Angeschaut und ausprobiert: Apples neuer Mac Mini im Alltagstest: Schneller und teurer

Apple's latest iteration of the Mac mini, released two years ago, has attracted a new fanbase, including experts and companies utilizing the device for local AI model operations. The recent refresh of the Mac mini with updated chips placed AI at the forefront, alongside Apple's own AI-driven features. The new built-in M6 chip is designed to ensure the device's versatility for the future.

Functionality-wise, the device remains outwardly unchanged, featuring two USB-C ports, a headphone jack on the front, and three Thunderbolt-4 ports and an HDMI output on the back. It still supports up to three connected monitors. The heart of the refreshed Mac mini is the M6 chip, which boasts more processing cores, greater energy efficiency, and faster memory data transmission.

Various benchmark tests, such as Geekbench and Cinebench, consistently show the Mac mini with the M6 chip performing significantly better than its M4 predecessor. This performance boost is evident in concrete applications like exporting 4K video from a video editing app, which runs slightly faster on the M6 model. Moreover, the device handles image and video editing without overheating and does not struggle with Apple's new AI features, such as the enhanced Siri assistant.

However, for ordinary users, the performance gain compared to the M4 model may go unnoticed. Compared to previous chip generations, such as the M1, the difference is more noticeable. The price jump is more significant when considering earlier chip generations like the M1, which was already a great deal at its launch price of 699 euros.

The rapid expansion of AI data centers has made memory chips more expensive, affecting the entire electronics industry. The entry price for the Mac mini with the M6 chip is now 1,049 euros, and it comes with 16 gigabytes of RAM and 256 gigabytes of storage. The tested version with 24 gigabytes of RAM and 512 gigabytes of storage costs 1,489 euros.

Despite the general cost explosion, these prices remain reasonable for a powerful and durable computer, but the offering is no longer as attractive as it was two years ago.