Apple has announced the new Mac mini featuring the all-new M6 and powerful M5 Pro chips. These new Mac minis promise up to 4x faster AI performance, up to 2x faster graphics and storage, as well as enhanced connectivity.
Mac mini with M6
The new M6 system-on-a-chip now features a 12-core CPU, which is two more cores than before. Apple says it delivers the world’s fastest single-threaded performance. M6 also has a 12-core GPU, which is again two more cores than previous generations. The GPU includes Neural Accelerators in each core for the first time on Mac mini. As a result, M6 offers up to 4x faster AI performance and 2x faster graphics than Mac mini with M4. In addition, Mac mini with M6 features an all-new Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says that this delivers up to 2x faster performance than the previous generation.
Performance boosts
Mac mini with M6 comes with 16GB of standard unified memory. However, you can configure this up to 32GB. The new Mac mini also features a higher memory bandwidth up to 170GB/s. Apple says this means that multitasking is faster than ever. LLM prompt processing in LM Studio is up to 13.5x faster compared to Mac mini with M1, and up to 4.8x faster than M4. In addition, spreadsheet calculations in Microsoft Excel are up to 2.3x faster than Mac mini with M1, and up to 1.5x faster than M4. There are gaming boosts too, with up to 2x faster gaming performance with ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition when compared to Mac mini with M4.
Mac mini with M5 Pro
M5 Pro features up to an 18-core CPU, which Apple says delivers remarkable multithreaded performance. You also get up to a 20-core GPU with an enhanced shader core and third-generation ray tracing. This is ideal for complex work in 3D design, VFX and game development. M5 Pro has Neural Accelerators in each GPU core, which delivers significant improvements in AI performance. It’s ideal for more advanced AI workflows like photo and video upscaling and running large diffusion models.
ProRes RAW
Mac mini with M5 Pro supports up to 64GB of unified memory with 307GB/s of memory bandwidth. This means that you can work with complex 3D scenes and edit ProRes RAW files. You can also run even larger local AI models and load large custom datasets for research. This delivers up to 8.5x faster LLM prompt processing performance in LM Studio compared to Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 4x faster than M4 Pro. In addition, in Blender, ray tracing rendering performance is up to 4.5x faster than Mac mini with M2 Pro, and up to 1.4x faster than M4 Pro. Image processing in Affinity is up to 2.1x faster than Mac mini with M2 Pro, as well.
Connectivity
The new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. You also get 2.5Gb Ethernet for faster wired connectivity, with 10Gb optionally available. The front panel has two USB-C ports that support USB 3 and a headphone jack. On the back, there are three Thunderbolt ports as well as HDMI and Ethernet. Mac mini with M6 features Thunderbolt 4 ports, but you get Thunderbolt 5 on Mac mini with M5 Pro. In addition, there is now genlock support through USB-C. This enables precise synchronization between a display and a camera, and supports the iPhone 17 Pro. The new Mac mini comes with Apple’s new macOS 27 Golden Gate.
What we think
Apple’s Mac mini family of computers packs a lot of processing power into a very small form factor. The new Mac mini with M6 is ideally suited to AI tasks but might be a little underpowered for video editing. However, Mac mini with M5 Pro delivers the performance to tackle demanding projects such as video production. The base models of each new Mac mini start off pretty affordable. Unfortunately, the prices can rise quickly if you want to boost the specification of your computer from the entry-level offering. Despite this, the new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro is a tempting prospect for anyone who wants to work with a Mac, but can’t afford the Mac Studio models.
Availability
You can pre-order the new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro now, with shipping scheduled to start from September 22, 2026. Pricing starts at $899 for Mac mini with M6, and $1,699 for Mac mini with M5 Pro.
