Apple today debuted M6 in the new Mac mini and M5 Ultra in the new Mac Studio, providing an extraordinary leap in performance and AI capabilities. M6, Apple’s first state-of-the-art 2-nanometer chip, advances every compute block, delivering gains across every dimension of performance. The chip features a larger 12-core CPU complex with the world’s fastest CPU core, a larger 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, and up to 170GB/s of unified memory bandwidth. M5 Ultra, the ultimate powerhouse for pro and AI workloads, uses next-generation UltraFusion technology to form a quad-die architecture for the first time in an M-series system on a chip (SoC). The chip includes an up-to-36-core CPU and up-to-80-core GPU with a massive 1.2TB/s of unified memory bandwidth, 50 percent more than M3 Ultra. With their advanced technologies, these SoCs deliver extraordinary compute with industry-leading power efficiency, empowering users to do even more on a desktop.
The Mac mini and Mac Studio get their own specific announcements. (Worth noting: Johny Srouji is quoted with his new title of “chief hardware officer,” while his recently promoted lieutenant, Sri Santhanam, gets his PR debut as “vice president of Silicon Engineering Group.”)
The configurations from the Apple Store break down thusly:
| Model | CPU/GPU | Memory | Storage | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini — M6 | 12/12 | 16–32GB | 256GB–2TB | $899–$2,399 |
| Mac mini — M5 Pro | 15/16 | 24–64GB | 512GB–8TB | $1,699–$6,599 |
| Mac mini — M5 Pro | 18/20 | 24–64GB | 512GB–8TB | $1,899–$6,799 |
| Mac Studio — M5 Max | 18/32 | 36GB | 512GB–8TB | $2,499–$6,299 |
| Mac Studio — M5 Max | 18/40 | 48–128GB | 512GB–8TB | $3,099–$8,899 |
| Mac Studio — M5 Ultra | 30/64 | 96–256GB | 1TB–16TB | $5,499–$16,999 |
| Mac Studio — M5 Ultra | 36/80 | 96–256GB | 1TB–16TB | $6,799–$18,299 |
For some high-end Mac Studio configurations (for example, the M5 Max 18-core CPU/40-core GPU, 128GB memory, 512GB storage), ship dates are already into mid-October.
The timing of this press release is unusual, in two ways. First, an August announcement of new Mac hardware (including the first 2-nanometer Apple silicon chip) is rare in the modern Apple era. The last time I can recall an August announcement for a new Mac was in 2020, which brought an updated 27-inch iMac.
Second, the announcement comes about two weeks before Apple’s annual Fall iPhone event (September 9 is the consensus). We typically see new Macs a few weeks to a month later—usually mid- to late-October. Yet here we are, with pre-orders for the new Mac mini and Mac Studio starting today, and with availability starting September 22, two weeks after the Fall event.
Why announce (and take pre-orders) today, but not ship for a month? Perhaps Apple is using pre-orders to gauge interest and adjust its product mix. With huge prices for memory and storage, Apple does not want to build high-cost configurations that end up sitting around. Or, perhaps the “Fall iPhone” event will be a “new products” event, and Apple is clearing the decks of interesting-but-hardly-important hardware it doesn’t want distracting us from more exciting Macs (like the expected MacBook Pro “Ultra”).
Or perhaps Tim Cook simply wanted one more product press release under his belt before he hands John Ternus the reins in a week.