Apple has unveiled its latest Mac mini, bringing the all-new M6 chip and powerful M5 Pro to its compact desktop lineup. The new Mac mini promises major gains in performance, graphics and on-device artificial intelligence, while retaining its small footprint. Apple says the M6-powered model delivers up to 4x faster AI performance, 2x faster graphics and storage, and up to 40 per cent faster CPU performance compared with the previous generation.
Mac mini With M6 Brings Major AI Boost
The new M6 Mac mini features a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, with Neural Accelerators built into every GPU core. Apple has also introduced a dual 16-core Neural Engine, which can deliver up to twice the performance of the previous generation.
The M6 model comes with 16GB of unified memory as standard and can be configured with up to 32GB. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 170GB per second, which can help improve multitasking and demanding AI workloads.
Apple claims the new Mac mini can deliver up to 13.5x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio compared with the M1 model, while gaming performance with ray tracing can reach up to twice the speed of the M4 version.
M5 Pro Targets Professional Workflows
For professional users, the Mac mini with M5 Pro offers up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU. The chip features improved graphics capabilities, third-generation ray tracing and Neural Accelerators, making it suitable for video production, 3D design, game development and scientific workloads.
The M5 Pro model supports up to 64GB of unified memory and up to 307GB per second of memory bandwidth. Apple says it can deliver up to 8.5x faster LLM prompt processing compared with the Mac mini with M2 Pro.
Connectivity and Availability
Both models feature Wi Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and upgraded 2.5Gb Ethernet, with a 10Gb Ethernet option available. The new Mac mini works with macOS 27 and Apple’s latest Apple Intelligence features.
Pre-orders for the new Mac mini begin August 25, with availability starting September 22.
Sources: Apple
