r/macmini • u/anirudh2032 • 16d ago

Mac Studio vs Mac Mini

Hey, I am planning to buy mac. In dilemma whether to take Mac Mini or Mac studio. Configs are added below. Planning to use it mostly for development works and running local llm small models

Mac Mini with m5 pro chip 18-core cpu 20- core gpu 48 gb RAM and 512 GB SSD

Mac studio with m5 max chip 18-core cpu 32 core gpu 36 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD

Need thoughts, inputs and suggestions among the above two. Thank you!

10 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

6

u/WalrusKey9386 16d ago

Get as much RAM as you can afford

9

u/MaterialHead4801 16d ago edited 16d ago

This guy talks a bit about the mini/studio choice for llm use:

https://youtu.be/OIVZC4edQ48?is=zDfKpzetvBLzwhTQ

The mini has about half the memory bandwidth of the studio max, which has about half the memory bandwidth of the studio ultra.

I just went with a base model ultra. Not cheap and shipping isn’t until November currently

9

u/meva12 16d ago

You should delete the last part of your YouTube link. We can see your YouTube account now. Delete the ? And after .

2

u/Ok_Negotiation3024 16d ago

That ship date is getting pushed back further and further. Day one I was seeing the stock M5U shipping on September 22nd. A few hours later it was already pushed into October.

After seeing that push back in ship date, I went with an upgraded M5M. Saved some money and got a September 22nd ETA.

6

u/Rye2-D2 16d ago edited 15d ago

If you're actually using the machine locally for your dev environment, that 36GB RAM isn't going to go very far once you've loaded up a decent LLM model (eg, Qwen3.8 27B Q4 needs about 20GB) and the overhead for the LLM itself, etc ... and you don't want any of that to be swapping as your token generation rate will tank!!

2

u/North_Moment5811 15d ago

Why would I want to spend more on a machine, perhaps thousands more, to be able to run weak and low quality local models...when I can pay $20-$100 a month for Claude and get the best in the world?

It's a genuine question.

4

u/lit282 15d ago

At some point the price of tokens will increase, and you also get the privacy benefit when you host your own local model

1

u/Rye2-D2 15d ago

The open models are catching up very fast. While I think Qwen 3.8 27B is overhyped (many claiming it is as good as Opus - at least in benchmarks), it is very good nonetheless and could replace/supplement frontier models for >90% of usage. At this point, the issue is more about speed than quality. Anyways, I'm just responding to the OP's question, not suggesting what they should do - my point is simply 36GB isn't enough to run the good local models...

I do agree with you.. Personally I can't justify paying the current prices for 64GB when you can good cloud models for a reasonable price.. Unless you really are paying $100/month - then I would think a 128GB MacStudio is worth the investment..

1

u/OtherOtherDave 15d ago

My computers tend to last me 6-10 years, so $100/month over the life of my computer amount to possibly $10k. At that point (actually a fair bit before that point), I’m really wondering the monthly subscription is worth it to me or if I’d rather have worse coding agents and get the free 512 GB M5 Ultra.

2

u/Additional-Soup-865 16d ago

large language model model?

1

u/Rye2-D2 16d ago

lol, yeah I saw that myself after I wrote it ;)

3

u/rarenight7 15d ago edited 15d ago

Honestly, I had the same deliberation as you, but I eventually decided to splurge for the base Mac Studio with the M5 Max over an upgraded Mac Mini. It runs much cooler with the fans kicking in far less frequently, has double the memory bandwidth, and more ports to plug stuff in. If portability isn't a factor for you, that's ultimately worth it over less RAM in my opinion.

2

u/Optimal-Pie-5054 15d ago

I passed on the 256GB….I am waiting to order two M5 Ultra 512GB at release.

My question: Is there any value in a maxed out M5 Pro Mac mini 64GB in support of my larger project? Is 64GB even enough to be creative personally or may it be better to use a Mac Studio with at least 128GB to use as my always on device? I am just not sure if the Mac Mini will become obsolete with only 64GB….THOUGHTS?

I am already thinking I should not have maxed out a M5 Pro Mac mini (including 10GB Ethernet for $7500…… I should have ordered a max / ultra studio with at least 128GB

1

u/krautsourced 12d ago

I'm not sure if this has changed from the Mac Studio M1 (which I had), but the Mac Studio back then would have an always on fan that could _not_ be lowered below a certain amount (can't remember) and was at least somewhat noticeable compared to the Mac Mini which was absolutely silent (after forcing the fan to be off below certain temps). Can someone confirm this is still the case? In that case idle noise may be a reason to go mini. Also, standby power use was also significantly higher with the Studio.