Apple's new M6 Mac Mini and Mac Studio are faster – but the price hike is MASSIVE!
Photographer's favorite computer gets a spec bump – but it comes at a much higher price. This can't just be the chip crisis?
Apple has unveiled new iterations of the Mac Mini and Mac Studio, both powered by the latest M6 and M5 Pro processors, accompanied by a substantial price increase. The M-series processors, built on the ARM architecture, are classified by generation. For instance, the M5 and M6 are the latest generations, with more powerful versions marked by the suffix "Pro" and "Ultra," each equipped with more cores and bandwidth.
The M6 processor boasts 12 cores, consisting of six efficiency cores, four performance cores, and two system management cores. It also features a 12-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine for on-board AI, and a built-in Media Engine for accelerated encoding and decoding in various formats. The M5 Pro, on the other hand, has a higher starting point with a 307 GB/s memory bandwidth, provided by either 15 CPU and 16 GPU cores or 18 CPU and 20 GPU cores.
RAM options for the M6 include 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB, while the M5 Pro and M6 Pro offer 48GB and 64GB options. In terms of storage, the base M6 model starts at 256GB, expandable up to 2TB, whereas M5 Pro models begin at 512GB and can go up to 8TB.
The entry price for the previous Mac Mini, with 16GB RAM and 256 storage, was $599, which rose to $799 after Apple's May price increase. The new M6 with the same configuration is now priced at $899 or £799. This price jump represents either a doubling of the cost compared to a year ago or a 12.5% increase since last week's model.
Although Apple claims that the new chips deliver 20% more multithreaded performance, with a 2nm process, the improvements in memory bandwidth and overall performance seem incremental. While creators may appreciate the efficiency gains and faster processing, the average user may not find it compelling enough to upgrade from an existing M6 or even an M4 Mac Mini. However, for heavy video processing tasks, the M6 may offer notable advantages, with up to 4.8x faster performance in specific scenarios.
On the other hand, the Mac Mini's lower price point may deter those who don't require such high-end specifications, effectively making the Mac range less accessible to a broader audience. The Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra models, along with the new Mac Mini, are now available for pre-order and are set to ship on September 22, marking Tim Cook's final product announcement before John Ternus takes over as CEO with the upcoming iPhone unveiling.
Written by urgent.news from Digital Camera World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.