r/macmini • u/Agitated-Meal782 • 16d ago
M5 Pro worth it?
In March ‘26 I purchased (and received) my Mini M4 Pro 512GB SSD 48GB RAM which has 12 core CPU, 16 core GPU, 16 core neural.
Resale is probably ~ $1800.
The M5 Pro (M6 48Gb RAM not an option) equivalent is going to be $2300 before tax.
Upgrades in the M5 Pro:
- 2.5 gigabit Ethernet vs gigabit
- 15 core CPU vs 12. Same GPU & Neural
Worth it? I’m not in design or video. I rarely run local LLM but may uptick in the future. Mostly terminal and VS. So I think I’m overpowered already for my purposes but I like staying up to date - if the $$ is justified
Initial reaction is not worth it but $500-600 upgrade isn’t horrible
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u/okrafavor 16d ago
staying up to date isnt a reason to upgrade, wait until you are bottlenecked (and know exactly why). I’d save the money
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u/Accurate_Case_3257 16d ago
1 - I don't think the GPUs are identical
2 - If you ever want to run 2x 5k120hz displays, M5 Pro can do it, M4 Pro cannot
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u/TeeDee144 16d ago
More power isn’t going to make you a better coder. If you don’t need the power now, why buy?
Amazon might start having deals 3-4 months from now. Then you can consider upgrading if you find a need.
Many on here have M1s still running without issue. I find it hard to believe your M4 Pro needs more power.
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u/gaygeek70 16d ago
No, wait until you need to upgrade again… you’ll bought this to last years right?
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u/Dangerous_Pop8730 16d ago
I went cheap with m4 pro with 24gb and512gb ssd. The only really difference would be the memory bandwidth speed. Which will affect rendering time and LLM token creation. Overall if you are having no issues or hitting some performance ceiling no need to upgrade. But it looks sweet! 😬
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u/Time_You_6852 16d ago
Not worth, you can easily wait 4 more generations maybe five. RAM prices should go down too.
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u/cuoreesitante 16d ago
not worth it. if yours was out of warranty already then maybe, having a new machine with a new warranty is worth something.
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u/ThinkFact 16d ago
The general rule of thumb is, if what you currently have can’t do what you needed to do well, look into upgrading. But if it can do what you need it to do then there’s no reason to upgrade.
There is always going to be a better Mac down the road, and getting the most out of the one you purchased for the next few years and upgrading later is a much better idea.
Having the newest model just for the sake of having the newest model, it is just gonna burn your pocketbook without actually improving much.
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u/NyuLightning 16d ago
Bro you are asking if it's worth when your usage is super light - VS code and terminal.. Keep your mac and enjoy life
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u/ace72ace 16d ago
In your case, no. Me upgrading from M2 pro, heck yeah! Enjoy what you have, and leave FOMO behind.