Apple Announces New Mac Mini With M6 and M5 Pro Chips (macrumors.com) 67
Apple has unveiled a new Mac mini with either its new M6 chip or the M5 Pro chip released earlier this year. It adds faster CPU, GPU, storage, and AI performance along with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5Gb Ethernet as standard. There's also a new higher starting price of $899, which is up from the previous $799 base price and far above the $599 starting price of the 2024 model. MacRumors reports: The M6 chip is equipped with a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, up from a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU in the M5 chip. In addition, the M6 chip features the first-ever dual Neural Engine with two 16-core engines, up from one in previous chips. The M6 chip has up to 170GB/s memory bandwidth, up from 153GB/s for the M5 chip.
Apple said the Mac mini with the M6 chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance, up to 4x faster performance for AI tasks in particular, up to 2x faster graphics performance, and up to 2x faster storage speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the 10-core M4 chip, 32GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.
There are two M5 Pro configurations available, including one with a 15-core CPU and a 16-core GPU, and another with an 18-core CPU and a 20-core GPU. Both of these models are equipped with a single 16-core Neural Engine for AI tasks. For both the M6 and M5 Pro configurations, Apple said the Mac mini now includes Neural Accelerators in each GPU core for the first time.
Apple said the Mac mini with the M6 chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance, up to 4x faster performance for AI tasks in particular, up to 2x faster graphics performance, and up to 2x faster storage speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the 10-core M4 chip, 32GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.
There are two M5 Pro configurations available, including one with a 15-core CPU and a 16-core GPU, and another with an 18-core CPU and a 20-core GPU. Both of these models are equipped with a single 16-core Neural Engine for AI tasks. For both the M6 and M5 Pro configurations, Apple said the Mac mini now includes Neural Accelerators in each GPU core for the first time.
Absurd pricing (Score:4, Insightful)
900$ for a base model with 256GB SSD is pathetic.
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So is $80 for an echo dot but here we are.
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Except that Amazon absolutely flooded the market with those things. If you really don't want to pay $80 for one, they're going for quite a bit less on eBay all day long.
Although, if your argument is that this is just a shiny bauble that one can do without if the price isn't acceptable, I'll give you that. There's plenty of cheaper options in the SFF PC market if you're flexible on the "Runs macOS" aspect.
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The point is that the price of computers (and computing devices) has gone up substantially. Everybody knows this, not addressing common knowledge is making an argument in bad faith.
But yeah you can get an underpowered mini PC for $300 if that's all you need or can afford.
Re: Absurd pricing (Score:2)
The underpowered MiniPC I bought for $300 before Donnie Dipshit fucked with Iran and before tech bros decided to replace everyone especially them is now worth $600
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900$ for a base model with 256GB SSD is pathetic.
The market for used minis, especially the 2024 version, is likely going to love this new price increase...mine is probably worth more now than when I bought it two years ago...I would think of selling it, but what would I replace it with?
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900$ for a base model with 256GB SSD is pathetic.
The market for used minis, especially the 2024 version, is likely going to love this new price increase...mine is probably worth more now than when I bought it two years ago...I would think of selling it, but what would I replace it with?
A 2024 Mac mini M4 512GB storage 24GB RAM is $525 on Apple trade in, probably more for private sales. It was $900 on sale at Microcenter about a year ago, new not used.
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Absurd pricing describes literally everything in the past 5 years. Set the scale to 10 years https://fred.stlouisfed.org/se... [stlouisfed.org]
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" where do you think the money comes from for those raises"
If the business is run by capitalists, it comes from productivity.
The problem is that the median businessman has no idea how capitalism works, and at the 90th percentile they are actively opposed.
Expensive AF (Score:5, Insightful)
So much for the Mac Mini having a 'mini' price.
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It's Apple.
Nice try troll. But this is nothing to do with Apple. Every PC and device manufacturer has raised prices significantly. In fact you could argue that Apple has tried to beat the game with the Macbook Neo. So stick a fork in false narratives.
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I was in the market for a tablet a couple of months ago because I needed something for reading sheet music.
Cheapest 13" Apple Tablet: $949 [apple.com]
The generic Android tablet I bought instead: $179.99 [amazon.com]
I'm not saying they aren't being impact by memory prices, but they're either incompetent at supply chain management or they're milking this for much higher profits. Either way, there's a reason why this Mac and iPhone user uses 4 Android tablets and zero Apple tablets.
At this point, if I weren't locked into the Apple
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The BOM of the iPad Pro 13" is around $550US. The BOM cost of that Android is closer to $65. Quite objectively that Android tablet is marking up the price quite a lot more.
In relative terms, they're marking it up more. But ask yourself which hurts people's pocketbooks more: the $110 that the cheap Android tablet maker takes as profit or the $400 that Apple takes? Consumers don't care about percents. They care about dollars. And Apple's profit margin on their tablets is almost 4x that of their cheapest competition.
Alternatively that's three spare tablets for when the first one breaks. As soon as you're more than 2x the price of the cheapest competition, unless users absol
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That Apple Logo is not made of gold, although people seem just fine paying prices like it is.
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Even when it was $500 with the wink-wink, nudge-nudge education discount, the Mac Mini still felt like a bit of raw deal for an incomplete desktop computer.
But starting at $900? I can see why they recently partnered with that scummy "pay later" company to offer a leasing option.
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What do you mean by incomplete?
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What do you mean by incomplete?
It still doesn't include a monitor, keyboard and mouse. The original assumption was you'd just use the peripherals from your previous machine, but macOS doesn't support subpixel font rendering, so text looks pretty bad on 1080p monitors (which are still surprisingly common). Then there's the keyboard, which unless your previous machine was a mac, you'll probably need a new one of those, too. That just leaves the mouse, which kind of seems like punishing yourself if you've replaced everything else.
I reali
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You don't know what you're talking about. Text and graphics look fine on my 1080p monitor (although I'm keeping an eye out for a small and cheap 4k tv to replace it) and my Logitech keyboard and mouse also work great. The windows key is the command key and I'm reasonably sure any other keys could be remapped. The only accessory I did buy was a $25 thunderbolt hub to gain an additional hdmi port and also plug in the keyboard and mouse.
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I noticed the lack of subpixel rendering right away when docking my MacBook Neo and thought I'd overlooked a setting somewhere. The text rendering is pretty bad if you're otherwise accustomed to looking at high DPI displays. The solution I'd found online literally is "get a better monitor".
At any rate, what I'm pointing out is that the out-of-the-box experience with hand-me-down peripherals can often be sub par. Some fuzzy text and having to remember your function keys are remapped might be a bitter pill
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Time for new glasses, gramps.
I finally gave in and got glasses, and now I really appreciate subpixel font rendering again... at 4k. This is a 42.5" diagonal TV at arm's length plus 4" or so, though.
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Apple always had subpixel rendering until pretty recently when it removed it as it can actually make things look worse on high dpi monitors.
Just use betterdisplay to turn it back on if your using a legacy moitor.
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Then there's the keyboard, which unless your previous machine was a mac,
Not sure what you mean with that.
Isn't every modern keyboard using USB?
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It still doesn't include a monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Those are called laptops. Yes some manufacturers throw in a keyboard and mouse for free but few throw in a monitor for free unless it's an all-in-one. Mini PCs [geekompc.com] generally do not include keyboard, mouse, or monitor. At my company there were bins of keyboards and mice in the computer supply closet that no one used. I think you can buy them used by the pallet.
The original assumption was you'd just use the peripherals from your previous machine, but macOS doesn't support subpixel font rendering, so text looks pretty bad on 1080p monitors (which are still surprisingly common)
That's your opinion that they look bad but the main reason Apple disabled subpixel font rendering since Mojave (2018) is that does not look good on higher
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You are 100% correct. Grocery prices spiked because of legitimate supply issues during covid. They figured people didn't starve to death then so they kept inflating. But eventually the shit is going to hit the fan. https://www.wsj.com/business/r... [wsj.com]
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Many of the companies that followed the "we'll just raise prices because we want to and they'll eat it" are finding out that not only did people stop buying their stuff, but they also stopped the habit of using their stuff.
Now that they're unhooked, so to speak, from the habit they have no way of getting them back. And the consumers have no interest in coming back.
Anecdotal. I simply stopped buying soda, and stopped purchased fast food. And I don't care at all about it anymore. Those 12 packs I used to buy?
Re:New higher price (Score:4, Insightful)
which Apple blames on higher component costs due to the current AI bubble.... which Apple is itself contributing to.
I thought it was mostly Nvidia making the hardware for AI data centers? Yeah, Apple has leaned into AI on the consumer side of things (and supposedly some people were buying up all the Mac Minis to run OpenClaw), but I doubt they're the driving force behind the RAMpocalypse.
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Apple is integrating AIshit into all their products like everyone else, so yes they are formally and willfully contributing to the AIpocalypse. They are prioritizing on-device models more than most others, but a) this will eventually be a losing proposition for them because it's limiting so they will switch to using more cloud models and b) all AI product advertising increases demand for all AI products because while there is some market differentiation between AI products, the average person has no clue ab
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More likely is that Local AI will get connected to cloud models so that the Local can do what it does to economize and the heavy grunt work, to the extent it is needed, gets passed to the cloud crap.
Re: New higher price (Score:2)
If you're using a cloud model anyway, why run the risk that the dumber on device model will do something stupid? It makes more sense to use it only when necessary, e.g. when disconnected.
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In the EU the trend is going to on device or "on prep".
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Needs an official Linux boot camp (Score:5, Insightful)
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Err...actually, OSX, so far in my experience is quite adapted to local AI.
Brew? What's wrong with that...pretty much the equivalent of of apt-get on some Linux installs, or whatever package manage
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Thanks for the definition.
So far, I've not run into a problem with this....
And with specific regard to my local AI and OpenClaw experiments and tools required for that....haven't run into a problem at all yet.
So, not a barrier of merit.
Notarization is not hard (Score:2)
Thanks for the definition.
Notarization is not hard. Any half serious developer can notarize their app in about 15 minutes. And that is mostly waiting for Apple.
First you need to be a registered Apple developer. It costs $100 per year. When you software is ready for release you submit it to Apple. There are two options, release via Apple's app store, or direct release to your clients. In the later case you submit your binary to Apple. Apple's notarization server digitally signs the binary indicating it came from you, a particular
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MacOS lets you run unsigned software too, you just need to remove the quarantine flag on anything you've downloaded if it's not been notarized.
For someone who is technically competent this is a very minor hurdle and only needs to be done when you initially download. Anyone who is not capable of doing this probably shouldn't be running random downloaded binaries as they're likely not capable of verifying that those binaries are not malicious.
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Actually: you only need to click "oaky" when the pop-up pops up and tells you: "this software was downloaded from an unauthorized source" - "so you want to run it anyway?"
The exact process varies a bit from OS to OS.
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Macs let you run unsigned software without compromise, too.
How the fark do you think people get software on Macs?
"click download" - "drag & drop" to Applications - folder.
Or: "brew install package"
It is fucking exactly the same as on Linux.
Stupid Apple haters.
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I wrote a compiler for an ObjC-like language (with less brackets), which can produce binaries for any of {Mac, Windows, Linux, WASM, Arm A9 (Zynq), m68k or 6502} running on any of {Mac, Windows, Linux}. So you can produce a dev-signed Mac binary on a Linux box. I’m just going through extending that output range to mobile {Android, iOS} and I’ll release it as open source.
The compiler docs for the language (xc) are at https://compile-xc.org/ [compile-xc.org] - feel free to browse.
I didn’t think getting the s
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What's wrong with using a package manager that has always been reliable on macOS?
Local AI and ARM64 run exactly the same in Linux as on macOS: install ollama, pull a model, tune a modelfile, create your tuned model, start throwing queries at it.
Literally the only problem Apple is suffering from is memory bandwidth and token rate from not having as much processing grunt as a discrete RTX variant.
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If you want to throw the money at it, a top notch Mac has 8 times the processing power than a maxed out Nvidia RTX system, for 1/4 the price and les than 1/10th the electricity cost.
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Absolutely tons of Linux and AI development takes place on Macs. Guess which companies are buying absolutely huge truckloads of Macs?
Those guys will against be buying up all the 256 and 512GB Mac Studios.
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I put OpenCore Patcher on a Mac Book from 2011 a few days ago.
Runs smooth and fine, and is 111 times better than Windows 11 on my Acer.
Java 26 on it, Android Studi, most recent Dart and Flutter, and Xcode compatible to it, did not check which version it is. Newest Chrome browser, too.
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I put OpenCore Patcher on a Mac Book from 2011 a few days ago.
Runs smooth and fine, and is 111 times better than Windows 11 on my Acer.
Java 26 on it, Android Studi, most recent Dart and Flutter, and Xcode compatible to it, did not check which version it is. Newest Chrome browser, too.
Do you run macOS on it, too? If so, what version?
I have a 2012 MacBook Pro that I’d like to get past Monterey using OCLP.
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Yes, Mac OS. ... not sure about exact version number.
It is Sequoia, 15.6.xyz
Was a bit complicated to get it installed (because I was working on the other computer, and clicked wrong in the middle).
The working experience is just fine. But in relation to older Mac OS (X)es, Sequoia is not really that fine. The settings dialog, once the most beautiful thing of Mac OS X or macOS, is a pain into the rectum.
At my specific laptop, I have the problem: it does not sleep when closed and plugged into power. There "sho
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Yes, Mac OS. ... not sure about exact version number.
It is Sequoia, 15.6.xyz
Was a bit complicated to get it installed (because I was working on the other computer, and clicked wrong in the middle).
The working experience is just fine. But in relation to older Mac OS (X)es, Sequoia is not really that fine. The settings dialog, once the most beautiful thing of Mac OS X or macOS, is a pain into the rectum.
At my specific laptop, I have the problem: it does not sleep when closed and plugged into power. There "should be" a fix, according to google Gemini, resetting parameter RAM and some other fix during boot, but I did not try it yet.
Anyway, the Mac runs just fine. And it is lightening fast.
I put the new OS on its own partition, so I can access the old data just fine, but did not risk to damage the old boot partition during install. So I can dual boot, the old stuff (which can not read the new partition because of different file system) and the new OS.
Amazing you got it to run Sequoia!
Yeah, I don’t much like the new System Settings arrangement; but OTOH, I very much like that it is finally quite easy to relocate your Home Folder on an External Drive. . .
Maybe I’ll finally get brave enough to try it on my ancient MBP, thanks!
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Make sure to have a back up.
At least from your home folder.
The upgrade was not super smooth, but was okay (was working on a different computer, so I was a bit sloppy).
The computer is lighting fast with the new OS ... at least for the stuff I do.
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Why would you pay extra for Mac hardware and then install linux?
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It's pretty nice hardware. If it would run Linux well, and you didn't need x86 compatibility, it would be reasonable. I've used both, I far prefer Linux. KDE delivers much better on the promise of NeXTStep than does OSX.
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It's pretty nice hardware. If it would run Linux well, and you didn't need x86 compatibility, it would be reasonable. I've used both, I far prefer Linux. KDE delivers much better on the promise of NeXTStep than does OSX.
Even OS X Server DP 1.0 wasn’t NeXTStep, although it was nearly as Fugly!
macOS is macOS. It was never meant to be NeXTStep. Instead, it provided a nearly seamless UI transition for Mac Users; while simultaneously providing the extra power of a modern, preemptive-multitasking UNIX-based (XENIX-descendent) OS; but with a modern,
Processor-Agnostic, Open Source Microkernel Architecture, called Darwin.
From the Release of OS X 10.0 (“Cheetah”) on March 24, 2001, forward, Apple nas continued to e
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What is wrong with brew?
Even most linuxes are moving to brew ...
Bottom line it is just a different approach to "apt get", especially as it does not require "sudo" to install stuff, as it installs it (how should be) in user land.
Does not really matter if you type "apt install [package]" or "brew install [package]", or does it?
Everyone has forgotten... (Score:2)
...the poor crews of the Excalibur and the Lexington.
Progress marches on, I guess.
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So one could say... (Score:4, Funny)
Apple Jacks up the Price of the New Mac Mini [imgur.com]
Yes, I realize the hypocrisy of using AI to criticize market conditions resulting from AI. The way I see it, might as well get a laugh out of this whole situation, because I sure as hell ain't getting cheaper hardware anytime soon.
huh? (Score:2)
For that price, just buy a neo with a bunch of accessories.
I need to replace my dad's mini, and I'm leaning towards that myself.