Apple has refreshed its desktop Mac lineup with new Mac mini and Mac Studio models, placing advanced on device artificial intelligence at the centre of the latest hardware upgrades, according to Apple Newsroom and Reuters. The Mac mini now comes with the new M6 and M5 Pro chips, while the Mac Studio gains M5 Max and the all new M5 Ultra processors.
The new M6 Mac mini delivers up to 4x faster AI performance, 2x faster graphics and storage, and 40% faster CPU performance compared with the previous generation. Built on Apple’s first 2 nanometre chip architecture, the M6 features a 12 core CPU, 12 core GPU and dual 16 core Neural Engine designed to accelerate local AI workloads.
For professional users, the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra delivers up to 4.3x faster AI performance, up to 1.8x faster graphics and support for as much as 512GB of unified memory. Apple is positioning the machine for AI developers, researchers, data scientists and creative professionals handling demanding workloads directly on their desktops.
The launch comes as demand for local AI computing accelerates, with businesses and developers increasingly looking to run sophisticated models on their own hardware rather than relying entirely on cloud infrastructure. The new Mac mini starts at $899, while Mac Studio pricing begins at $2,499, with both models available for preorder and scheduled to reach customers from September 22.
