Apple began selling the new-generation Mac mini and Mac Studio on September 22, 2026, through its stores, website, and Apple Store app, as well as authorized resellers. The Mac mini is powered by the M6 and M5 Pro chips, while the Mac Studio comes with M5 Max and M5 Ultra options, with a clear focus on running artificial intelligence workloads locally alongside creative and development work.
Mac mini moves to M6 and M5 Pro
The M6-equipped Mac mini features a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, with Neural Accelerators inside each core and a 16-core dual Neural Engine. Apple says the device delivers up to four times faster AI performance, twice as fast graphics and storage, and 40% faster CPU performance compared with the previous generation, according to the company’s tests.
Unified memory starts at 16GB and can be upgraded to 32GB, with memory bandwidth of up to 170GB/s. The M5 Pro version offers up to an 18-core CPU, up to a 20-core GPU, and up to 64GB of unified memory, with bandwidth of 307GB/s. Both models support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5Gb/s Ethernet, with a 10Gb/s option.
Mac Studio targets professional workloads
The M5 Max-equipped Mac Studio includes an 18-core CPU, up to a 40-core GPU, and up to 128GB of unified memory. The M5 Ultra version raises the ceiling to a 36-core CPU, an 80-core GPU, and up to 512GB of memory, with memory bandwidth of 1.2TB/s. Apple is offering these capabilities for processing uncompressed 8K video, visual effects, and large language models locally.
The device includes a Thunderbolt 5 port with transfer speeds of up to 120Gb/s. Remote Direct Memory Access also enables multiple Mac Studio devices to be clustered, and Apple says this may deliver up to three times faster performance for distributed AI inference compared with a single system. Mac Studio supports up to eight displays, or four Studio Display XDR displays at 5K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.
What changes in practice?
Apple places local artificial intelligence at the heart of the upgrade, making use of GPUs, neural accelerators, and large amounts of unified memory. This may matter to developers, content creators, and researchers who need to reduce their reliance on cloud services, but the source does not provide independent measurements of power consumption or a practical comparison between running models locally and cloud alternatives.
The devices run macOS 27, which adds Apple Intelligence features such as Siri AI and context-based tools within apps. However, Siri AI begins as a beta release and is initially available in English, while the availability of AI features varies by language and region, and some server-model-based features may be subject to daily usage limits.
Pricing and availability
The M6 Mac mini starts at $899 in the United States, while the M5 Pro version starts at $1,699. Mac Studio starts at $2,499 with M5 Max and $5,499 with M5 Ultra. Education pricing starts at $799 for the Mac mini and $5,099 for the Mac Studio in the United States. The 512GB Mac Studio version will arrive in late October.
Apple offers options to customize memory, storage, and the chip, along with Trade In and Apple Upgrade programs in the United States. The leasing program requires credit approval, and the end of the lease term does not automatically mean ownership of the device; fees may also apply for early termination or returning a damaged device.