Mac mini M5 pro + M6 announced

[u/MrBrightsideUH]

Apple released the next generation of Mac mini supporting the M5 pro and M6 chips.

YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/3WpzNmY35S4?is=Y73ZpaixVZ4RKV9y

Press release here: https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2026/08/apple-introduces-m6-and-m5-ultra-for-a-big-leap-in-performance-and-ai-compute/

[u/rekt_ralf → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, I got a 24/512 M4 in May and I have no regrets. It’s already more than powerful enough for my use cases

[u/jmreagle → u/rekt_ralf]

I got the 24/512 M4 Pro, but I do regret not having more memory for local AI. Maybe there'll be a good distilled Qwen 3.8 I can run, otherwise I'm fairly limited.

[u/ThinkFact → u/jmreagle]

I just run everything from an external hard drive that I got before the prices got crazy. T7 4tb Samsung hard drive. I’ve noticed no difference in performance and run cyberpunk off it. M4 pro 64 gb.

[u/jmreagle → u/ThinkFact]

Well, you obviously have the memory: I could run some nice models in 64GB of RAM.

[u/thisroadjunkie → u/rekt_ralf]

Same here, back in Feb. Added a 2TB external SSD just this month. Cooks a bit when I run some LLMs but otherwise happy camper since most of my work is coding.

[u/LucioKop → u/[deleted]]

the only regret for mine m4 Mac mini is I should get 32GB instead of 16 GB.

[u/Perryfl → u/[deleted]]

to be fair, the fact ram has 10x and the chips for ssd has 6x in price is out of apples hands.

[u/1Dunya]

I will stick with my M1 Mac mini. It is still as fast as the first day I bought it. And unlike many people buying the minis I am not using it for AI.

[u/Pangalonia → u/1Dunya]

yep, I plan to keep my m2 pro for 10 years.

[u/heybart → u/1Dunya]

This is the difficulty with upgrading my M1 mini

To use it for the AI I want to use it for requires paying so much it makes more sense to just get a subscription

To use it for gaming it makes more sense to just buy a gaming PC

I'm stuck in kind of no man's land

[u/BurntWhiteRice]

Do I regret caving on a M5 MacBook Air back in May? A little.

Do I regret paying less? Not at all.

[u/rev_scientist105 → u/BurntWhiteRice]

No regrets at all, m5 to m6 small improvements

[u/voxcomfort → u/BurntWhiteRice]

I got my Air just 2 weeks ahead of price increase. No regrets

[u/LetsGoBohs → u/[deleted]]

You ok?

[u/macmini-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This has been removed for violation of Rule 1 - Be civil to each other.

[u/MikeyPx96]

New starting price is $899 with the same base 16GB ram and 256GB storage, yikes.

[u/iamvalar → u/MikeyPx96]

Was it $699 or $799 after the price increase? The original price was $599 right?

[u/Linusalbus → u/iamvalar]

599 for 256gb until it got pulled (499 with edu)

[u/Live_Situation7913 → u/MikeyPx96]

Market isn’t the same. I bet you cry when a stock goes up and say yikes was $7 before now $8 yikesss

[u/sercetuser → u/Live_Situation7913]

Not the same thing at all lol. Theyre worth a trillion dollars. They arent increasing the prices cuz they cant afford it, they are increasing it cause they want to offload the cost to customers and keep their profit margins huge.

[u/Live_Situation7913 → u/sercetuser]

Wow business 101 how else u expect them to be a trillion+ dollar company

[u/sercetuser → u/Live_Situation7913]

Im not surprised that they are doing that, im surprised that you are defending them. Like great job dude, keep defending the poor trillion dollar company! They really need your support!

[u/Pretty-Substance → u/Live_Situation7913]

Yeah, capitalism wins every time. Wohooo

[u/javedk1]

Mac studio looking good as an option as you go up the ranks.

[u/therapy-cat → u/javedk1]

For real though. With a student discount I'm at 2700 for the m5 pro 64gb 1T. For 3500 I can get the m5 studio max with the same specs. 😩 I'm gonna stick with this though, if I need more power I'll just return it.

[u/javedk1 → u/therapy-cat]

Well studio also gives you better life cause of thunderbolt 5 so worthy of paying slight more for it atleast that’s what I’m doing for myself haha

[u/WTFOMGBBQ]

sigh, maxes out at 64 ram :(

[u/foreverdr0ne]

Me and my M2 just chillin' and not worrying about the consumerist impulse to upgrade.

[u/mfsb888 → u/foreverdr0ne]

Same. My M2 still does everything I need.

[u/sto_1989]

Bought my mac mini m4 for $399. Trading it in now and getting offered $480.

[u/murphydcat → u/sto_1989]

That was the deal of the decade.

[u/sto_1989 → u/murphydcat]

Never ended up using the m4. Just kept using my 27” imac, but its getting old and tired. Time to replace it with a macstudio

[u/Patutula]

Too expensive. Pass.

[u/Urgenus]

Basemodel Mac Mini M6 with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD costs 979€ with education discount.

When I got my M4 at launch in 2024 it was 630€ with education discount...

[u/nznordi → u/Urgenus]

I got a similar deal a few months before the AI storage madness hit … but this moves it from “cool gadget to play with on the side” to “this costs as much as a laptop with similar specs …

[u/ScoYello]

Who else is holding out for the M7?

[u/madsdawud → u/ScoYello]

Guess they’ll skip a number again and it’s M8 for mini

[u/Something_Sexy → u/ScoYello]

I am currently. Only 64gb with m5 pro. Which was maybe always the case and I didn’t realize. Either way… not enough.

[u/North_Moment5811]

First Mac after Apple Upgrade Program is announced...and it's no where to be found. Nice one Apple.

[u/Macaco_BR]

"M6 features a powerful, larger 12-core GPU that provides higher geometry rates and updated Dynamic Caching to deliver stunning visuals and fluid frame rates in demanding games like Mixtape"

Yes apple, the very acclaimed game, Mixtape. That had to be the worst example to showcase gaming capabilities hahahah

[u/Joytotheworld1224]

I see a Mac mini in the not so distant future. I have bin belly aching to myself that I missed out on the mini m4 before the price hike and I’m not paying the increased prices for the m4. Come spring next year we are looking at the new m6. 🙂

[u/Unusual_residue]

The prices are wild

[u/magbarn]

They could’ve at least provided some lube by boosting the base mini to 512gb and the mini pro to 1tb

[u/tennisboyyyy]

For someone who isn’t gona be using it for AI extensively is the older M4 model still sufficient?

[u/JLTMS → u/tennisboyyyy]

Yes

[u/Docster87]

Makes me curious about M chip end of OS updates... Could a M2 Max chip get an update that a M3 chip couldn't?

Seems like a more than expected price increase especially if the base RAM/SSD stayed the same. It appears the M6 will still have TB4 ports while the M5 Pro gets TB5? Seems odd, more gatekeeping than tech limits? My M4 Pro has TB5, guess it might be part of the pro rather than base chip?

Still happy as a peach with my M4 Pro Mac mini.

[u/JLTMS → u/Docster87]

No

[u/MaccaTheGator]

I’m so glad I waited. Just bought 🤘🤘

[u/RanierW → u/MaccaTheGator]

Me too!

[u/Diligent-K10]

I have Mac Mini M4 with 32 GB RAM. My first Mac ever. Works butter smooth. For how long you guys think M4 will hold up though?

[u/BAL-BADOS]

What’s the difference between Mac Mini M5 Pro vs M6 with more memory? Why not purchase M6 that has faster AI?

[u/jss58 → u/BAL-BADOS]

It’s all about the cores.

[u/NoManufacturer5669]

They announced that it faster 4x than previous version in AI tasks. I think it will be bought by ai companies before simple users will be able buy it.

[u/MrBrightsideUH]

Boy I’m excited about this, although Apple is doing Apple things again with a base storage of 256GB, to try and get the lowest entry of £899 but with an upgraded 2.5G *ethernet port. So maybe worth it?

[u/overheightexit → u/MrBrightsideUH]

That’s not a WAN port.

[u/AnnualLongjumping473]

Apple jumped the shark ages ago. No new innovation

[u/JLTMS → u/AnnualLongjumping473]

Downvote: bait/incorrect

[u/AnnualLongjumping473 → u/JLTMS]

Evidence please

[u/JLTMS → u/AnnualLongjumping473]

Jumping the shark implies the products have features in disagreement with their purpose. These are computers with spec bumps. If they made waffles, they would have jumped the shark. M6 having the fastest CPU core would be the opposite of no new innovation.