That was quick. Less than a day after reports surfaced about a new Mac Mini, Apple has officially announced a 2026 edition of its pint-sized desktop computer.
With M6 and M5 Pro models available, the new Mac Mini starts at $1,449 in Australia, $500 more than the 2024 M4 model’s starting price. With the M6 chip, Apple’s computer still begins with 16GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD as a base configuration.
Compared to the M4 model, the M6 variant gets a 12-core CPU and GPU (up from 10 cores), and a faster 170GB/s peak memory bandwidth. It still has the same number of ports (now with a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port), but the wireless connectivity gets a boost, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 supported.
With a strong focus on AI, Apple claims the M6 Mac Mini produces up to four times faster AI performance than the M4 model. Other claims include twice as fast storage and graphics, plus 40 per cent faster CPU performance.
As for the M5 Pro Mac Mini, which starts at $2,699 (another $500 increase versus the M4 Pro model), it ships with up to an 18-core CPU (up from 14 cores) and a 20-core GPU. Similarly, the memory bandwidth increases to 307GB/s, up from the M4 Pro’s 273GB/s speeds. By default, the M5 Pro Mac Mini includes 24GB of unified memory and a 512GB SSD, with options to get up to 64GB and 8TB, respectively.
Billed as an “always-on desktop for AI agents”, the M5 Pro model reportedly processes LM Studio Prompts four times faster than the M4 Pro Mac Mini.
Pre-orders for the M6 and M5 Pro Mac Mini computers start today, launching on 22 September. Joining them are new Mac Studio models, Apple’s more powerful desktop PC alternative.
The post Apple debuts first new Mac Mini since 2024, speedier M6 chip appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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