Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB vs Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB for local AI
The Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB holds 34 of the 50 current models here, and the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB holds 33. The Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB costs $200 less. On Qwen3.8 27B, the strongest model both hold, the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB is about 1.6× faster: 19 tok/s against 12, both estimated from memory bandwidth. The Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB pays for itself sooner, in 149 years against 182 years at 500k tokens a day.
| Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB | Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2,499 | $2,699 |
| Memory | 36 GB | 64 GB |
| Usable by the GPU | 27 GB | 48 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 460 GB/s | 307 GB/s |
| Power under load | 145 Wstand-in | 140 Wstand-in |
| Models that fit | 33 | 34 |
| Best model it runs | Qwen3.8 27B | Qwen3.8 27B |
| Speed on that model | 19 tok/s estimated | 12 tok/s estimated |
| Pay-back on that model | Pays back in 149 years | Pays back in 182 years |
Neither power figure above is measured on the machine beside it. Both are stand-ins borrowed from the nearest hardware the data does have, so the gap between them is not a difference between these two machines. Each machine's page names the figure it borrows and why. Every pay-back figure on this page prices its electricity from these numbers.
Run the numbers on the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB · or the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB
Jump to: The same money, two different machines · How much use it takes to pay back · What the extra memory buys · The assumptions behind both columns
The same money, two different machines
These two cost within $200 of each other: $2,499 for the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB and $2,699 for the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB. Both are Apple machines, but a Mac Studio and a Mac mini are two different machines rather than two sizes of one. Every other head-to-head on this site holds a piece of the hardware equal and asks what the price gap buys. This one holds the price, so the row that usually carries the answer is the row the two machines agree on, and everything under it is what the same money buys twice.
How much use it takes to pay back
Everything above is at 500k tokens a day. Pay-back moves with how much you actually run, so here are both machines on Qwen3.8 27B, the strongest model both hold, at the five levels of use the calculator names. The Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB pays back sooner at every level of use, so this is not a choice that turns on how hard you work it.
| A day's use | Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB | Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB |
|---|---|---|
| 50ka few chats a day | 1,494 years | 1,818 years |
| 200klight assistant use | 373 years | 454 years |
| 1Ma moderate coding-assistant day | 75 years | 91 years |
| 4Mheavy coding with an agent | 19 years | 23 years |
| 20Magents running most of the day | 3.7 years | 5.3 yearsits ceiling |
On Qwen3.8 27B the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB generates at most 17.1M tokens a day, so its figure at 20M tokens a day is for the most it can do, not for the whole of what was asked.
Run the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB at 20M tokens a day · or the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB
What the extra memory buys
The Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB holds 1 model the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB cannot at 32k of context. That is what the difference in memory actually buys.
| Model | Weights | Needs at 32k | On the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nanbeige4.3 33Bnot yet placed | 21 GB | 28 GB | 8.3 tok/s estimated |
The extra memory buys context as well. Of the 33 current models both machines hold at 32k, 13 run to a longer window on the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB: the weights are a fixed size and the KV cache is not, so what the weights leave spare is what a longer context grows into. Gemma 4 31B it reaches 256k there against 64k on the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB, each the longest window the calculator offers that the machine still holds it at.
The Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB is also head to head with another computer: MacBook Pro M5 (14-inch), 32GB. With the same box and the bigger chip: 48GB. With the machine it replaced: Mac Studio M4 Max, 36GB.
The Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB is also head to head with the same machine at another memory size: 24GB · 48GB. With the machine it replaced: Mac mini M4 Pro, 64GB.
The assumptions behind both columns
Both columns use the same usage: 500k tokens a day at 15:1 input to output, 32k of context, $0.17 per kWh, and today's API prices held flat. Speeds marked estimated are worked out from memory bandwidth rather than measured, and pay-back scales with them. Change any of it in the calculator.
More head to head: everything the Mac Studio M5 Max, 36GB runs · everything the Mac mini M5 Pro, 64GB runs · every other match-up · the quickest pay-back at each level of use · every model against the frontier