Apple's New Mac mini and Mac Studio Are Built for Local AI, and They Cost More
The M6 Mac mini and M5 Ultra Mac Studio promise huge AI speed-ups for desktop users, but Australian prices have jumped. Here's what you get.
Apple's desktop Macs have quietly become some of the most sought-after machines for running AI models locally, and the company has leaned into that with its 2026 Mac mini and Mac Studio. Both look identical to the models they replace. Everything has changed on the inside, including, unfortunately, the price.
Mac mini: the first M6 Mac
The base Mac mini now runs the M6, Apple's first chip built on a 2-nanometre process. It has a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, and Apple claims up to four times faster AI performance, twice the storage and graphics speed, and 40 per cent faster CPU performance compared with the M4 model. It still starts with 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD, and it gains Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port.
A step-up model with the M5 Pro offers up to an 18-core CPU, a 20-core GPU and up to 64GB of memory, aimed squarely at video editors, developers and anyone running AI agents around the clock. One thing to note: the storage is soldered to the board, so buy the capacity you need up front.
Mac Studio: M5 Max and M5 Ultra
The Mac Studio moves both of its tiers to the M5 family. The M5 Max version has an 18-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU, while the new M5 Ultra doubles that to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU. Apple claims up to 4.3 times faster AI performance than the previous generation, and the Studio can be configured with up to 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth, along with Thunderbolt 5.
That 512GB configuration is the headline for AI researchers, since it allows very large models to run entirely on the desk. It ships later than the rest of the range, from late October.
Price and availability in Australia
- Mac mini with M6: from A$1,449
- Mac mini with M5 Pro: from A$2,699
- Mac Studio with M5 Max: from A$4,299
- Mac Studio with M5 Ultra: from A$9,499
- Availability: on sale now, with 512GB Mac Studio configurations from late October
The entry Mac mini is roughly A$450 more than the M4 model it replaces, a rise that reflects soaring memory and storage costs across the industry this year. It is still a lot of computer for the money, but the days of the sub-A$1,000 Mac are, for now, over.
Sources: Apple Newsroom Australia, GadgetGuy. Image courtesy of Apple.
