Apple refreshes Mac mini and Mac Studio with new M6 and M5 Ultra chips - Engadget

They're faster but much more expensive than previous generations. Apple hasn't forgotten about the Mac mini, after all. The company's popular diminutive desktop is getting refreshed today with a brand new M6 chip, while the Mac Studio is getting bumped up to the M5 Max and new M5 Ultra chips. Curiously, the Mac mini didn't get an upgrade to the M5 chip last year, but you'll be able to upgrade the newer model to an M5 Pro if you need more power. Pricing, unfortunately, has gotten worse since Apple's latest hikes: The Mac mini now starts at $899 with the M6 chip ($100 more than before, with a meager 256GB of storage), while the Mac Studio starts at $2,499 with M5 Max. The Mac Studio with an M5 Ultra will run you at least $5,499. Over the last few years, AI aficionados have been buying up Mac minis en masse to run local models and AI assistants. With the M6 chip, Apple's first 2-nanometer design, the company seems to be making the Mac mini an even better AI workhorse for hobbyists. It's a 12-core chip, powered by two super cores, four performance cores and six efficiency cores. In comparison, the M5 was a 9 or 10-core offering with up to four super and six efficiency cores. The M6 als