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Apple Announces M6 Mac mini, M5 Ultra Mac Studio, and More
Today, Apple announced a new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro, a new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra, refreshed Magic Keyboards, and a cheaper Polishing Cloth. The Macs are the biggest part of Apple’s August 25 rollout, bringing faster graphics, stronger local AI hardware, Wi-Fi 7, and higher memory limits. Mac mini and Mac Studio preorders are open now, with deliveries starting September 22.
- Mac mini now comes with M6 or M5 Pro.
- Mac Studio now comes with M5 Max or the all-new M5 Ultra.
- Apple’s Magic Keyboards get updated U.S. English key labels.
- Apple’s Polishing Cloth drops from $19 to $9.
Apple also debuted two major chips. M6 is Apple’s first 2-nanometer Mac chip, while M5 Ultra uses a new quad-die design and is Apple’s most powerful silicon yet.
Apple’s new desktop Mac lineup at a glance
| Model | Chip | Starting price | Maximum memory | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini | M6 | $899 | 32GB | September 22 |
| Mac mini | M5 Pro | $1,699 | 64GB | September 22 |
| Mac Studio | M5 Max | $2,499 | 128GB | September 22 |
| Mac Studio | M5 Ultra | $5,499 | 512GB | September 22, with 512GB configurations in late October |
Mac mini gets the all-new M6 starting at $899
Mac mini with M6 is the most affordable part of Apple’s new desktop lineup at $899. M6 has a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, giving both sides of the chip two more cores than the M4 version it replaces.
- Up to 40 percent faster CPU performance than Mac mini with M4
- Up to 2x faster graphics
- Up to 2x faster storage
- Up to 4x faster AI performance
- 16GB of unified memory standard, configurable up to 32GB
- Up to 170GB/s of memory bandwidth
M6 gives Mac mini a real gaming upgrade
Gaming gets one of the clearest performance claims in Apple’s announcement. Apple says Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition with ray tracing can run up to 2x faster on the M6 Mac mini than on the M4 Mac mini.
Raw hardware is only part of the Mac gaming story because game support still varies, but the M6 result gives gamers a more useful comparison than a general GPU percentage. Eventide Gaming’s Apple gaming timeline covers how Mac gaming has changed as Apple silicon and newer ports have pushed the platform forward.
Mac mini with M5 Pro pushes the small desktop much further
Apple is also bringing M5 Pro to Mac mini. The higher-end model starts at $1,699 and can be configured with up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU.
- Up to an 18-core CPU
- Up to a 20-core GPU
- Up to 64GB of unified memory
- 307GB/s of memory bandwidth
- Third-generation hardware ray tracing
- Neural Accelerators built into each GPU core
Eventide Gaming previously covered the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips when Apple introduced them earlier in 2026. Mac mini now gives M5 Pro a compact desktop option below Mac Studio.
Mac mini adds Wi-Fi 7 and faster Ethernet
- Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6
- 2.5Gb Ethernet standard, with 10Gb Ethernet optional
- Two front USB-C ports and a headphone jack
- Three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the M6 model
- Three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M5 Pro model
Mac Studio moves to M5 Max and the new M5 Ultra
Apple’s other major desktop update is a new Mac Studio. The lineup starts with M5 Max at $2,499 and moves up to M5 Ultra at $5,499. Mac Studio remains Apple’s highest-end desktop after the Mac Pro was discontinued earlier in 2026.
- M5 Max has an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU.
- M5 Max supports up to 128GB of unified memory and 614GB/s of memory bandwidth.
- Apple says M5 Max graphics are up to 50 percent faster than the previous generation.
- Apple says on-device AI performance can be up to 3.9x faster than the previous generation.
M5 Ultra reaches an 80-core GPU and 512GB of memory
M5 Ultra is the biggest Mac Studio upgrade. Apple’s new quad-die design scales to a 36-core CPU and an 80-core GPU, with up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth.
- Up to 1.3x faster multithreaded CPU performance than M3 Ultra
- Up to 1.8x faster graphics than M3 Ultra
- Up to 4.3x the peak AI compute performance of M3 Ultra
- Up to 512GB of unified memory
- 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth
- Up to 33 streams of 8K ProRes 422 video at 30 fps
Mac Studio configurations with 512GB of unified memory will arrive later than the rest of the lineup. Apple says those systems are coming in late October.
How connectivity compares
| Feature | Mac mini with M6 | Mac mini with M5 Pro | Mac Studio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 7 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 6 | Bluetooth 6 | Bluetooth 6 |
| Thunderbolt | Thunderbolt 4 | Thunderbolt 5 | Thunderbolt 5, up to 120Gb/s |
| Ethernet | 2.5Gb standard, 10Gb optional | 2.5Gb standard, 10Gb optional | 10Gb Ethernet |
| Displays | Varies by configuration | Varies by configuration | Up to eight displays |
Mac Studio also moves to a new PCIe Gen 6 SSD design that Apple says can deliver up to 2x faster storage performance. Thunderbolt 5 can connect high-speed drives, docks, PCIe expansion hardware, and even multiple Mac Studio systems for distributed AI work.
Display support reaches up to eight monitors, or up to four Studio Display XDR monitors at full 5K resolution and 120Hz.
Apple also refreshed its Magic Keyboards and Polishing Cloth
Apple had two much smaller updates alongside the new Macs. Updated U.S. English Magic Keyboards now use glyphs on keys such as Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, Return, and Delete instead of edge text. Full-size Touch ID models also swap several navigation-key labels for symbols.
Apple also released a new Polishing Cloth for $9, down from the previous $19 price. Apple still describes it as a soft, nonabrasive cloth made for cleaning its displays, including nano-texture glass.
Mac mini and Mac Studio arrive September 22
Apple opened Mac mini and Mac Studio preorders on August 25 in 30 countries and regions, including the United States. Both desktops begin arriving to customers and stores on September 22. The refreshed Magic Keyboards and Polishing Cloth are available immediately.
macOS 27 Golden Gate ties the new Macs together
Both new desktops will run the upcoming macOS 27 Golden Gate, which adds Siri AI, Visual Intelligence, new Apple Intelligence tools, and other system updates. Apple says macOS 27 will arrive as a free software update this fall.
Mac mini with M6 stands out for gamers because it pairs the lowest Mac desktop price with Apple’s direct 2x ray-traced Cyberpunk 2077 performance claim. M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra move up the ladder for heavier development, creative, 3D, and local AI workloads.
