Apple Unveils Mac Mini With M6 and Mac Studio With M5 Ultra

Apple has officially unveiled the latest versions of its Mac Mini and Mac Studio. The new Mac Mini gets the brand-new M6 chip, along with an option for the more powerful M5 Pro, while the Mac Studio now comes with the M5 Max or M5 Ultra.

The Mac Studio is now Apple’s sole pro-grade desktop computer following the discontinuation of the Mac Pro. Apple is positioning the new model as its most powerful Mac yet, with major performance improvements aimed at demanding professional workflows and on-device AI.

The Mac Mini, meanwhile, gets a substantial performance boost from the M6 and is positioned as a compact computer capable of handling everything from everyday computing to professional creative work.

Mac Studio Gets the M5 Ultra

The new Mac Studio is powered by either the M5 Max or the flagship M5 Ultra. Apple says the new desktop delivers major gains in AI, graphics, storage and CPU performance compared with previous generations.

“Mac Studio is the ultimate desktop for on-device AI and the world’s most demanding pro workflows, relied on by users for its tremendous performance and extensive pro connectivity, all in a quiet, compact design that sits right on your desk — and today, we’re pushing the boundaries even further,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer.

“With the powerful M5 Max and the incredible capabilities of M5 Ultra, Mac Studio ushers in a new era of desktop computing, delivering huge performance gains for pro workloads and AI inference with frontier-class models.”

Apple says the new Mac Studio offers 4.3 times faster AI performance, two times faster storage, 1.8 times faster graphics and 1.3 times faster CPU performance. The machine also benefits from higher memory bandwidth.

The M5 Ultra features up to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU, along with up to 512GB of unified memory.

“There is no other chip like M5 Ultra, which delivers the highest levels of performance and massive amounts of unified memory, enabling pros to push the limits of what they can accomplish on a single machine,” Apple says.

The company says filmmakers can color-grade uncompressed 8K footage in real time, while VFX artists can render complex simulations and data scientists can train local AI models using large datasets.

The Mac Studio can also be configured with the M5 Max, which features up to an 18-core CPU, 40-core GPU and 128GB of unified memory. Apple positions this configuration as a particularly good option for photographers and other creative professionals.

Mac Studio Gets Faster Connectivity

The new Mac Studio also gets Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, along with Thunderbolt 5 connectivity offering up to 120GB/s bandwidth per port. The Thunderbolt 5 ports can also be used to cluster multiple Mac Studio machines, with Apple claiming up to three times faster performance.

Storage is based on a PCIe Gen 6 architecture, while the Mac Studio can support up to eight displays. That includes support for up to four Studio Display XDR monitors running at full 5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Mac Mini Gets the New M6 Chip

The Mac Mini gets an even newer chip in the form of the M6, which Apple says is the first Mac chip built using a 2nm process.

The M6 features a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, giving it two additional cores in each compared with the previous M5 chip. The base configuration comes with 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage.

The M6 also introduces a Neural Accelerator in every core of the Mac Mini for the first time.

Apple says the M6-powered Mac Mini delivers four times faster AI performance and two times faster graphics compared with the M4-powered Mac Mini.

For users who need more performance, the Mac Mini can also be configured with the M5 Pro, featuring an 18-core CPU, 20-core GPU, 24GB of unified memory and 512GB of storage.

This configuration is designed for more demanding workloads such as photo and video editing.

“Mac mini has always been our most versatile Mac. Whether it’s being used as a home computer, powering a professional studio, or as an always-on agentic device, it’s the little Mac that can do it all,” said Srouji.

“Today, we’re taking this versatility even further. With a more powerful CPU and graphics, Neural Accelerators in the GPU, and higher memory bandwidth, Mac mini with M6 delivers a whole new level of AI performance.”

Mac Mini Gets Wi-Fi 7 and Thunderbolt 5

Like the Mac Studio, the new Mac Mini also gets Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

The M6 version features three Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the M5 Pro model gets three Thunderbolt 5 ports. Both models also include HDMI and Ethernet connectivity.

The combination of a compact form factor and increasingly powerful Apple silicon makes the Mac Mini an interesting option for photographers and video creators who don’t need the additional connectivity and expandability of the Mac Studio.

Pricing and Availability

The Mac Studio with M5 Ultra starts at $5,499, with a 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 96GB of unified memory and 1TB SSD.

The higher-end configuration with a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU, 96GB of unified memory and 1TB SSD costs $6,799.

At the top of the range, a configuration with 256GB of unified memory and a 16TB SSD costs $18,299.

The Mac Studio with 512GB of unified memory will be available in October, while the other configurations will be available starting September 22.

The Mac Mini with M6 starts at $899, while the M5 Pro model starts at $1,699. Both models are available for pre-order now and will begin shipping on September 22.