Apple just gave its smallest Mac an outsized performance upgrade. The company on Tuesday launched new Mac mini versions powered by either the all-new M6 chip or the more powerful M5 Pro, bringing substantially faster performance and a major focus on local AI workloads to the tiny desktop.
“Whether it’s being used as a home computer, powering a professional studio, or as an always-on agentic device, it’s the little Mac that can do it all,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer. “Today, we’re taking this versatility even further.”
M6 and M5 Pro make Mac mini even more flexible
The Mac mini was once best known as an inexpensive way to get a Mac at home, offering plenty of computing power in a small, affordable package. But now the AI boom gave the little desktop a much bigger role.
Its combination of Apple silicon, low power consumption and compact design made the Mac mini a popular choice for running large language models locally, giving developers and AI enthusiasts an affordable way to experiment with powerful models without relying entirely on cloud services.
Newer, more powerful M6 and M5 Pro chips have only made the Mac mini more capable as a compact AI workstation.
M6 turns Mac mini into an AI powerhouse
The M6-equipped Mac mini gets a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, up from 10 cores each in the previous-generation M4 model. Apple says the new chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance, twice the graphics performance and up to four times the AI performance compared with the M4.
The M6 also brings Neural Accelerators to every GPU core in the Mac mini for the first time. A new dual 16-core Neural Engine further boosts AI performance, while memory bandwidth increases to 170GB/s.
The machine starts with 16GB of unified memory and can be configured with up to 32GB.
Apple is clearly positioning the Mac mini as a capable local AI machine. The company says it can process LLM prompts in LM Studio up to 13.5 times faster than an M1 Mac mini and up to 4.8 times faster than the M4 model.
M5 Pro brings serious performance to Mac mini
For users who need eveny more power, Apple is offering the Mac mini with M5 Pro. The chip can be configured with an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU, with up to 64GB of unified memory and 307GB/s of memory bandwidth.
That makes the tiny desktop a surprisingly capable machine for demanding work such as video production, 3D rendering, scientific simulations and game development. It offers up to 4.5 times faster ray-tracing performance in Blender, for example.
And then there’s AI. Apple says the M5 Pro Mac mini can deliver up to 8.5 times faster LLM prompt processing than an M2 Pro model.
Same tiny design, better connectivity
Apple hasn’t radically changed the Mac mini’s compact design. Instead, it has packed considerably more performance into the same small footprint.
Connectivity gets an upgrade, too.
Both versions support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5Gb Ethernet, with 10Gb Ethernet available as an option. The front has two USB-C ports and a headphone jack, while the back includes HDMI, Ethernet and three Thunderbolt ports.
The M6 version uses Thunderbolt 4, while the M5 Pro model gets Thunderbolt 5.
The new Mac mini also supports genlock over USB-C, a feature aimed at professional video workflows that need precise synchronization between cameras and displays.
Comes with macOS 27
At launch, it will run macOS 27, which adds next-generation Apple Intelligence features, including the substantially upgraded Siri AI.
macOS 27 is scheduled to launch in September. It is in beta testing now.
M6/M5 Pro Mac mini: Price and release date
With the M6 Mac mini starting at $899 and the M5 Pro model at $1,699, Apple is asking customers to pay more than they did for the previous generation. But the payoff is a tiny desktop that delivers dramatically more processing power, faster graphics and substantially stronger AI capabilities without taking up any more desk space.
It can be pre-ordered starting today, August 25. It will reach customers and store shelves starting September 22.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 26 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
