Apple announced last August 25 the new Mac mini with chip M6 and M5 Proand starting this Tuesday September 22 You can now have them at home. If you have been thinking about renewing your desktop computer for a while or you come from a Mac with Intel, you now have two very different paths depending on how much you want to spend and what you need it for. Let's see how they differ and which one suits you best.
The range has been restructured from top to bottom. The usual compact design remains intact, but entry prices have risen significantly compared to the previous generation. The Mac mini M6 starts from $899 (899 euros), compared to the $599 that the M4 cost. The M5 Pro, for its part, starts in $1,699 (1,699 euros) and is aimed at those who need much more power. Part of the reason for this rise is the increase in the cost of memory and other components, something that has marked the entire generation. The key to choosing well is not so much in the name of the chip as in the unified memory and the type of connections that you are going to use every day.
The M6, the balanced option for daily work and programming
With this model you have a CPU and GPU 12 cores, 16 GB of unified starting memory (expandable up to 32 GB) and up to 2 TB of SSD storage. In connectivity, it has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, two front USB-C, HDMI, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread and 2.5 Gb Ethernet, with an option to 10 Gb. It supports up to three screens: two 6K and one 5K.
It is the machine that serves the majority: browsing, working with office automation, editing photos, programming or any general productivity task moves it without problem. It is also the most sensible option if you come from a Mac with an Intel processor or an older model with an Apple silicon chip, because the jump in performance is noticeable in any daily task. If you are a student, the educational price drops to $799which makes it even more interesting. Of course, if you plan to run artificial intelligence models locally that weigh a lot, the limit of 32 GB of RAM is going to fall short sooner than you think.
When the M5 Pro makes up for its pro price
Here we go up to 15 cores of CPU and 16 GPU, with the possibility of upgrading to 18 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores for $200 more. Storage also takes a leap: it reaches up to 8TB of SSD, compared to the 2 TB of the M6. But what really makes the difference is the memory: you can configure up to 64GB of unified memory, with a bandwidth of 307 GB/s compared to the 153 or 170 GB/s of the M6, depending on the configuration. It also debuts three Thunderbolt 5 ports and supports up to three 6K displays.
This is your Mac mini if you work daily with heavy development, 3D rendering, professional video editing or want to run large LLM models locally. The memory cannot be expanded after purchase, so it is advisable to think carefully about the initial configuration before paying: the price jumps when increasing memory or storage are quite pronounced, so the final outlay can quickly move away from those $1,699 starting price.
What to expect if you prefer not to buy yet
If your current Mac still has you covered, there's no rush to switch. Discounts usually improve a few weeks after launch, and there are two dates worth keeping an eye on: October Prime Day and the November Black Friday. It may also pay to wait for more refurbished M4 units to appear, which often come at a good price when other users upgrade equipment.
Mac mini M6 FAQ Apple announced them on August 25, 2026 and the first shipments begin on September 22 of that same year.
The Mac mini M6 reaches up to 32 GB of unified memory, while the M5 Pro allows you to configure up to 64 GB.
The M6 starts at $899 (899 euros) and the M5 Pro starts at $1,699 (1,699 euros), not counting extensions.
When do the new Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro start arriving?
How much unified memory does each model support?
What is the price difference between the M6 and the M5 Pro?
