Apple announced the new Mac mini with the M6 and M5 Pro chips and the new Mac Studio with M5 Max and the all-new M5 Ultra on 25 August 2026. Pre-orders opened the same day in 30 countries and regions, including India, with deliveries from 22 September 2026.
Mac mini with M6 starts at $899. Mac Studio with M5 Ultra tops the range at $5,499. Apple says the 512GB unified memory configuration of Mac Studio arrives later, in late October 2026.
What Changes in the Mac mini with M6
M6 is Apple's first 2-nanometer chip, according to Apple's silicon announcement. The M6 in Mac mini pairs a 12-core CPU with a 12-core GPU carrying a Neural Accelerator in every core, plus a new Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Unified memory tops out at 32GB at 170GB/s.
Apple claims up to 4x faster AI performance and 40 percent faster CPU than the M4 Mac mini. Those are vendor figures from Apple's own July 2026 testing, with no independent benchmarks yet. Both Mac mini models add Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5Gb Ethernet, with 10Gb optional.
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra Is Apple's First Quad-Die Chip
M5 Ultra joins two dual-die M5 Max chips through UltraFusion, making it the first quad-die M-series SoC (system on a chip) Apple has shipped, with over 4.4TB/s moving between dies. Mac Studio with M5 Ultra scales to a 36-core CPU, an 80-core GPU, 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of bandwidth. Apple says four systems clustered over Thunderbolt 5 and RDMA (remote direct memory access) reach up to 3x the AI inference of a single machine.
Why Apple's Cheapest Desktop Has the Newest Chip
The $899 Mac mini ships with M6 while the $5,499 Mac Studio ships with M5-generation silicon, and the higher number does not mean the faster machine. M6 caps at a 12-core CPU and 32GB of memory; M5 Ultra reaches 36 cores and 512GB. For running LLMs (large language models) on a device, the memory capacity decides which models load at all.
Two details deserve attention before anyone pre-orders. Apple's headline quotes an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU for the Mac mini with M5 Pro, but Apple's own store configurations show the base M5 Pro is a 15-core CPU and 16-core GPU part. And only the M5 Pro mini has Thunderbolt 5 — the M6 model has Thunderbolt 4, so it cannot be clustered.
Mac mini and Mac Studio Price in India
| Model | CPU / GPU | Max memory | India price | US price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini (M6) | 12-core / 12-core | 32GB | ₹99,900 | $899 |
| Mac mini (M5 Pro) | 15-core / 16-core | 64GB | ₹2,09,900 | $1,699 |
| Mac Studio (M5 Max) | 18-core / up to 40-core | 128GB | ₹2,79,900 | $2,499 |
| Mac Studio (M5 Ultra) | 36-core / up to 80-core | 512GB | ₹6,29,900 | $5,499 |
Indian outlets disagree on the base Mac mini: FoneArena reports ₹99,900, and t2 reports ₹99,990. Apple's press release lists US pricing only, so treat the rupee figure as unconfirmed. US education pricing starts at $799 for a Mac mini with M6.
Common Questions
Is the M6 faster than the M5 Ultra?
No. M6 is a newer generation but a smaller chip, capped at a 12-core CPU and 32GB of memory, while M5 Ultra reaches a 36-core CPU and 512GB.
When does the new Mac mini go on sale?
Apple opened pre-orders on 25 August 2026 and began deliveries of Mac mini and Mac Studio on 22 September 2026.
Can the M6 Mac mini be clustered to run large AI models?
No. Clustering needs Thunderbolt 5, and only the Mac mini with M5 Pro and the Mac Studio models have it.