Apple launches Mac mini and Mac Studio with M6, M5 Ultra chips for AI developers
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Apple unveiled new Mac mini and Mac Studio desktops on Tuesday, featuring the M6, M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra chips aimed at AI developers. The Mac mini starts at $899 and the Mac Studio at $2,499, with preorders open now and shipping on September 22. The M6 is Apple's first 2nm processor, while the M5 Ultra introduces a quad-die architecture with up to 512GB of memory.
Key Facts
- The Mac mini with M6 starts at $899 with 16GB of memory, while the M5 Pro configuration starts at $1,699.
- The Mac Studio with M5 Max starts at $2,499, and the M5 Ultra configuration starts at $5,499.
- Preorders for both desktops begin today, with shipping on September 22, though the 512GB memory Mac Studio ships in late October.
- The M6 is Apple's first processor built on a 2-nanometer process, while the M5 Ultra uses a quad-die architecture with up to 512GB of unified memory.
- Apple's Mac business generated $33.7 billion in revenue in 2025, making it the company's fourth-largest segment.
New Chips and Performance
The M6 is Apple's first 2nm processor, built on TSMC's advanced lithography, and features a 12-core CPU with two super cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. Apple claims the M6 delivers up to 20 percent faster multi-threaded performance than the M5 and a 30 percent increase in peak GPU compute. The M5 Ultra fuses two dual-die M5 Max chips into a quad-die configuration, a first for Apple silicon, with interconnects running at 4.4TB/s. The M5 Ultra supports up to 512GB of high-bandwidth unified memory with 1.2TB/s of bandwidth, a 50 percent increase over the M3 Ultra.
Pricing and Availability
The Mac mini with M6 starts at $899 with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage, a $100 increase over the M4 model. The Mac mini with M5 Pro starts at $1,699 with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM. The Mac Studio with M5 Max starts at $2,499, while the M5 Ultra configuration starts at $5,499. Preorders for both desktops begin today, and shipping starts on September 22, with the 512GB memory Mac Studio shipping in late October.
AI Developer Focus
The Mac mini and Mac Studio have become popular among AI developers for running local open-weight models like Qwen and DeepSeek without cloud token costs. The M6 includes a dual 16-core Neural Engine and supports up to 32GB of unified memory with 170GB/s bandwidth, a 10 percent improvement over the M5. Apple says the new systems offer big leaps in AI performance, gaming, and video editing, and ship with macOS 27 Golden Gate.
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Apple launches Mac mini and Mac Studio with M6, M5 Ultra chips for AI developers
