Apple unveils new Mac mini and Mac Studio with a stronger push into AI workloads

Apple has introduced new Mac mini and Mac Studio models as it leans harder into AI computing, saying more users are turning to Apple computers to build and run AI agents. In a Tuesday announcement, the company said its chips for iPhone and Mac include a dedicated Neural Engine for running AI models, along with a RAM architecture designed to reduce some memory bottlenecks. The new Mac mini comes in M6 and M5 Pro versions, priced in mainland China from RMB 6,999 and RMB 12,999. Apple described the desktop as suitable for around-the-clock agent computing and said it can stay on a desk for long-running AI agent tasks. The M6 is Apple’s first 2nm M-series chip, with both the CPU and GPU moving to 12 cores, while each GPU core adds a neural acceleration unit for the first time. Apple said AI performance can reach up to 4x that of the M4 version. Memory starts at 16GB and goes up to 32GB on the M6 model, with bandwidth rising to 170GB/s. Apple also said prompt processing speeds for large models in LM Studio can be as much as 4.8x faster than the M4 version. The M5 Pro model supports up to 64GB of unified memory and 307GB/s of bandwidth. Both versions add Wi‑Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port, with sales starting on Sept. 22.