Apple Mac Mini M4 Pro review: The compact and frugal desktop PC with top performance and expensive upgrades
Apple M4 Pro (12 cores) | Apple M4 Pro 16-Core GPU | 729 g
The Apple M4 Pro 12-Core CPU is a high-end SoC for laptops and mini PCs that was introduced in September 2024. It has 8 of the 10 powerful CPU cores running at up to 4.5 GHz and 4 efficient cores running at up to 2.6 GHz. The integrated 16-core GPU and at least 24 GB of fast LPDDR5x memory at 273 GB/s (depending on configuration) are included, as well as USB 4 and Thunderbolt 5 support.
The integrated neural engine with 16 cores (up to 38 TOPS) can be found in the entire M4 chip family. In addition, all M4 processors are assumed to be based on the ARM v9.4-A architecture to some degree.
The CPU performance when using all cores is similar to a AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Cinebench R23 slightly faster on average). The modern Core Ultra 9 288V can be clearly outperformed. In terms of single-core performance, the M4 Pro scores very well and is on a par with the fastest Intel chips, such as the Core i9-14900HX. Interestingly enough, the M4 and the faster M4 Pro variant with 14 cores were 4-5% faster than the slimmed-down entry-level M4 Pro in Cinebench (Geekbench at the same level).
The power consumption during Cinebench 2024 Multi is around 40 Watt at the beginning (according to powermetrics) and then goes down to around 32 Watt (sustained). Combined with the GPU (Cinebench + Valley) the SoC can hit 47,5 Watt peak at the beginning, but then reduces its power draw to 31 Watt combined (22 W CPU + 9 W GPU).
The 3 nm TSMC process of the 2nd generation, with which the M4 Pro is manufactured, offers good energy efficiency.
Series | Apple M4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series: M4
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Clock Rate | 2592 - 4512 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Level 2 Cache | 4 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of Cores / Threads | 12 / 12 8 x 4.5 GHz Apple M4 P-Core 4 x 2.6 GHz Apple M4 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power Consumption (TDP = Thermal Design Power) | 32 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TDP Turbo PL2 | 40 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturing Technology | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | Unified Memory LPDDR5X-8533 (273 GB/s), 16-Core Neural Engine, Media Engine (Encoding / Decoding: H.264, HEVC, ProRes, ProRes RAW, AV1 Decoding only) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GPU | Apple M4 Pro 16-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
64 Bit | 64 Bit support | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Announcement Date | 10/30/2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Link (external) | www.apple.com |
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