Apple today updated the Mac mini and Mac Studio, introducing the M6 Chip for the Mac mini, as well as the M5 Ultra Chip for the Mac Studio, which Apple describes as its "most powerful silicon ever."
Mac mini
The new Mac mini with M6 delivers up to 4x faster AI performance, up to 2x faster graphics and storage, and Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5 gigabit Ethernet connectivity, according to Apple's press release for the Mac Mini.
Apple lists the following additional claims related to the Mac Mini with M6:
- Up to 13.5x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio when compared to Mac mini with M1, and up to 4.8x faster than M4.
- Up to 2.3x faster spreadsheet calculations in Microsoft Excel when compared to Mac mini with M1, and up to 1.5x faster than M4.
- Up to 2x faster gaming performance with ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition when compared to Mac mini with M4.
In addition to the M6, the Mac mini is also available with M5 Pro, which Apple claims delivers:
- Up to 8.5x faster LLM prompt processing performance in LM Studio when compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 4x faster than M4 Pro.
- Up to 4.5x faster rendering performance with ray tracing in Blender when compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 1.4x faster than M4 Pro.
- Up to 2.1x faster image processing in Affinity when compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 1.5x faster than M4 Pro.
Besides the upgraded chips, the new Mac mini features Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5GB Ethernet by default (up from the prior generation's default 1GB Ethernet port), with a 10GB option available.
The new Mac mini can be preordered from Apple today for a starting price of US $899, and will begin shipping on Tuesday, September 22.
Mac Studio
Apple has also updated the Mac Studio, bringing the M5 Max and new M5 Ultra chip to Apple's most high-end Mac, as well as Thunderbolt 5, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6 connectivity, and a "next-generation SSD architecture that is up to twice as fast as before," according to Apple's press release for the Mac Studio
The new Mac Studio with M5 Max delivers up to 3.9x faster AI performance than the prior generation, with the M5 Ultra delivering up to 4.3x the peak AI performance of the M3 Ultra, and up to 9.8x the peak AI performance of the M1 Ultra.
Apple additionally lists the following claims related to Mac Studio with M5 Max:
- Up to 10.7x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and 3.9x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 7.4x faster text-to-image performance when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 3.5x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 5.3x faster Magic Mask performance in Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 3x faster than M4 Max.
- Up to 3.5x faster basecalling for DNA sequencing in Oxford Nanopore MinKNOW when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Max, and up to 1.9x faster than M4 Max.
In addition to the M5 Max, the new Mac Studio is available with the new M5 Ultra, which Apple claims delivers:
- Up to 15.4x faster CopyCat ML training performance in Foundry Nuke when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 3.3x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 9.8x faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 4x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 8.2x faster text-to-image performance when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 4.3x faster than M3 Ultra.
- Up to 4.7x faster scene rendering performance in Maxon Redshift when compared to Mac Studio with M1 Ultra, and up to 1.7x faster than M3 Ultra.
In addition, the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra is available with up to 512 GB of unified memory with 1.2TB/S of memory bandwidth, 50% higher memory bandwidth than M3 Ultra.
The new Mac Studio can be preordered from Apple today for a starting price of US $2,499, and most models will begin shipping on Tuesday, September 22, with the model with 512GB of memory shipping in late October.