Apple has refreshed its Mac mini and Mac Studio desktop line-up, introducing a new M6 chip for the mini and M5 Max and M5 Ultra options for the Studio. The update brings notable performance and AI processing gains, particularly for the Mac mini, which has become popular with hobbyists running local AI models, but it comes alongside further price increases following Apple's recent cost hikes across its Mac range.

The Mac mini now starts at $899 with the M6 chip, $100 more than before and with only 256GB of base storage, while an M5 Pro configuration is available for $1,699 for more demanding users. The M6, Apple's first 2-nanometer chip, features a 12-core CPU, a 32-core Neural Engine offering double the AI performance of the M5, and a 12-core GPU said to be up to four times faster for AI tasks. The Mac Studio starts at $2,499 with the M5 Max, while the range-topping M5 Ultra model, built from two fused M5 Max chips, begins at $5,499 and offers up to 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores and significantly faster multi-threaded and graphics performance than its predecessor. Both machines retain their existing designs but gain standard upgrades including Wi-Fi 7 and, on the mini, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet.