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New Mac mini 2026: M6 and M5 Pro specs, prices and what

Macworld New Mac mini 2026: At a glance Whats new: The 2026 Mac mini delivers much faster performance, especially for graphics and AI, thanks to the M6 and M5 Pro chips. It also brings faster storage and upgraded connectivity, with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5Gb Ethernet as standard. Release date : Announced on August 25, 2026 Price : From $899/899 In August 2026, Apple launched a new Mac mini to replace the M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini which was introduced in October 2024. Externally the 2026 Mac mini looks just as it did following the redesign in October 2024 its still a five-by-five-inch square with two front USB-C ports and the headphone jack, with three Thunderbolt ports, HDMI and Ethernet on the rear. Its whats inside that has changed. The new Mac mini models offer new chips, the M6 and the M5 Pro. This is a similar scenario to a few years ago when Apple launched the M4 Mac Studio alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio. There is likely to be some confusion about the chip generations so we will explain the differences in more detail below. These new chips offer a significant jump in performance, especially relating to AI. With this update it is particularly apparent that Apple is positioning the Mac mini as an AI machine. When is the new Mac mini available? The new Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro models were announced on August 25, 2026 and started shipping on September 22. How much does the new Mac mini cost? Model Price M6, 16GB, 256GB $899 / 899 M6, 16GB, 512GB $1,199 / 1,199 M5 Pro, 24GB, 512GB $1,699 / 1,699 Has the Mac mini price gone up? In June 2026, Apple raised the starting price of the Mac mini by $200, from $599 to $799. The increase was part of a broader price hike across the entire Mac lineup, which Apple attributed to an unprecedented rise in component costs, particularly RAM. We had hoped this meant Mac mini pricing would remain at the June level for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, with the arrival of the new models, Apple has raised prices againthis time by a further $100/100. Heres a breakdown of the key price changes for the Mac mini: Chip Original Price June Price 2026 replacement price M4, 16GB, 256GB $599 / 599 $799 / 799 M6, $899 / 899 M4, 16GB, 512GB $799 / 799 $999 / 999 M6, $1,199 / 1,199 M4 Pro, 24GB, 512GB $1,399 / 1,399 $1,599 / 1,599 M5 Pro, $1,699 / 1,699 This is no longer a budget Mac. Apple Mac mini (M6, 2026) Price When Reviewed: $899 Best Prices Today: $879.99 at Amazon | $899 at Apple | $899 at Best Buy US Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro, 2026) Read our review Price When Reviewed: $1,699 Best Prices Today: $1699 at Apple | $1699 at Best Buy US Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro specs As well as the move from M4 and M4 Pro to M6 and M5 Pro, the Mac mini also gains storage that is up to twice as fast, according to Apple, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, 2.5Gb Ethernet. The M5 Pro model adds genlock support through its Thunderbolt 5 ports, for synchronizing a display and camera in professional video workflows. The new M6 chip has launched in the Mac mini. Apple Processor: M6 and M5 Pro chip compared There may be some confusion over the chip generations in the new Mac mini. The mainstream model uses the newer M6 chip, while the more powerful model uses the older-generation M5 Pro. Pro chips are designed for heavier professional workloads, with more CPU and GPU cores, higher memory bandwidth, support for more unified memory, additional displays and faster Thunderbolt connectivity. So while M5 Pro remains the more capable chip overall, the M6 offers a significant step up from the M4 it replaces in the previous generation Mac mini. Macwelt has now tested the M6 Mac mini , and we have reviewed the M5 Pro Mac mini . Macwelts tests show that the M6 can lead in single-core CPU and Neural Engine performance, while the M5 Pro retains a clear advantage in multicore CPU and GPU performance. M6 : The Mac mini is the first Mac to ship with the M6 chip, replacing the M4 in the entry-level model. It features a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, up from 10 CPU and GPU cores in the previous generation, and supports up 170GB/s memory bandwidth if you choose 24GB or 32GB memory (the 16GB configuration offers 153GB/s bandwidth). Apple promises up to 40% faster CPU performance, twice the graphics performance and up to 4x faster AI performance than M4. It also introduces Apples first Dual 16-core Neural Engine, delivering up to twice the Neural Engine performance. M5 Pro : The M5 Pro replaces the M4 Pro in the higher-end Mac mini and can be configured with up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU. Apple claims up to 4x faster LLM processing, 1.4x faster Blender ray-tracing performance and 1.5x faster Affinity image processing than M4 Pro. It supports up to 64GB of unified memory with 307GB/s memory bandwidth. Both chips feature Neural Accelerators in their GPU cores, but the M5 Pros additional CPU and GPU cores, greater memory capacity and higher bandwidth make it better suited to video production, 3D rendering, development and larger local AI models. What the benchmarks show Macwelt tested an M6 Mac mini with 24GB of memory and a 512GB SSD. In Geekbench 7, it scored 4,055 in single-core and 22,695 in multicore, compared with 3,277 and 15,693 for Macwelts M4 mini. In the same set of tests, the M6 scored higher than the M5 Pro in single-core performance (4,055 versus 3,720), but the M5 Pro led by a substantial margin in multicore performance (34,281 versus 22,695) and GPU compute. That makes the M6 a compelling choice for most buyers, while the M5 Pro better suits heavily threaded and GPU-intensive work. These are results from the configurations tested, not measurements of the base M6 or M5 Pro models. Storage Apple claims up to twice the storage performance of the previous generation. In Macwelts Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, its M6 mini with a 512GB SSD reached approximately 6,700MB/s writing and 6,400MB/s reading, versus 3,000MB/s writing and 3,400MB/s reading on its M4 comparison machine. SSD speed can vary by capacity, so these figures may not apply to the base 256GB M6 mini. Other than that the storage capacities are as before 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB for the M6 model and 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 8TB SSDs for the M5 Pro model. RAM Both the M4 and M6 Mac mini can be configured with up to 32GB of unified memory. Both the M4 Pro and M5 Pro models can be configured with up to 64GB. Connectivity: WiFi & Bluetooth Simon Jary / Foundry Wi-Fi : Both models now support Wi-Fi 7 which replaces the previous wireless standard Wi-Fi 6E. Bluetooth :Both models also move to Bluetooth 6, replacing Bluetooth 5.3. Ethernet : Previously faster Ethernet was an upgrade; the new models now have 2.5Gb Ethernet, with 10Gb Ethernet available as a configurable option. Thunderbolt : The M6 Mac mini has three Thunderbolt 4 ports and the the M5 Pro version has three Thunderbolt 5 ports. This is the same as the previous generation. Genlock : Apple has added Genlock support over USB-C. This is used for synchronising a display and camera (which can be an iPhone 17 Pro). It is aimed at professional video workflows Display support : The M6 Mac mini will support up to two 6K displays plus one 5K display, while the M5 Pro supports up to three 6K displays. Other ports include two USB-C/USB 3 ports and a headphone jack on the front and HDMI and Ethernet remain on the rear, as previously. Mac mini M6 vs M4: Whats Changed What Was Now CPU 10-core M4 12-core M6 GPU 10-core M4 12-core M6 GPU Neural Accelerators None In each GPU core Neural Engine 16core NeuralEngine Dual 16core NeuralEngine Bandwidth 120GB/s memory bandwidth Up to 170GB/s memory bandwidth Max RAM 24GB 32GB Mac mini M5 Pro vs M4 Pro: Whats Changed What Was Now CPU 12-core to 14-core M4 Pro 15-core to 18-core M5 Pro GPU 16-core 20-core M4 Pro 16-core 20-core M5 Pro GPU Neural Accelerators None In each GPU core Neural Engine 16core NeuralEngine 16core NeuralEngine Bandwidth 273GB/s memory bandwidth 307GB/s memory bandwidth Max RAM 48GB 64GB Who is the Mac mini best for? The M6 Mac mini is the best fit for most buyers who want a fast, compact desktop for everyday work, coding and mainstream creative tasks. Macwelts tests show a substantial performance gain over the M4, although its test machine had 24GB of memory and a 512GB SSD rather than the base configuration. Choose the M5 Pro Mac mini if your work benefits from its stronger multicore CPU and GPU performance, Thunderbolt 5, greater memory bandwidth or support for more than 32GB of unified memory. Those advantages are most relevant to sustained professional work and larger local AI models. Check the price of the configuration you need before ordering: the M5 Pro starts at $1,699/1,699, and memory, storage and other upgrades add up quickly. Our reviewed $2,899 M5 Pro mini cost $100 more than an M5 Max Mac Studio configuration with a stronger GPU and more ports, although the Studio had 36GB of memory rather than the minis 48GB. See our Mac mini buying guide for advice on which model to choose and whether to wait. Should you buy the 2026 Mac mini? The M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini are on sale now, and independent test results are available for both models. For advice on which configuration to choose, whether to buy now or wait for a discount, and how they compare with older models, read our Mac mini buying guide

23 Sep 2026 6:13 pm