Overview
- Apple announced the refreshed Mac mini and Mac Studio on Tuesday, unveiling four new M‑series chips — M6, M5 Pro, M5 Max and M5 Ultra — and opening preorders.
- The M6 is built on a 2‑nanometer process and packs a 12‑core CPU, a 12‑core GPU with per‑core Neural Accelerators and support for up to 32 GB unified memory to boost single‑thread and AI tasks.
- The M5 Ultra uses UltraFusion multi‑die technology to link M5 Max dies into a quad‑die chip with up to 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores and up to 512 GB unified memory for large local AI models and heavy professional workloads.
- Apple published European prices and availability with the Mac mini starting at €1,049, the Mac Studio from €2,999, preorders available now and shipments scheduled to begin on 22 September with some high‑end SKUs delayed into October.
- Apple frames the update as a push for local, privacy‑preserving AI on desktops, a move that responds to rising memory costs and strong demand but also raises questions about higher launch prices and possible supply constraints for customers and enterprise buyers.