Between the NUC 14 Pro+ and Mac mini M4 Pro, the NUC 14 Pro+ comes out ahead in storage / ram, while the Mac mini M4 Pro wins on tdp / volume. Overall, the NUC 14 Pro+ scores 72.2 and the Mac mini M4 Pro scores 69.1 on our Mars Score.
Which should you buy?
The NUC 14 Pro+ edges ahead on the Mars Score (72.2 vs 69.1), but the 3.1-point gap is small enough that the right pick comes down to which spec advantages matter to you.
Pick the NUC 14 Pro+ if you push the hardware — gaming, on-device AI, heavy multitasking — and the extra compute headroom is worth the trade-offs. The biggest gaps in its favor are storage, ram.
Pick the Mac mini M4 Pro if you care most about tdp / volume. Its strongest claims are tdp, volume.
Both ship with comparable thunderbolt, so those specs do not separate the two — focus on the differences below.
Bottom line: there is no wrong answer here — match the spec advantages to how you actually use the product. The Mars Score parity says both are well-rounded; the differences are about trade-offs, not quality.
Why ASUS - NUC 14 Pro+ wins
- ▲Storage — 100.00% more. 1024 GB vs 512 GB.
- ▲RAM — 33.33% more. 32 GB vs 24 GB.
Why Apple - Mac mini M4 Pro wins
- ▲TDP — 20.00 W less. 65 vs 85.
- ▲Volume — 0.36 L less. 0.34 vs 0.7.
Spec comparison
Core
Form & I/O
| Spec | ASUS - NUC 14 Pro+ | Apple - Mac mini M4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | 0.7 L | 0.34 Llead |
| Weight | 0.65 kglead | 0.73 kg |
| TDPⓘ | 85 W | 65 Wlead |
| USB ports | 6lead | 5 |
| Thunderboltⓘ | true | true |
Spec-level deep dives
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