Apple unveils M6, a 2nm chip with a 12-core CPU and GPU, and up to 32GB of unified memory, saying it provides "the world's fastest single-threaded performance" (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Apple recently unveiled the M6 chip in its latest Mac mini, marking the debut of the first commercially available 2-nanometer (2nm) chip. This means the transistors are incredibly tiny, allowing for more of them on the chip die, which results in higher clock speeds and better energy efficiency without the usual thermal drawbacks.

Apple has also introduced some intriguing changes to the chip's architecture. In their analysis of the M6 chip specs, the report reveals that the M6 chip boasts a 12-core CPU complex, an upgrade from the M5's 10-core, which is further divided into three tiers: two Super Cores for maximum burst speed, four performance cores for heavy, sustained tasks, and six efficiency cores for background processes.

The M6 also comes with a dual 16-core Neural Engine, providing up to 2x peak AI compute over previous generations, and a 12-core GPU with dedicated Neural Accelerators that offer a 30% boost in peak AI GPU compute over the M5. Furthermore, the memory capacity has been increased to 32GB of unified memory in the Mac mini, and the memory bandwidth has reached 170 GB/s, a 10% improvement over the M5 and a 2.5x increase compared to the original M1.

With these enhancements, the report suggests that the M6 chip is a significant upgrade over the M1 and M5, offering better performance, AI capabilities, and memory bandwidth. While the price of the new Mac mini starts at $899, it's worth considering for users who are ready to move away from their M1 or M5 machines, especially those who require sustained multithreaded horsepower or local AI capabilities.