Apple has updated its popular desktop computers, the Mac Mini and the more powerful Mac Studio. Alongside the new models come new chips: Apple is introducing an “Ultra” model into its M5 lineup, as well as its next generation of processor, the M6. But while the new models are exciting, their prices aren’t; the impacts of AI on RAM and storage pricing are extremely evident here.

The Mac Mini and M6

Apple

Lets start with the Mac Mini, as it’s Apple’s mainline desktop computer, which will be more than powerful enough for most photographers. The biggest change is internal, as the base level Mac Mini ships with the M6, a new chip in Apple’s lineup. It has a 12-core CPU, made up of two “Super” high-performance cores, 4 “performance” cores for mid-level tasks and 6 “efficiency” cores. The M4 found in the previous generation had 4 “performance” cores – though at the time those were Apple’s fastest cores, closer to what it’d call “super” cores now – and 6 efficiency cores. The chip can now access its memory slightly faster, with 170GB/s of bandwidth, up from 120GB/s. Likewise, the GPU has two additional cores for a total of 12.

Apple says the M6 “is built using cutting-edge 2 nm process” (though, as is typical, that doesn’t necessarily mean all, or even any, of its features actually measure 2nm), and that it includes a “Dual 16-core Neural Engine” that can provide double the performance in on-device AI tasks compared to the M5. The company also claims the M6 has 1.2 times faster single-core performance than the previous-gen (not that you could buy the Mac Mini with that chip in it).

You can also now get the Mac Mini with the same M5 Pro chip found in the company’s MacBook Pros. While it’s built on an older process, it offers more cores – starting with 15 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores, and going up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU – and higher memory and SSD capacity. The M6 Mac Mini can handle up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD; with the M5 Pro version, that expands to 64GB and 8TB, respectively. And while the M6 Mac Mini’s Thunderbolt ports are still the fourth-gen versions that can run up to 40Gbps, the M5 Pro’s are Thunderbolt 5, which can reach up to 80Gbps (or 120Gbps in an asynchronous mode). 

Apple

Outside of the updated processors, not much has changed about the Mini’s capabilities. It still has three ThunderBolt Ports, two USB-C ports and an HDMI port, and can drive up to three external displays. Apple updated its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to versions 6 and 7 respectively (the latter being a very welcome addition). Likewise, the Ethernet port has been updated, too; it’s now a 2.5Gb model, rather than a 1Gb one, which will be a big upgrade for anyone who often finds themselves transferring large files over the network. Of course, you can still upgrade to a 10Gb ethernet port for $100 at time of purchase.

These upgrades don’t come cheap, though. When the M4 Mac Mini launched in late 2024, you could get a model with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for $599. However, following the skyrocketing prices of DRAM chips, Apple recently got rid of that model, and the base level became the $799 version with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The M6 version comes in at $899, but drops the SSD back down to 256GB. You still get 16GB of memory. While the starting price has “only” jumped $100 compared to yesterday, you’re getting less for more money than you would’ve previously, and much less compared to what you would’ve been able to buy a year ago. 

The story is slightly less painful with the M5 Pro model. The previous version with an M4 Pro launched for $1,399 with 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, while the new model is $1699 for those same specs.

The Mac Studio and the M5 Ultra

Apple

For those who require more horsepower, Apple has the Mac Studio, which comes standard with the M5 Max (a chip that sits above the Pro), and can be kitted out with the new M5 Ultra. Like the Mini, its connectivity has been upgraded to use Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Its ethernet hasn’t been upgraded, but for good reason: like its predecessor, it comes with a 10Gbps port. 

The previous base-level Mac Studio came equipped with the M4 Max, which started with four fewer CPU cores than the new M5 Max Mac Studio. The number of GPU cores are the same, but their capabilities have been somewhat upgraded; the new computer supports the same number of 4K and 6K displays (five and four, respectively), but can now handle two 8K displays at once, rather than the single one the M4 Max version could manage. Both versions, however, still only have the single Neural Engine chip, rather than the doubled version from the M6. 

Apple hasn’t adjusted the starting configuration. The computer still starts with 512GB of storage and 36GB of memory, though the bandwidth for the latter has been slightly upgraded. There’s also now an in-between 48GB option, for those who want more memory, but don’t need to go all the way up to 64GB or 128GB.

Of course, the big news is the introduction of the M5 Ultra, especially since the last revision of the Mac Studio saw the M4 Max version somewhat bizarrely launch alongside an M3 Ultra. Now, the two tiers of chips are on the same process, which is to be expected given that the M5 Ultra is essentially two M5 Maxes fused together. 

Apple

While it has a few more CPU cores than its predecessor – the exact delta will depend on which tier of chip you get – and it includes upgrades to the Media Engine for encoding and decoding video, the real upgrade comes in its AI capabilities. Apple says it has “Neural Accelerators in each GPU core,” providing “4.3x the peak AI compute performance” of the M3 Ultra it’s succeeding. It also supports substantially more RAM; where the M3 Ultra topped out at 96GB in the Studio, you can get the M5 Ultra studio with an eye-watering 512GB (an option that Apple says won’t be available until late October). That memory also has 50% more bandwidth available now.

The M5 Max Mac Studio starts at $2499, a substantial premium over the $1999 launch price of its successor, though it thankfully has the same base specs of 36GB of memory and a 512GB SSD. The M5 Ultra version is a substantial step-up in price, starting at $5499, with 96GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Again, that’s the same setup as its predecessor, except that computer was $3999. Of course, the price tag becomes astronomical once you start upgrading memory and storage; a fully kitted out M5 Ultra Mac Studio with 80 GPU cores, 256GB of memory and a 16TB SSD costs $18,300.

Apple hasn’t released pricing for the 512GB memory kit yet, but it will require the $1300 upgrade to the higher-speced processor. Bumping up to 256GB of RAM costs $4000 on its own.

The bottom line

Realistically, these price bumps were inevitable. When the M4 Mac Mini was announced, it was one of the best deals in computing, which also meant that it was constantly sold out. It’s sad that, despite the 50% price increase, that’s probably still going to be the case. But that’s the world we live in currently. At least Apple is updating the Mac Mini with its latest chips, which isn’t a given, made obvious by the fact that it skipped an M5 version.

The M6 seems like a minor, but welcome spec bump compared to the M5, and it will surely trickle out to much of the rest of Apple’s lineup; keep an eye out for new MacBook Airs, base-level MacBook Pros and iPads that use it. It’ll likely be most exciting to the people using their Macs for local AI tasks, given that Apple is literally doubling down on its performance in that field with the dual Neural Engine chips.

Also interesting is that Apple has continued the trend of producing its “Ultra” chips one process behind. With that said, given that there are constantly rumors swirling about it being discontinued, I’m just happy we’re getting one at all, even if it is based on the M5 architecture (which, in fairness, was Apple’s latest and greatest until literally this morning). 

If the pricing of the new Macs has you down, there’s one shiny silver lining: the company has also released a new polishing cloth. The original was notorious for its $19 price tag, but the latest version is just $9. We have to take the small wins where they come.

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