Next Mac Mini Will Reportedly Have Mismatched M6 and M5 Pro Chips

[Frantisekj]

Why is it a mismatch? More like various configuration options.

Seems like kind of an odd decision for an entry-level Mac. Maybe it's inventory related

I have a base M4 Mac mini with 24 GB of RAM. If they offered the M6 with 32GB of RAM, I might upgrade.

It would all make sense if they have M3 supporting 32 GB RAM. In era of AI bubble it will be more interesting machine for AI experiments bat may have not that big advantage over M5 in other computing areas so won't compete to M5 Pro too much.
The Apple base M6 chip is expected to feature a memory bandwidth of around 200 GB/s. That is like M2Pro and that was not bad machine for AI experiments.

 

[bodonnell202]

Makes sense considering there isn't going to be a M6 Pro. I have a feeling that the M6 is going to be a pretty small upgrade over the M5 and will likely still be built on a 3 nm process.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I'm curious, why?

In my case, which is mainly just business type apps with light multimedia but sometimes with moderate multitasking, 16 GB is very good and 24 GB is great.* 32 GB in my case would be overkill for the foreseeable future, although part of the reason is I don't use AI and I haven't tried macOS 27 yet either. Do you do development work or have more intensive multi-media requirements for example? Just wondering.

*16 GB in my workflow is fine but I do accumulate several GB worth of swap. That isn't the end of the world, but can sometimes causes pauses in the OS of a few seconds at a time, enough to be somewhat annoying once you notice them. With 24 GB I almost never have swap, and therefore I don't get those short pauses.

Yep! I’m running a local LLM that connects to my entire digital life—email, texts, contacts, to-do lists, workflows and analyzes a LOT of data for me. It processes MOST everything on-device for privacy and speed, which is essential for me. The M4 with 24 gigs handles it fine for now, but an M6 with 48 or more would let me run larger, more capable models without swapping or slowing down significantly.

 

[lapstags]

That m6 chip must be coming out soon

 

[mlayer]

Steve would never…
…oh wait…

Steve Jobs on 13-Inch MacBook Pro's Use of Intel Core 2 Duo Processors

Earlier today, Apple launched updated MacBook Pro models, moving its 15" and 17" models to Intel Core i5 and i7 processors utilizing integrated Intel graphics paired with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics cards. The new 13" MacBook Pro, however, continues to utilize Intel Core 2 Duo...

www.macrumors.com

Oops…
Also, another example of an email from Steve Jobs where he basically said, “we did it because we felt like it, just deal with it bro.” And then reverse that decision just a year later.

That was peak "figure out how to configure MacBook Pros from the Intel and nVidia parts bins" era. I have the preceding 2009 MBP, which has a C2D 7550 and a GeForce 9400. The frustration from the middling performance gains and the later falling out with nVidia paved to road to Apple Silicon.

 

[p96]

Mac mini and Mac Studio are very modular, also SSD flash module are changeable and you can find third party memory too.

I believe third-party memory ended at the introduction of Apple Silicon CPUs.

 

[seek3r]

I really miss the days when a Mac desktop (and laptops to some degree) could be opened, tinkered with, and hardware upgraded by users.

The current minis have socketed storage FWIW, and there are a couple third party upgrade options

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

What has stopped that was the invention of LPDDR5 RAM.

The "LP" means low power, and they reduced the power by removing the big drivers from the interconnect pins. These LP chips can only push the data over a VERY short length of wire, and it can't be just any kind of wire. The complex impedance (the combined effect of resistance and inductance) of the wire must be carefully controlled along with its path length too. The socket and the long wires extending from it make it impossible.

Today's computers are built by robots using nearly microscopic parts. If it were otherwise, they would perform like 1990's computers.

Just like with cars. If you want good gas mileage and very low emissions, you need to make it complex enough that special training and tools are needed to do work on it.

There is removable LPCAMM2 modules now. And removable SSD is everywhere in PC world.

Apple could do it, but they won't and it's not because they can't.

 

[ikir]

I believe third-party memory ended at the introduction of Apple Silicon CPUs.

No. There are plenty like this

Expand Mac mini

Expand Mac mini

expandmacmini.com

 

[switz]

I configured my two M4 Pro mini computers with 10Gb ethernet and 64GB of ram. One has a 2GB SSD as a file server and the other has the 8TB SSD as a full-fledged desk top computer for our summer place in the mountains. Both have a 27" Apple Studio Display

 

[EugW]

No. There are plenty like this

Expand Mac mini

Expand Mac mini

expandmacmini.com

Third party storage yes, but third party memory no.

 

[ikir]

The current minis have socketed storage FWIW, and there are a couple third party upgrade options

Most users are here to whine as always so they will barely check information and just down vote. Some links for the few who still read:

Expand Mac mini

Expand Mac mini

expandmacmini.com

M4 Mac Mini : Storage Expansion Module (2TB / 1TB)

Important Update on 2TB NAND Price (30th March 2026) Due to a permanent price increase from our suppliers for 2TB SanDisk and Kioxia NAND, we have had to adjust our pricing accordingly. This change is influenced by ongoing global supply conditions. Please proceed with your purchase only if you...

iboffrcc.com

 

[ikir]

Third party storage yes, but third party memory no.

Of course it is too difficult in a SoC. old hardware should be recycled or tasked to different uses, no way to expand ram/unified memory

 

[EugW]

Of course it is too difficult in a SoC. old hardware should be recycled or tasked to different uses, no way to expand ram/unified memory

You had said to @p96 third party memory was available. The issue was just terminology, but your post could confuse people.

 

[ikir]

There is removable LPCAMM2 modules now. And removable SSD is everywhere in PC world.

Apple could do it, but they won't and it's not because they can't.

Possible doesn’t mean viable, cheap or requested by most. LPCAMM2 is very rare too. Mac Mini M4 and all Mac Srudio has swappable flash, but the controller is not on the memory module. This is by design and security, so you need to pair and initialize flash memory.

 

[ikir]

You had said to @p96 third party memory was available. The issue was just terminology, but your post could confuse people.

Technically these are memory since the controller is on the logic board. People could try to understand instead of downvoting because someone interrupted their whine fest.

 

[Patroclus]

I sense a Mac Mini Ultra.

 

[teh_hunterer]

I really miss the days when a Mac desktop (and laptops to some degree) could be opened, tinkered with, and hardware upgraded by users.

What has that got to do with the article?

 

[Siliconguy]

We need the 64GB option back on the Mac mini so that it can run some of the larger AI LLMs!

That's probably will be available with the M5 Pro version. The M6 Mini will be the low end desktop (which is really stretching the definition of low end.)

So M-even for power efficiency and low cost, and M-odd (with extra cooling) for power of the other type and if you have to ask you can't afford it prices.

 

[teh_hunterer]

Don’t see how anyone could thumbs down this comment.

Because it's totally unrelated to the article. And because tinkering inside computers is something some people, myself included, certainly do not miss.

 

[Vincent Hanna]

More like a confusing purchase experience for some. Does a M5 Pro make it better than a non-pro M6? Unless you're a Macrumors chip nerd you might not know which configuration to order without some guidance other than price. The mini is more in the non-pro space unlike the studio.

The price is more than sufficient guidance. The M5 Pro Mac mini will be at least the same $1600 staring price as the current M4 Pro model. Regular people who might get confused by M6 vs M5 Pro SoCs are NOT buying this machine.

 

[EugW]

Technically these are memory since the controller is on the logic board. People could try to understand instead of downvoting because someone interrupted their whine fest.

Even better would be to use the more widely accepted terminology. Your post already led to some confusion in this very thread.

 

[Tagbert]

I'm old enough to remember when Apple said that Android was fragmented.

fragmentation is about functional differences and incompatibility of versions. This is not that. This is just different performance specs within a product line.

 

[Tagbert]

Why do we listen to this idiot. Mark Gurman is rarely right, and most of his “predictions” are so vague that even when he is wrong (usually) he claims otherwise.

Is 80+% right the hallmark of an idiot?

https://applescoop.org/source?id=mark-gurman

And often when he is wrong, it is about timing and other things that can change last minute. He is one of the better rumor sources.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy52]

I really miss the days when a Mac desktop (and laptops to some degree) could be opened, tinkered with, and hardware upgraded by users.

I hear you. I recently rehabbed an almost 40-year-old Mac SE. It's been recapped, upped to its max memory (4MB!), and is running an accelerator card. It also has a Pico PSU for the blown original PSU, and there's a BlueSCSI acting as the hard drive. The CRT is showing its age, which means I'll need to get creative in a few years and replace it with an LCD. I can't imagine someone doing that (or even wanting to) in 2066 with a current iMac. Current Macs aren't something that invite tinkering the way the old ones did (despite the fact that the classic Mac all-in-ones can be a bear to work in). Someone else said the aim of the Mac was to make it an appliance. I don't think that's the wrong interpretation, and we may be coming to the logical end of that, but I still don't like it.