25 August,2026 08:40 PM IST | Mumbai | Preshit Deorukhkar
Mac mini with M5 Pro redefines what’s possible on such a small desktop, Apple said. Pic/Apple Newsroom
Apple has launched the new Mac mini and Mac Studio, powered by the all-new M6, M5 Pro, M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, promising major gains in on-device AI performance, graphics and storage. Both machines are available for pre-order in India starting today, with the Mac mini starting at Rs 99,990 and the Mac Studio starting at Rs 2,79,900.
Apple on Tuesday unveiled two major updates to its desktop Mac lineup - the new Mac mini, now powered by the all-new M6 and the more powerful M5 Pro chips, and the new Mac Studio, featuring the M5 Max and the all-new M5 Ultra. These chips build upon the M5 series introduced earlier this year.
Apple said the new chips mark its biggest leap yet in on-device AI performance, positioning both desktops as always-on machines for what the company calls the agentic AI era.
"It's the little Mac that can do it all," said Johny Srouji, Apple's chief hardware officer, of the new Mac mini. He also added that the new chips make the new Mac Studio "our most powerful Mac ever."
The Mac mini with M6 delivers up to 4x faster AI performance, 2x faster graphics and storage, and 40 per cent faster CPU performance compared with the M4 chip, according to Apple.
The chip packs a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in every core for the first time on the Mac mini. It also features a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, with unified memory configurable up to 32GB.
The more powerful Mac mini with M5 Pro is aimed at professional workflows such as video production and game development. It features up to an 18-core CPU, a 20-core GPU, and up to 64GB of unified memory. 2.5Gb Ethernet for faster wired connectivity now comes as standard, with 10Gb Ethernet still available as an upgrade.
On the Mac Studio, the M5 Max chip comes with an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU, supporting up to 128GB of unified memory. The all-new M5 Ultra scales further to a 36-core CPU, an 80-core GPU and a maximum 512GB of unified memory, which Apple said delivers up to 4.3 times the peak AI compute performance of the previous-generation M3 Ultra. Both new Mac mini and Mac Studio models get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for the first time, along with Thunderbolt 5 connectivity that lets multiple systems be clustered together to speed up AI inference tasks.
Both machines ship with the upcoming macOS 27, which brings Siri AI - Apple's more capable, personal version of its voice assistant - along with the next generation of Apple Intelligence across apps like Safari, Photos and Shortcuts. These AI capabilities parallel the recent iOS 27 updates announced at WWDC 2026.
Pre-orders for both the Mac mini and Mac Studio opened in India on August 25 via the Apple Store online and app, with deliveries beginning September 22. The Mac mini with M6 starts at Rs 99,990, while the M5 Pro variant starts at Rs 2,09,900. The Mac Studio with M5 Max starts at Rs 2,79,900, and the M5 Ultra variant starts at Rs 6,29,900, with the 512GB unified memory configuration arriving in late October. The pricing strategy reflects the broader trend of rising memory costs seen across Apple's recent hardware releases.
