Redakcja Choose TV
Apple has decided to place a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence in the latest Mac mini. The compact computer has been fitted with new M6 and M5 Pro chips, which are designed to cope with both everyday tasks and demanding AI workloads. The company also emphasises the ability to run large models locally without relying on the cloud. The new Mac mini is intended to be a small computer that can run continuously as an AI workstation.
Mac mini with M6 is to be a true AI machine
Apple says the base Mac mini with the M6 chip delivers up to 4 times higher AI performance compared with its M4 predecessor. The new chip features a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU. For the first time, each GPU core includes Neural Accelerator units designed for AI tasks. Apple also claims up to twice the graphics performance compared with the Mac mini with M4. AI workloads are also handled by a 16-core Neural Engine, whose performance is said to be twice that of before. The Mac mini M6 comes with 16 GB of unified memory in the base configuration, expandable to 32 GB. Memory bandwidth is now 170 GB/s, which should improve working with multiple applications simultaneously. Apple also points to running AI models locally, creating agents, and generating and modifying content without sending data to external servers. According to the manufacturer, processing LLM prompts in LM Studio can be up to 4.8 times faster than on a Mac mini with M4. For games using ray tracing, Apple says performance can be up to twice as high. All of this fits into the Mac mini's characteristic compact enclosure.
M5 Pro turns the compact Mac into a professional workstation
An even more capable option is the variant equipped with M5 Pro. The chip can have up to 18 CPU cores and 20 GPU cores, making it suited to the most demanding workloads. Apple targets this model at people working in video editing, 3D graphics, game development and advanced computing. The M5 Pro supports up to 64 GB of unified RAM with a bandwidth of as much as 307 GB/s. This should allow the machine to run larger AI models directly on the device. For LM Studio, Apple even claims up to four times faster processing of LLM commands than the Mac mini with the M4 Pro. Ray-traced rendering in Blender is said to be up to 1.4 times faster than the previous generation. Another notable addition is the presence of three Thunderbolt 5 ports. They allow multiple Mac minis to be connected into a single compute cluster for working with large AI models. There is also Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5 Gb/s Ethernet with an optional 10 Gb/s. The Mac mini M5 Pro could therefore be one of the more interesting compact computers for people who want to run demanding AI tools locally.
The new Mac mini marks a clear change in the direction Apple is taking with its smallest computer. The M6 is designed to deliver a significant boost in AI performance while retaining a compact design; the M5 Pro targets professionals who need considerably more power. Prices in Poland start at 4499 zł for the Mac mini with M6 and 8499 zł for the M5 Pro version. Pre-orders have already started, and the first units will reach customers on 22 September.
source: apple
