Apple officially released the new generation of Mac desktop computers, bringing significant upgrades to the Mac Mini and Mac Studio. The core highlights of this update focus on a major leap in AI computing power, with the debut of Apple's first 2nm chip and the introduction of a "four-Die" architecture monster chip, marking a new era for desktop AI hardware.
In the new Mac mini, Apple launched its first 2nm chip, the M6. This chip increases the number of CPU and GPU cores to 12 each, and for the first time introduces a dual 16-core neural engine. According to official test data, the Mac mini equipped with the M6 chip is up to 4.8 times faster in processing large language model (LLM) prompts than the previous generation with the M4 chip, and up to 13.5 times faster than the early M1 version. In addition to the M6 version, the Mac mini also upgraded the M5Pro chip version simultaneously.
For professional users seeking ultimate AI performance, the highly anticipated M5Ultra chip has made its debut. Apple connected two "dual-Die M5Max" chips using the new UltraFusion technology, creating a performance monster. The M5Ultra features up to 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU, and 512GB unified memory, with a memory bandwidth of up to 1.2TB/s. Apple stated that its AI GPU computing power can reach up to 4.5 times that of the M3Ultra, and it is capable of running large models with thousands of billions of parameters directly on the device.
The new Mac Studio will offer two configuration options: M5Ultra and M5Max. Moreover, Apple supports connecting multiple Mac Studios in a cluster, building a large shared memory pool, allowing users to load the largest and most demanding open-weight models currently available on the market. A cluster of four Mac Studios can even provide up to three times the AI inference speed of a single device.
With the comprehensive performance boost, Apple has also raised the prices of the Mac product line accordingly. Taking the widely sold Mac mini as an example, the starting price of the new version has been increased to 899 USD, while the starting price in mainland China is 6999 yuan, which is 1000 yuan higher than the M4 version. At the same time, the starting price of the Mac mini (M5Pro) has been raised to 1699 USD; the starting price of the Mac Studio (M5Max version) is 2499 USD; and the starting price of the top-of-the-line Mac Studio Ultra is 5499 USD.
For hardcore users who want to experience running large models with thousands of billions of parameters locally, the Mac Studio Ultra with 512GB unified memory is expected to be officially released at the end of October. If you choose a high-end version with full CPU, GPU, and 256GB memory, the price exceeds 10,000 USD (86,749 RMB in China), and the top-of-the-line version with 16TB hard drive reaches as high as 18,299 USD (142,999 RMB in China).
