Apple unveils M6 Mac Mini and M5 Ultra Mac Studio with AI-focused upgrades
The updated desktops feature new silicon optimised for artificial intelligence, with the entry-level Mac Mini seeing a US$200 price hike to US$899.
Apple has announced refreshed versions of its Mac Mini and Mac Studio desktop computers, introducing the M6 and M5 Ultra chips designed to bolster artificial intelligence capabilities. The release marks a significant shift in the company’s hardware strategy, as the M6 represents the first Apple Silicon part built on 2-nanometre process technology. This update follows a period where both desktop models were difficult to purchase due to stock shortages throughout the year.
The new M6 Mac Mini skips the M5 generation entirely, offering configurations with either the new M6 chip or the M5 Pro, which is currently found in the MacBook Pro. The M6 features a 12-core CPU configuration, a first for Apple, comprising two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. Apple claims the M6 is 20 per cent faster than the M5 in multithreaded performance and 40 per cent faster than the M4. The chip also includes a 12-core GPU and Neural Accelerators for on-device AI, a feature previously introduced with the M5 chip.
For investors and consumers, the performance gains come with a cost adjustment. The M6 Mac Mini now starts at US$899 for the model with 16 GB of unified memory, representing a US$200 increase over the previous generation. The device can be configured with up to 32 GB of unified memory, and Apple states the system is 40 per cent faster with bandwidth up to 170 GB per second. The M6 also includes a dual 16-core Neural Engine, which Apple says doubles peak AI performance.
The Mac Studio receives a substantial upgrade with the introduction of the M5 Ultra, which Apple describes as its most powerful chip ever. This is the first "Ultra" chip to use a quad-die architecture, connecting four dies via the next version of UltraFusion technology. The M5 Ultra features 36 CPU cores and 80 GPU cores, with inter-die bandwidth exceeding 4.4 TB per second to allow the array to function as a single CPU. The Mac Studio remains available in M5 Max and M5 Ultra configurations.
A key differentiator for the M5 Ultra Mac Studio is its ability to run large language models locally. Apple demonstrated that multiple Mac Studios can be connected via Thunderbolt 5 to run frontier-level large language models with over a trillion parameters. This setup allows four systems to share memory, enabling local processing of models that were previously unattainable on a single Mac. Notably, Apple indicated that four connected Mac Studios can operate using a standard wall outlet.
Both the Mac Mini and Mac Studio are available for pre-order starting today, with shipments scheduled to begin on 22 September. The systems will ship with macOS 27 Golden Gate preinstalled. Apple stated that the delay between pre-order and shipping is not reflective of typical shipping times for these new models. According to WIRED, the exterior design of both desktops remains unchanged from previous iterations.
