Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) unveiled new Mac mini and Mac Studio desktop computers on Tuesday, touting faster processing power aimed at running artificial intelligence applications locally rather than in the cloud.
Developers have increasingly turned to the desktop machines to host AI agents on-device, avoiding cloud computing costs.
The new Mac mini lineup starts at $899, a $100 increase from the previous model. That earlier version had itself been marked up from $599 over the summer due to rising memory costs.
Preorders for the new machines begin today, with availability starting September 22.
The base M6 Mac mini features a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, with up to 32GB of unified memory. Apple said the chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance and up to 4x faster AI performance compared with the M4 model it replaces.
A higher-end M5 Pro Mac mini starts at $1,699 and includes up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU, with up to 64GB of unified memory and 307GB/s of memory bandwidth. Apple said the chip can process large language model prompts up to 8.5 times faster than the M2 Pro.
Both models add support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The M5 Pro version also includes Thunderbolt 5, which Apple said can be used to link multiple Mac minis together for running larger AI models locally.