, Bx, IK Multimedia, SoundToys just to name a few. All software that is used in professional situations and in all these hard jobs Mac Mini M2 Pro has not flinched or missed a beat, always remaining fluid even using SSDs and external disks for sampling and video streams. Same speech with Adobe applications (Photoshop, Premiere) in which the processing and rendering of images with native effects recorded about 25% faster than the same files on an M1 Pro/16gb. Particularly impressive is the performance with Pixelmator Pro, now a reference graphics editor in the Mac world, which in the latest version incorporates video management elements and rather sophisticated machine learning algorithms. Image editing here (rendered in 5K on the Studio Display) by blending video and graphics maintained the lead in performance on the other tests. With the suite affinity second generation, same results. Analogous speech for Blenders And Cinema4D, the Mini M2Pro made no effort to quickly manage and render even rather complex projects. In particular, the rendering speed of video in Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve almost doubled the speed of the same sessions on an M1 Pro. Definitely impressive, with the Mini M2 Pro the feeling is that of using a Mac (much) higher end. The benchmarks (Geekbench) return clear results, with a score around 1950 for single core performance and 15,100 for multicore performance, and the M2 Pro places itself exactly in the middle (50k) of the Metal performance of the M1 Ultra, the most powerful chip available for the Mac Studio, which is a machine that costs four times as much.

Let’s play

Details (and scenery) a bit geeky

For the form factor of the Mini it was possible to expect a bit of “thermal throttling”, or the performance reduction imposed by the system to avoid overheating the small computer, but in reality the fan was practically never heard and the rest of the phenomenon it does not even occur in laptops with M1 Max. From the technical data, however, it appears that the Mac Mini M2 Pro weighs about 100 grams more than the basic M2, probably to accommodate a larger dissipation and cooling system (we have not physically opened it but there is no other reason why it should weigh more). The greater number of graphics “cores” present in the M2 chips compared to the M1s is however the basis of the evident performance leap of these new machines, much more evident – as was obvious – in the tests carried out with the proprietary and optimized libraries Apple, Metal, and as equally obvious, less about OpenCL. We add that probably part of the expanded capabilities of number crunching of M2 chips are also due to the major neural “cores”, those that optimize computer performance by dealing with machine learning. The neural engine in fact it has about 40% more power and it is better understood why the new M2 Pro is in the same class as the M1 Max and waves its hand at the very valid M1 Pro, even if technically Apple has numerically added “cores” to its processors without distorting the design. In any case, excellent performance and attractive prices for these new chips, which in fact make the Mac Mini M2 Pro a very, very powerful machine despite the name. And that leave a question open, especially in the light of the future generation of Mac Pros (currently the Mac Pro is the only computer in Apple’s price list still based on Intel). That is, will Apple’s unified architecture ever become expandable, outside the “chiplets” that will make up the various M2/M3 Ultra? In fact, on Apple Silicon is not present – or maybe it is not still present, but this data remains in Cupertino’s safe – support for external graphics cards, eGPUs, which instead was in Macs based on Intel chips. It means that for now every application has to rely on the unified architecture of the M Series chips and perhaps with the third generation and precisely with the expected arrival of the Apple Silicon Mac Pro, by its modular nature, eGPUs will return to the Mac world. We’ll see. As for the Mini, its role is clear: it is an excellent all-rounder in the basic M2 version, and it is an absolutely professional computer in the Pro version. Then you can go further up, but for now the best M2 offer, or M2 Max, is exclusive to the MacBook Pro, and the best M1 offer, namely the M1 Ultra, is only in the most pumped-up Mac Studio.

In conclusion

“Classic” works ok, to play fine (also with Crossover for PC titles). But it is in the field of professional applications that this Mac Mini M2 Pro offers the most impressive performance. Easily surpass the performances of the Mac More powerful “standard” Intel than just two years ago and also those of the important M1s. The internal cooling fan is practically never heard, not even with a dozen “heavy” video effects and a dozen non-stock audio effects. The work done by Apple in the technological optimization of its M-series Silicon chips is exactly one of those reasons why the Apple company is seen as the leading technological innovator in the consumer market. And this time the price becomes affordable for a computer with these capabilities. The Mac Studio, for internal architecture, wider bandwidth between processor and memory and graphics and connection possibilities remains the natural choice of the professional who chooses Mac. But there’s little to go around it, this this generation of Mac Mini M2 Pro is the one that brings to the market a product that many users have clamored for over the years: a real one Mac Mini Pro.