Those lasers better not be blue or I won't be able to sleep properly.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What to Expect From the Next Mac Mini
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
1. i'm hoping there's a 4TB option on the standard M5 that is after-market upgradable like the current M4. would be nice.
2. i hope this mac mini and the new budget macbook come out at the exact same time, so i can decide which one to get. my m7 macbook (2016) is on its last leg.
2. i hope this mac mini and the new budget macbook come out at the exact same time, so i can decide which one to get. my m7 macbook (2016) is on its last leg.
SpanishAppleNerd
macrumors 6502
no, it's m7 actually.
the 2016 model has intel branded m7,
the 2017 model has the intel branded i7 (which is actually just purely a marketing thing
because it had the two cores and ran low clock speed slightly higher than the m5 of the same generation)
sorry for my nerdiness,
the m5 itself thermal throttles within seconds and was too 'powerful' for the cooling design.
m7 is even worse.
so literally any chips intel made at the time would underperform their low performance on the 12-inch macbook
LOL!!!
p.s. see the forum for the thermal pad mod (which helped meaningfully but still it does throttle even after that)
LOL
Attachments
SpanishAppleNerd
macrumors 6502
Wut? You can buy the studio with 256gb (and you could buy it with 512GB until about a month ago, when either RAM supply issues, availability on the M3 Ultra with a refresh coming up, or both, took it out of availability for now)
Populus
macrumors 604
Answering the topic question: I expect it to come with an M5 and M5 Pro.
However, I expect changes regarding the base storage. Maybe we finally get 512GB on the base M5 Mac mini, and 1TB on the M5 Pro Mac mini… that would be a pleasant surprise, put it in line with the M5 MacBook Pro and Air, and give customers a workable minimum storage. Yeah, 128GB was offensively small and prone to give headaches, and the current 256GB is more manageable, but still, with a few big files you end up having to rely on external storage.
We’ll see if they keep the prices or raise them by 100€. But in any case, I think the new storage space of 512GB and 1TB for the more professional lineup is worth the small price bump.
Now that I’m set to purchase a Mac mini, my struggle is, similar to what I had during the launch of the M4 model, between the regular M5 with 32GB of RAM, and the M5 Pro with 48GB of RAM.
Because I’ve decided that down the line I’ll probably want to play with local LLMs and RAG systems, I don’t want to get less than 32GB. Otherwise the M5 Pro with 24GB would seem like the most value option… but I’m afraid 24GB won’t be enough for whatever the future of local LLMs holds.
If the price is too crazy, above the 2.000€ mark, then I guess I’ll stick with an M5 with 32GB of RAM. Also there’s the heat issue, as the M4 Pro Mac mini got significantly hot when I tried it… whereas the regular M4 Mac mini managed to keep itself fresh with all sorts of tasks.
If the M5 Pro is less efficient or hotter than the M4 Pro, then the decision is quite clear, as I want a machine that will last me many many years and the heat is a factor that can accelerate any logic board failure.
However, I expect changes regarding the base storage. Maybe we finally get 512GB on the base M5 Mac mini, and 1TB on the M5 Pro Mac mini… that would be a pleasant surprise, put it in line with the M5 MacBook Pro and Air, and give customers a workable minimum storage. Yeah, 128GB was offensively small and prone to give headaches, and the current 256GB is more manageable, but still, with a few big files you end up having to rely on external storage.
We’ll see if they keep the prices or raise them by 100€. But in any case, I think the new storage space of 512GB and 1TB for the more professional lineup is worth the small price bump.
Now that I’m set to purchase a Mac mini, my struggle is, similar to what I had during the launch of the M4 model, between the regular M5 with 32GB of RAM, and the M5 Pro with 48GB of RAM.
Because I’ve decided that down the line I’ll probably want to play with local LLMs and RAG systems, I don’t want to get less than 32GB. Otherwise the M5 Pro with 24GB would seem like the most value option… but I’m afraid 24GB won’t be enough for whatever the future of local LLMs holds.
If the price is too crazy, above the 2.000€ mark, then I guess I’ll stick with an M5 with 32GB of RAM. Also there’s the heat issue, as the M4 Pro Mac mini got significantly hot when I tried it… whereas the regular M4 Mac mini managed to keep itself fresh with all sorts of tasks.
If the M5 Pro is less efficient or hotter than the M4 Pro, then the decision is quite clear, as I want a machine that will last me many many years and the heat is a factor that can accelerate any logic board failure.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
Populus
macrumors 604
By the way, I just checked the base M4 Mac mini as well as the M4 Pro Mac mini availability for in-store pick up, and in both cases M4 and M4 Pro, there isn’t stock in any store of my country (Spain) until April’s 29th.
Some variants such as the regular M4 Mac mini with some extra RAM, such as the 216GB/24GB variant, are available on a few stores across the country. But overall, April 29th is the earliest.
I’m sharing this info just in case it rings any bell on you, or gives us hope to help waiting for the M5 mini.
Some variants such as the regular M4 Mac mini with some extra RAM, such as the 216GB/24GB variant, are available on a few stores across the country. But overall, April 29th is the earliest.
I’m sharing this info just in case it rings any bell on you, or gives us hope to help waiting for the M5 mini.
Populus
macrumors 604
This, with all due respect, doesn’t have the supply-chain logic that Tim Cook’s Apple follows.
Think about it: the M6 is a special step, means the adoption of a novel process node that hasn’t been shipped yet, and it’s debuting on a whole new machine: the OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro. A machine that will be substantially more expensive.
We know, based on most rumors, that this new 2nm process is substantially more expensive to manufacture, with lower yields compared to the already fully mature N3E (M4) and N3P (M5) node. There were also many rumors pointing to a possible price increase of the devices to offset the price increase of the 2nm chips…
This indicates me that the first 2nm products will go to both high volume products and big margin products (i.e: expensive products).
During 2026, this products will probably be the new, super expensive OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro (M6) and the upcoming iPhone Fold and 18 Pro (A20), leaving all the other products on the 3nm family of SoCs to maximize the benefits for at least one year.
The Mac mini is the opposite to what I described. It is a low volume, low cost product, the entry level Mac up until the launch of the MacBook Neo.
I am quite confident that, once the other M5 Macs demand has been met (mainly the MacBook Air) and the M5 supply chain is ready, we’ll see the M5 and M5 Pro Mac mini, as well as the M5 Max (and maybe the ultra as well?) Mac Studio. And not only that. I feel like both the Mac mini and the Mac Studio will remain on the M5 family for a long, long time, due to how expensive and low yield the 2nm process is.
Maybe after the M5 release for the desktop Macs, we won’t see another Mac mini or Studio until the M7 generation. Just remember what happened when the new 3nm chips -also with extremely low yield- were released during the M3 gen: no mini and no Studio. Well, the M3 Ultra is an exception I guess.
My gut feeling based on the supply chain situation, is that the M5, as a chip built on a mature and cheap process node, will be a long stop for many devices. Hopefully the iPhone 18 and 18e will receive an A20 in march 2027, even if binned.
Last edited:
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
I guess what I’m getting it is I’m not 100% convinced in the mini is going to stay positioned how it is.
I worry it will be susceptible to providing way too much value for the price, and either get a price increase or a spec decrease or both.
Populus
macrumors 604
Shhhh… careful. I had similar thoughts but I prefer to not mention them because… it would be a very Tim Apple thing to do. I’m not writing here the possibilities because I don’t want them to happen, but as you said, it is the best value product for a long shot.
Given what happened to the M5 MacBook Pro I’d say that average selling price increases if Apple doubles storage on a m5 Mac mini while adding 100 dollars, pounds or euros to each tier price. Not really an issue unless people really expected to buy an m5/16/256 Mac mini as base unit would become m5/16/512 for 699 in my opinion. And m4 units could stay in the channel for third party retailers to sell cheap for at least a short time.
Given the way that things are going with supply chain more profit per unit would be better for Apple.
Don’t ever recall a specific decrease whereas straight up price round the world can happen due to exchange rates the only time the US dollar price changes is upwards when base spec is increased in some way - usually because of a value added feature such as more storage, possibly OLED screens in future.
It might be feasible for m6 to launch later this year but wouldn’t be surprised if m6 pro and max skus are delayed into next year. This alone means Apple would either have to split the Mac mini line like they did with the Mac Studio ultra vs max lines or the MacBook Pro m5 vs m4 pro/max or stick with an available cheaper cpu line - m5 series is available now with pro variants and is likely cheaper to manufacture than m6 will be.
They’d also want to get devices off m4 to re-establish a single core advantage over the a18 pro in the MacBook neo although the low ram and storage is likely also a limiting factor for people who might be considering a MacBook Air.