Overview
- Apple announced the new Mac mini and Mac Studio on Tuesday, August 25, opened preorders the same day, and said systems will begin shipping on September 22 with macOS 27 Golden Gate preinstalled.
- The Mac mini now offers the new M6 chip built on a 2‑nanometer process with a 12‑core CPU, 12‑core GPU, a dual 16‑core Neural Engine and up to 32GB of unified memory to boost local AI and multithreaded workloads.
- Mac Studio gains the M5 Max and a new M5 Ultra that uses a quad‑die UltraFusion interconnect to deliver up to 36 CPU cores, up to 80 GPU cores and up to 512GB of unified memory for very large on‑device models.
- Apple raised the Mac mini starting price to $899, the highest ever for that model, and multiple outlets warn ongoing DRAM and NAND supply limits may keep high‑memory and high‑SSD configurations scarce.
- Apple frames the updates as tools for running larger local models and clustered workflows over Thunderbolt 5, a move that could shift some AI compute from cloud GPUs to compact, high‑memory Macs and increase demand for memory suppliers.