Apple has announced a new iteration of the Mac mini today with the new M6 chip and M5 Pro, while the previous generation that launched almost 2 years ago featured the M4 and M4 Pro chipsets.
The new Mac mini still starts with 256GB of storage and 16GB of unified memory, but now starts at $899 instead of $799, which was already an increase from the $599 price tag when the previous Mac mini launched.
The M6 is Apple’s first 2-nanometer chip, bringing even more advancements to the Mac. According to Apple, “M6 features a 12-core CPU — two more cores than before — with the world’s fastest single-threaded performance, so everything feels extra snappy and responsive. A 12-core GPU, also with two more cores than before, now includes Neural Accelerators in each core for the first time on Mac mini, resulting in up to 4x faster AI performance and 2x faster graphics than Mac mini with M4.1 In addition, the all-new Dual 16-core Neural Engine delivers up to 2x faster performance than the previous generation, and combined with the advanced GPU, Mac mini is a powerhouse for all things AI.1 And with 16GB of standard unified memory configurable up to 32GB, as well as higher memory bandwidth up to 170GB/s, multitasking is faster than ever.”
Apple claims that the M6 Mac mini is significantly faster than the M1 chip and the recent M4 chip with:
- Up to 13.5x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio when compared to Mac mini with M1, and up to 4.8x faster than M4.
- Up to 2.3x faster spreadsheet calculations in Microsoft Excel when compared to Mac mini with M1, and up to 1.5x faster than M4.
- Up to 2x faster gaming performance with ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition when compared to Mac mini with M4.
The M5 Pro variant of the Mac mini can be configured with up to an 18-core CPU and a 20-core GPU similar to the MacBook Pro, and features a memory bandwidth of 307GB/s.
According to Apple’s claims,
- Up to 8.5x faster LLM prompt processing performance5 in LM Studio when compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 4x faster than M4 Pro.
- Up to 4.5x faster rendering performance5 with ray tracing in Blender when compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 1.4x faster than M4 Pro.
- Up to 2.1x faster image processing5 in Affinity when compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 1.5x faster than M4 Pro.
In terms of connectivity, the new Mac mini comes with a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, with an option to upgrade to the 10Gb option. Moreover, this new Mac mini finally brings WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6 standards.
The base M6 variant can be configured with unified memory options of 16GB, 24GB, and 32GB, along with storage options of 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Pricing for this starts at $899.
For the M5 Pro variant, it be configured with unified memory options of 24GB, 48GB, and 64GB, along with storage options of 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB. Pricing for this variant starts at $1,699
The new Mac mini can be pre-ordered now, with availability beginning on September 22nd, which is almost a month from now.
Are you going to get the new MacBook mini? Which is the best size for you – 14″ or 16″? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @appleosophy. Be sure to download the Appleosophy App from the App Store or visit our website to stay updated with the latest Apple news!
