Apple has officially brought the Mac mini into the next generation, announcing today that its compact desktop will now ship with the all-new M6 chip. The update, revealed at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters on August 26, marks a significant leap in performance—though it comes with a higher price tag. The base Mac mini with M6 now starts at $899, $100 more than its predecessor, and includes just 256GB of storage.
Performance Leap: First-Ever 2nm Apple Silicon
This isn’t a minor speed bump. The M6 chip is Apple’s first processor built on a 2-nanometer process, delivering a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, plus a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. That’s a total of 32 Neural Engine cores, with Apple claiming double the AI processing power versus last year’s M5 chip. In pure numbers, Apple says the M6 is 20% faster than the M5 in multithreaded performance and 40% faster than the M4. The GPU, now with two additional cores, brings a total of 12—each with neural accelerators, a first for the Mac mini.
For AI enthusiasts, this is particularly big news. Over the past few years, Mac minis have become a favorite for running local AI models and assistants. Apple’s new hardware aims to cement that status, promising up to 8.5x faster large language model (LLM) prompt processing in LM Studio compared to the M2 Pro Mac mini, and up to 4x faster than the M4 Pro. Video editors and digital artists will appreciate up to 4.5x faster ray tracing in Blender and up to 2.1x quicker image processing in Affinity.
Two Flavors, New Connectivity, and a Price Bump
For those who need even more muscle, Apple is also offering the Mac mini with the M5 Pro chip—previously found only in the MacBook Pro. That model boasts up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU, plus Thunderbolt 5, making it a tiny but mighty option for complex creative workflows.
Both M6 and M5 Pro models now support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5Gb Ethernet (with 10Gb available as an upgrade). These improvements offer faster wireless and wired connectivity, ideal for developers and creators working with massive files or multiple simulators.
On the high end, Apple’s Mac Studio also got a refresh, with the new M5 Max chip starting at $2,499 and the M5 Ultra—Apple’s first quad-die chip and its most powerful ever—starting at a jaw-dropping $5,499.
Despite the price hike, Apple seems intent on proving the Mac mini is still the “little Mac that can do it all.” With the M6’s AI horsepower, expanded connectivity, and a new design built for speed and efficiency, the latest Mac mini is ready to power everything from home offices to AI labs.
