First look: Mac mini with M2 Pro

We are Pro pros around here. (Is this post prose from the Pro pros? I suppose.)

We racked the Mac Pro. We racked the iMac Pro. Now today everyone is on their best behavior because we have another Pro among us. This one should be much easier.

Wait, let me turn that around so you can actually tell which one is the Pro mini. Look at those four ports.

It’s the Mac mini M2 Pro and today we’re diving into the hardware. (For a general overview of everyday performance, I like this one from Dan at Six Colors. For how these machines perform in a Mac cloud, watch our newsletter.)

Seeing that this is a business blog, let’s take care of business. Yes, we will have the M2 mini available for Mac hosting. Yes, we will have Orka Platform running on this machine so you can work with virtual machines in your Mac developer workflow.

And now a look at the hardware of the 2023 Mac mini…

Many people noticed the new measurements. Since we build custom racks, we pay very close attention to it.

Well good news! This mini remains the exact same size. The extra digit is just a more precise measurement. The rack crisis is averted.

One thing that has changed for Mac mini M2 Pro: the weight.

• M1: 2.6 Pounds
• M2: 2.6 Pounds
• M2 Pro: 2.8 Pounds

Surely this has to do with the increased cooling and power needs. We’re going to confirm that. Let’s take a look:

The box looks about the same. Perfectly fit. Perfectly mini.

There is a little black pull tab to take out the machine and this covers the whole plastic bottom cover.

We’re going to tear this down next to an M1 mini for comparison. (M2 Pro on left, M1 on right)

The antenna plate is still connected in the same way.

Though it does have extra bumpers on the bottom to stay up from the fan.

Speaking of the fans, the M2 Pro is much longer while in the machine.

When you remove the fan, you can see that the power supply is connected to the logic board in different runs. This is similar to the way that the 2013 Mac Pro is connected (two screws) rather than the M1 (ribbon connector). 

And a close up photo.

Here is how the two logic boards compare.

And another photo of the reverse side.

Here are the power supply differences. Apple wrote in “tech specs” that the M2 Pro has 185watts compared to the M1 with 150 watts. We also noticed that the M2 Pro has 2.5A output. (Compared to 2A on M1)

Because this was bought with a company card, and this is all in the name of science, we removed the heat shield as well.

That’s about it. I’m open to any feedback from the community. (Find me on twitter @brianstucki)

Conclusion: As we (hopefully) put this machine back together and put it through the paces, we anticipate great performance for our customers. Signup for our newsletter for more findings and announcements around the M2 Mac mini.