New Mac mini and Mac Studio pre-orders are coming to Wootware
We'll be taking pre-orders for the new Mac mini and Mac Studio range. See the M6, M5 Pro, M5 Max and M5 Ultra AI gains and configurations.
Apple has announced a new desktop Mac range, and we’ll be taking pre-orders across the lineup: Mac mini with M6, Mac mini with M5 Pro, Mac Studio with M5 Max, and Mac Studio with M5 Ultra. Our product pages are already live for comparison, while local pre-order timing, pricing and allocation are still being confirmed.
These links open representative entry configurations. Compare every listed memory and storage option in the full pre-order section below.
The main decision is how much unified memory and GPU performance you need. Across the range, Neural Accelerators in the GPU cores speed up supported AI workloads, while higher memory bandwidth and capacity give larger models more room to run locally. Apple’s M5 Ultra platform supports up to 512GB of unified memory, although our listed configuration has 96GB.
Launch timing: Apple opened pre-orders in 30 countries and regions on 25 August 2026 and says the new Macs will begin arriving at customers, Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers from 22 September. South African ordering status, allocation and fulfilment timing may differ. Pre-order stock will be limited, and we’ll update the linked product pages as local availability is confirmed.
Four chips, two desktop Macs
Mac mini covers compact desktops, developer setups and smaller local models. Mac Studio adds more GPU throughput, memory bandwidth and unified memory for heavier work.
| Model | Chip highlights | Maximum memory and bandwidth | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini with M6 | 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, Dual 16-core Neural Engine | 32GB unified memory, 170GB/s | Everyday work, software development, local assistants and smaller AI models |
| Mac mini with M5 Pro | Up to 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU | 64GB unified memory, 307GB/s | Code compilation, larger local models, video, music and 3D work |
| Mac Studio with M5 Max | 18-core CPU and up to 40-core GPU | 128GB unified memory, 614GB/s | AI development, high-resolution video, 3D design and heavier datasets |
| Mac Studio with M5 Ultra | Up to 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU | 512GB unified memory, 1.2TB/s | Very large local models, simulation, VFX and sustained research workloads |
The memory figures above are chip maximums. Our initial configurations are listed further down and vary by model.
Mac mini with M6: a compact option for local AI
M6 is Apple’s first chip manufactured on a 2-nanometre process. Its 12-core CPU adds two cores over M5, while the 12-core GPU also gains two cores and puts a Neural Accelerator into every GPU core. A Dual 16-core Neural Engine can work alongside the GPU when software supports it.
At the chip level, Apple says M6 delivers up to 1.2 times the multithreaded CPU performance of M5, nearly 30% more peak GPU compute for AI, and 10% more memory bandwidth. Separately, in Apple’s Mac mini product tests, M6 delivered up to four times faster AI performance, twice the graphics performance and 40% faster CPU performance than Mac mini with M4. These product figures describe selected workloads rather than theoretical peak compute.
Apple’s headline figures cover different workloads. For LLM prompt processing, its LM Studio test puts the M6 Mac mini up to 4.8 times ahead of the tested M4 Mac mini.
The M6 model keeps three Thunderbolt 4 ports at the rear and adds Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5Gb Ethernet as standard. It can be configured with 10Gb Ethernet. That makes it an interesting small server or always-on agent machine, provided the model and its context fit within the available unified memory.
Mac mini with M5 Pro: more memory for pro work
M5 Pro gives the Mac mini more CPU and GPU headroom. Depending on configuration, our currently listed range has a 15-core or 18-core CPU and a 16-core or 20-core GPU. The chip supports up to 64GB of unified memory with 307GB/s of bandwidth, which helps when a local model, a large codebase and the rest of your development environment share memory.
Apple reports up to four times faster LLM prompt processing in LM Studio than the M4 Pro Mac mini. Its other published tests include up to 1.4 times faster Blender rendering and 1.5 times faster image processing than M4 Pro.
The M5 Pro model also upgrades the three rear ports to Thunderbolt 5. Apple supports clustering multiple Mac mini systems over Thunderbolt 5 for workloads that can use distributed processing.
How much faster are the new desktop Macs for LLMs?
This chart uses Apple’s LM Studio results for all four chips, but the comparisons do not share one common baseline: M6 is compared with M4, M5 Pro with M4 Pro, M5 Max with M4 Max, and M5 Ultra with M3 Ultra. The figures are Apple’s “up to” results from product tests conducted in July 2026 on specific systems, not a guarantee that every model or prompt will run at the same multiple.
Your result will also depend on model size, quantisation, context length and the software backend. Extra memory can matter more than raw speed if the model you want to run does not fit on a smaller Mac.
Mac Studio with M5 Max: more GPU and memory bandwidth
Mac Studio with M5 Max has an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in every GPU core. The chip supports up to 128GB of unified memory and 614GB/s of bandwidth.
In Apple’s Mac Studio tests, M5 Max delivered up to 3.9 times faster LLM prompt processing than M4 Max, and up to 3.5 times faster text-to-image generation. The extra GPU throughput and memory bandwidth make it a better fit for local model development, media generation and heavier creative workloads. Whether data stays on the Mac still depends on the software and how it is configured.
M5 Max also brings third-generation hardware ray tracing, hardware-accelerated H.264 and HEVC, ProRes encode and decode, AV1 decode, plus Thunderbolt 5. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 are new to Mac Studio this generation.
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra: four dies and up to 512GB of unified memory
M5 Ultra joins two dual-die M5 Max chips through Apple’s UltraFusion interconnect, creating Apple’s first quad-die M-series system-on-chip. The full chip scales to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU, with 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth. That bandwidth is 50% higher than M3 Ultra.
Apple reports up to 1.3 times the multithreaded CPU performance and 1.8 times the graphics performance of M3 Ultra in its Mac Studio tests. For AI, it recorded up to four times faster LLM prompt processing and 4.3 times faster text-to-image generation.
Apple says the 512GB configuration can keep huge datasets in local memory and run LLMs with hundreds of billions of parameters on-device. That maximum configuration is due in late October; our M5 Ultra configuration listed below has 96GB. Model fit and performance still depend on format, context size and software support.
Mac Studio now supports up to eight displays, Thunderbolt 5 at up to 120Gb/s, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and genlock over USB-C. Apple also supports RDMA over Thunderbolt 5 for Mac Studio clusters. In Apple’s test, a four-system cluster delivered up to three times the AI inference performance of one system.
Which model makes sense for you?
Choose the M6 Mac mini if you want a compact everyday desktop that can also run local assistants, coding tools and smaller models. Moving from 16GB to 24GB or 32GB will matter more than a modest storage increase if AI is a priority.
The M5 Pro Mac mini is the stronger fit when you compile large projects, edit heavier media or need more memory for local models. The 64GB configuration provides much more room for model weights and context without moving to Mac Studio.
Mac Studio with M5 Max is the middle ground: much more GPU throughput and memory bandwidth than Mac mini, without the cost and scale of Ultra.
M5 Ultra is for workloads that already justify it: large local models, long-running simulations, high-end VFX or datasets that need more than 128GB of unified memory. If your work fits comfortably on M5 Max, Ultra is not automatically the better buy.
Our planned pre-order configurations
We’ll be taking pre-orders for the configurations below. Pre-order stock will be limited, and local pricing, allocation and fulfilment dates may change as stock is confirmed.
Mac mini with M6
- 12-core CPU / 12-core GPU / 16GB / 256GB
- 12-core CPU / 12-core GPU / 16GB / 512GB
- 12-core CPU / 12-core GPU / 24GB / 512GB
- 12-core CPU / 12-core GPU / 32GB / 1TB
Mac mini with M5 Pro
Mac Studio with M5 Max
Mac Studio with M5 Ultra
An optional three-year service extension is also listed for the M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini range.
Not sure which configuration fits?
Talk through your workload with us
Tell us which apps, models and datasets you use. We can help you choose the right balance of memory, GPU capacity and storage.
Contact usBenchmark notes and sources
The Mac mini and Mac Studio application results in this article are Apple’s “up to” claims from tests conducted in July 2026 on specific configurations. The separate chip-level M6 and M5 Ultra benchmark claims were tested in August 2026. For consistency, the article and charts use the direct previous-generation comparisons stated in Apple’s Newsroom releases; Apple also presents some product-page charts against older reference systems, so those differently normalised values have not been mixed into the comparisons above. Independent retail benchmarks may differ as applications are updated.
