Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices

Apple has unveiled its latest generation of Mac Mini desktop computers, introducing updated models equipped with the new M6 processor and the higher-tier M5 Pro chip.

While retaining the ultra-compact physical footprint of the previous year's models, these refreshed machines deliver notable internal hardware enhancements. Consumers will face a pricing increase, as both configurations cost one hundred dollars more than the baseline models of the preceding generation. Pre-orders for the devices are currently underway, with shipments expected to reach customers in late September, a timeframe that may help mitigate potential inventory shortages driven by the high demand for consumer hardware capable of running local artificial intelligence processes. The standard upgrades across this lineup include significantly faster solid-state storage speeds, upgraded Ethernet ports, and integrated wireless chips that support the newest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth standards.

Under the hood, the standard M6 variant showcases Apple's transition to a highly efficient two-nanometer manufacturing process, packing additional central processing and graphics cores to boost raw computational speed and ray-tracing performance. For users requiring more power, the M5 Pro model targets demanding professional workloads with highly customizable processor configurations designed to leverage integrated neural accelerators. These accelerators are specifically optimized to handle heavy graphics tasks, photograph upscaling, and larger machine learning models. Both variants of the updated desktop computer will ship with the newest iteration of Apple's proprietary operating system pre-installed, ensuring seamless out-of-the-box compatibility with the tech giant's latest artificial intelligence features and virtual assistant capabilities.