New Mac mini and Mac Studio models are now on sale
Apple started selling its latest Mac mini and Mac Studio desktop computers on September 22, 2026. The Mac mini is available with M6 or M5 Pro, while the Mac Studio offers M5 Max and M5 Ultra configurations.
Apple originally announced the computers and opened preorders on August 25. The latest update concerns their retail availability: the new Macs are now arriving to customers and are available through Apple Stores, Apple’s online store, the Apple Store app and authorized resellers in launch markets.
Mac mini and Mac Studio prices
Starting prices in the United States, before local taxes, are:
Mac mini with M6 — from $899;
Mac mini with M5 Pro — from $1,699;
Mac Studio with M5 Max — from $2,499;
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra — from $5,499.
Pricing and available configurations vary by country. A monitor, keyboard and mouse are not included as standard with Apple’s desktop Macs.
The top Mac Studio configuration with 512GB of unified memory is not yet available. Apple says it will arrive in late October.
Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro
The standard Mac mini features Apple’s new M6 chip with a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU. Each GPU core includes a Neural Accelerator designed to speed up machine-learning workloads.
The computer starts with 16GB of unified memory and can be configured with up to 32GB. Memory bandwidth reaches 170GB/s.
According to Apple’s internal testing, the M6 Mac mini provides:
up to four times faster AI performance than the M4 Mac mini;
up to twice the graphics performance;
up to 40% faster CPU performance;
up to 4.8 times faster local LLM prompt processing in LM Studio.
The M5 Pro model is intended for more demanding professional workloads. It can be configured with an 18-core CPU, a GPU with up to 20 cores and as much as 64GB of unified memory with 307GB/s of bandwidth.
This version targets software development, video production, 3D graphics, scientific simulations and larger local AI models. The M5 Pro configuration also supports Thunderbolt 5, while the M6 model uses Thunderbolt 4.
Both models include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5Gb Ethernet, with 10Gb Ethernet available as an option.
Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra
Mac Studio remains Apple’s most powerful desktop computer. The M5 Max version has an 18-core CPU, a GPU configurable with up to 40 cores and support for up to 128GB of unified memory.
Maximum memory bandwidth reaches 614GB/s. Apple says LLM prompt processing in LM Studio can be up to 3.9 times faster than on the previous Mac Studio with M4 Max.
The M5 Ultra version raises the specifications to a CPU with up to 36 cores, a GPU with up to 80 cores and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth. It supports as much as 512GB of unified memory, although that configuration will not ship until late October.
This amount of memory allows the computer to load large open-weight language models that would not fit into the video memory of most conventional personal computers.
Mac Studio also supports Thunderbolt 5 with transfer speeds of up to 120Gb/s. RDMA support allows multiple Mac Studio systems to be connected as a cluster for distributed AI workloads. According to Apple, a cluster can deliver up to three times faster AI inference than a single Mac Studio.
Apple’s shift toward local AI
Apple is marketing its new desktop computers as more than systems for video production, software development and 3D graphics. Running generative AI directly on the device is now one of their primary use cases.
With local AI, the model runs on the computer instead of a remote cloud server. This approach can provide several advantages:
sensitive information does not need to be sent to a third-party cloud service;
downloaded models can operate without a constant internet connection;
there is no separate charge for every prompt or token;
local AI agents can remain active for extended periods;
businesses can deploy their own models inside private infrastructure.
Local processing will not replace cloud AI in every situation. The largest models require considerable memory, and a high-end Mac Studio with M5 Ultra costs far more upfront than a conventional AI subscription.
The Mac mini is therefore better suited to personal models, automation and experimentation. Mac Studio targets developers, researchers, creative studios and businesses that need higher performance and want to keep their data locally.
Which models are available now
The Mac mini with M6 or M5 Pro and most Mac Studio configurations with M5 Max or M5 Ultra have been available since September 22.
The exception is the top Mac Studio option with 512GB of unified memory. Apple plans to start selling that configuration in late October.
Sources: Mac mini and Mac Studio sales announcement, Mac mini announcement, Mac Studio announcement.