New Mac Mini and Mac Studio: 13 Things You Might Have Missed

[benzqn]

I was planning to upgrade from my max 4 studio 36GB to Max 5 256GB to run larger local LLMs. But I can spend a lot on even the most expensive cloud AI providers and still save...looks like I keep the max 4

 

[dragoon2745]

The SSD uses PCIe Gen 5 not Gen 6. Gen 6 is not available on consumer desktop computers yet.

 

[Elwe]

To the original article poster or a site editor:

“

• Neural Engine - The M6 chip has an upgraded Neural Engine with two 16-core engines instead of just one. Apple says the new Neural Engine offers 2x more peak compute so AI workflows run faster.

“

The word “more” should be removed. Apple states two times the peak performance for such a workload, not three times (or two times more).

 

[california_kid]

Damn, I should store my NVMe drives in a safe now.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Great... it's ordered, the most expensive and smallest computer I ever owned. Bad time to order as it's 2k over what it used to be, but my M1 and its never ending bluetooth problems have to go at some point.

What kind of problems?

 

[Fortyrunner]

The article says “since the 27-inch iMac debuted in August 2020.”.
If only they had.

 

[GregoryPeckEPA]

I'm getting the feeling that these are the chips and the power everyone's been asking for. Yet, with elevated RAM costs, I'm sure most of these computers are a little out of reach!

The Mac mini Pro now costs as much as the M1 Max Studio did in Canada. W T F! Since covid everyone just went insane. Housing, food, now electronics. All for a dead internet and AI slop. Sorta feels like they all know something we don’t!

 

[0423MAC]

this further strengthens my belief that apple is going to be one of the few companies that profits the most from this AI hellscape we are currently in. They "invest" in AI where they see it can benefit their products, while raising their products where they see fit.

openAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft are all spending a ridiculous amount of money for services that will inevitably go down in price consumers expect to pay. nvidia is making money hand over fists too and once it all comes crashing back down they still have their dominant position in the gaming market to fall back on.

$900 starting entry price for a Mac Mini.

 

[GregoryPeckEPA]

I will continue to use my M1 Max Studio for the foreseeable future. I have a backup M4 mini I got for $349 just in case Apple decides to sideline macOS updates for M1 family chips.

I went back to Sequoia during Xmas. Runs like a champ. There is no reason to suck up your storage space with AI slop and liquid glass.

Don’t be fooled by all of Apple’s claims that each new iteration is 40% faster than the last. Sure the M3 got some architectural changes, but for the most part, they haven’t scaled Apple silicon near to what marketing says it has. Apple will likely plan obsolescence the M1 in a couple of years, but again, don’t let that fool you. The M1 Max (10/32 core) will take you well into 2035. Especially with the way tech is headed. Seems like it’s been regressing since 2020!

 

[GregoryPeckEPA]

this further strengthens my belief that apple is going to be one of the few companies that profits the most from this AI hellscape we are currently in. They "invest" in AI where they see it can benefit their products, while raising their products where they see fit.

openAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft are all spending a ridiculous amount of money for services that will inevitably go down in costs. nvidia is making money hand over fists too and once it all comes crashing back down they still have their dominant position in the gaming market to fall back on.

$900 starting entry price for a Mac Mini.

The biggest boom for Apple is they make the lion’s share from hardware sales. By soaking up these fictional cost increases and then jacking up retail prices, on top of already ridiculously high prices they’ve enjoyed for decades, they will probably report their highest earnings come Q4. The rich will fork out the cash without blinking while all us poors sit around with nothing. Once all that dries up, they’ll release a drastically cutback iPhone for a second round of looting.

Cook did nothing for his customer base throughout this mess other than bleed them dry. Quietly kept all those tariff refunds too, which came in at a tune of $2.5B.

Apple is dead to me.

 

[Korito]

My American friends.. If I can pay more than $4000 for 64GB M4 Max studio (last summer), you can give $2500 for M5 Max. Mind you, your wages are several times higher than what we have here. So...You can do it! 😀

 

[LFO8]

$500 because of RAM prices? Yeah, no, absolutely not. Apple disgusts me. They've always been greedy but they're breaking some new barriers. They no longer get to say they care about anyone or anything other than capitalism and cash.

And, from what I understand the 500,- increase is comparing the new base model M5 Studio with the current M4 MAX model? That would be even crazier.

Absolutely outrageous times to be buying any computing device (desktop, phone or otherwise).

Glad I am set with my iPhone 17 but looking at my M1 iMac with dread..

 

[LFO8]

The Mac mini Pro now costs as much as the M1 Max Studio did in Canada. W T F! Since covid everyone just went insane. Housing, food, now electronics. All for a dead internet and AI slop. Sorta feels like they all know something we don’t!

Yes, “they” do. They know they’ll always be able to pass the increased cost of doing business on to the customer.

 

[idontbyte]

very happy I picked up an AMD 395+ Max 128GB for $2500 rather than wait for these rip offs. Yes RAM is pricy right now, but it’s not THAT Pricy.

 

[keksikuningas]

Mac Mini M6 16/256 being 1000e is just atrocious. I hate this chip shortage so much

 

[Kwstas]

Very nice, but I’ll wait for the forthcoming global economic collapse and get them at a better price.

 

[profcutter]

Genlock!? This is HUGE for video production! How you found the equivalent of an understated footnote on Apple’s press release (vs anywhere on their website product tech specs) is why you guys are the BEST!

Everything old is new again, just like the old Amigas.

 

[iGeek2019]

Pricing aside (and I fully appreciate there are many reasons why they are so expensive compared to previous models) – it’ll be ‘interesting’ to see future trade-in values, especially for anyone who maxes out the configurations…

 

[Donka]

Just the 50% price increase for the base mini???? Come on Apple, at least make it start at 512GB storage for that price point!
The M4 mini was a bargain at the time but it was obviously still making them money so finding this price hike less than appetising. Not seeing the value of the new mini anymore.

 

[Le0M]

The starting price for there Mini is ridiculous, Apple is devolving not evolving
Not a great way to start off a new CEO's tenure.

Thernus won't be in charge for another week.

 

[paulvee]

Look up what a loaded Mac Pro from 2009 would cost in today’s dollars. We have all been lucky to have had Macs get cheaper for years now. I don’t like this, but I’m not shocked. Glad I got a new machine last year. Time to wait this one out.

 

[Big_D]

The 512GB SSD starting for Mac Studio is borderline criminal in 2026 sigh

Given the current climate, just be thankful that it is still 512GB and they haven't reduced it to 64GB, with 4GB RAM! 😁

The price increases are along the lines we've seen with other suppliers at work. Our laptops and desktops are around 50% more expensive than this time last year and the servers prices are so high, we're actually sitting out a refresh cycle. Our US office has seen laptop prices almost double, because we don't buy many in the US and don't get the same discounts we do in Germany.

 

[moodler]

Anybody found any data on how much faster the M5 Ultra will be than the M5 Max ?

 

[Big_D]

It is ridiculous, useless and as someone else said borderline criminal that they are delivering baseline models of a
Mac Studio with 512. ???
Mac Mini with 256. ????
Really? As in raising the prices is not enough that they need to keep this absurd unusable baseline RAMs?
Someone tell Apple we are on 2026 and Mac Mini/Studios are NOT phones... 🙁

Somebody tell the AI companies not to hog all the RAM and SSD production, so that the rest of the industry has a chance.

If Apple upped the size of the SSDs, the base prices would also dramatically increase. Prices naked for SSDs, without Apple's price gouging, have nearly doubled in the last 12 months. RAM prices have doubled or tripled in that time. We bought 1TB RAM for a server last year and it cost under $2K, looking online, it is being offered for north of $10K now!

Why do you think Apple, Google and Microsoft, after years of neglect, have all suddenly started working on optimizing their operating systems to use less memory and less storage?

Be thankful that Apple hasn't done a Google (yet, the new iPhones haven't been released yet), and haven't reduced the RAM on their flagship devices. The new Google 11 Pro (XL) has dropped from 16GB to 12GB RAM on the base model.

 

[macguy167]

I’ll say it here first: The prices is not really a problem - get used to it. Maybe even a small majority of the western hemisphere population has SO MUCH money these days from stocket markets that just continues going UP regardless of real world problems, interest rates, wars and MASSIVE depth risk. A
dd to that their massive gains on real estate in the big cities, and you have a recipie for hyper inflation in the coming years.

Dude, I’m NOT selling my house or stock just to buy a crappy-priced Apple Computer!