- Apple introduces the M6 chip, and it lands first in the new Mac mini
- It’s a bit more expensive than its predecessor, but offers improved performance, with a focus on AI tasks
- It can also be configured with the M5 Pro, while the latest Mac Studio gets the M5 Max or new M5 Ultra
Apple reintroduced the Mac mini in its sportier, more compact design with M4 chips in October 2024, and now, just a few months shy of two years later, we’re getting the next generation.
Apple is sticking with the ultra-tiny build that doesn’t skimp on ports, and it’s also using its new entry-level Mac desktop to usher in its next generation of silicon: the M6. While this next-gen Mac mini sports an identical look to its predecessor, it’s built to pack a performance punch with either the M6, which is Apple’s first 2nm chip, or the M5 Pro for those who need an even more substantial setup.
This performance boost comes at the cost of a price increase over the M4-powered Mac mini. The Mac mini with M6 starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,449 for 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM — that’s a $100 increase in the US over the current price of the M4 model — while the M5 Pro starts at $1,699 / £1,699 / AU$TBC with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. You can, of course, pay more for more RAM and storage — we’re waiting to see full pricing.
The Mac mini with M6 will start at $899 — a $100 increase in the US over the $799 MSRP for the M4 model – with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, while the mini with M5 Pro will start at $1,699 with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. Of course, you can pay more for more RAM and storage — we’re waiting to see pricing.
The M6 isn’t the only new chip arriving from Apple. The next-gen Mac Studio, which keeps its now-iconic design, is sporting either the M5 Max or the M5 Ultra under the hood for extreme performance, be it creative or professional workflows, or the demands of AI processes. Like the Mac mini, it’s a bit more costly, starting at $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,299 for the Mac Studio with M5 Max or $5,499 / £5,499 / AU$TBC for the M5 Ultra.
The reveal timing is a little out of line with the release cycle we’ve gotten used to for the Mac lineup, as it comes just weeks before Apple’s rumored September event, at which Apple will likely debut its iPhone 18 lineup and other devices.
Let’s dive into what we know about the M6 and the new Mac mini, its first home, and the even speedier Mac Studio.
The Mac mini pushes forward with M6
While the new Mac mini’s design is unchanged — and we’re just fine with that — the big change is under the hood. Apple says the M6 delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance and up to four times faster AI performance. Note that latter claim, as AI is a theme that Apple’s going with here, and it makes sense considering how many folks are choosing to run OpenClaw and other models on the Mac mini (if they can get their hands on one — we’re hoping Apple has addressed the supply chain issues that have resulted in some customers facing long waits for the previous-gen Mac mini and Mac Studio).
As I noted above, the M6 is Apple’s first 2-nanometer chip, and it boasts some seriously impressive specs on paper. For starters, it’s now a 12-core CPU, the first such Apple silicon, with two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. That’s the CPU side of the M6, while the GPU side has 12 cores with Neural Accelerators, support for the FP8 format, and higher overall geometry throughput, which should aid 3D graphics and gaming visuals. One aspect we’re keen to test is a new dual 16-core Neural Engine, which promises up to twice the peak AI compute performance.
There’s also the even more impressively equipped Mac mini with M5 Pro, the same chip that’s currently available in the MacBook Pro. In the Mac mini, it as in the MacBook Pro, the M5 Pro starts with a 15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine.
Whether you opt for the M6 or M5 Pro, the new Mac mini also gets the Apple-made N1 chip for connectivity, specifically support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. There’s a 2.5Gb Ethernet port as standard, which you can upgrade to 10Gb, and while the M6 has Thunderbolt 4 ports, the M5 Pro gets Thunderbolt 5, which should make it easy to chain multiple Mac minis together.
Mac Studio levels up with M5 Max and M5 Ultra
We’ve been waiting a while now for Apple to level up the current M4 Max and M3 Ultra Mac Studio, and these are looking like considerably beefy upgrades that’ll ensure that whether you are running advanced professional, creative, AI, or even gaming tasks, the Studio will rise to the occasion.
The M5 Max inside the Mac Studio boasts an 18-core CPU and a 40-core GPU for up to 30% faster compute performance and 40% faster graphics performance compared to the M4 Max, according to Apple. For ultimate performance, meanwhile, the M5 Ultra, the latest chip made using Apple’s next-gen UltraFusion technology, is essentially two M5 Max chips connected together in a quad-die architecture. The result is a chip with a 36-core CPU — made up of 12 Super Cores and 24 Performance Cores — an 80-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine.
As in the Mac mini, Apple is using its own N1 chip to power connectivity in the upgraded Mac Studio, with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. You’ll also get faster, more efficient RAM and storage to speed things up even more.
Together, these upgrades are all about boosting performance and making these machines better equipped for almost any task, whether professional or creative, with or without AI processes.
Apple’s Mac Studio with M5 Max starts with 512GB of storage and 36GB of RAM, while the Studio with M5 Ultra starts at 1TB of storage and 96GB of RAM. Pricing starts at $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$4,299 and $5,499 / £5,499, respectively.
Based on Apple’s shared benchmarks and performance numbers, both the Mac mini and Mac Studio are AI performance powerhouses. Whether it’s using an app to upscale an image, quickly render out a task, or even run full frontier models on-device, it’s clear that Apple knows what people are using its desktops for, and is offering those users something with even more muscle.
As with the Mac mini, the new Mac Studios arrive with a price hike. In the US, the Mac mini with M6 starts at $100 more than the current prices of the M4 model. The Mac Studio keeps the same starting price at $2,499 for the M5 Max versus the M4 Max, while the M5 Ultra starts at $200 more than the M3 Ultra, at $5,499 compared to $5,299.
Storage increases and RAM upgrades will come at hefty costs, but with 256GB starting storage in the Mac mini and 512GB starting storage in the Studio for the base chips — and both the RAM and SSDs are said to be faster here — Apple is still looking to max out the value proposition, even at the starting prices.
Preorders for these new Macs are open now, and with shipping from September 22. That’s a bit of a wait, but it might be that this schedule is timed to coincide with that for other items Apple might reveal in the next few weeks. The Macs will ship with macOS 27, including some new Apple Intelligence features, out of the box.
