Mac mini M5 Pro, 24GB vs MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 64GB for local AI
Two machines people weigh against each other for running models at home. Same models, same prices, same arithmetic on both sides.
| Mac mini M5 Pro, 24GB | MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 64GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1,699 | $3,999 |
| Memory | 24 GB | 64 GB |
| Usable by the GPU | 16 GB | 48 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 307 GB/s | 307 GB/s |
| Power under load | 140 W | 140 W |
| Models that fit | 13 | 27 |
| Best model it runs | Gemma 4 12B | Qwen3.8 27B |
| Speed on that model | 29 tok/s | 12 tok/s |
| Pay-back | Pays back in 135 years | Pays back in 52 years |
Run the numbers on the Mac mini M5 Pro, 24GB · or the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 64GB
Both columns use the same default usage: 500k tokens a day at 15:1 input to output, 32k context, and each machine's strongest model that fits.