Apple's M6 Mac mini reviews land: faster chip, $300 higher price
Reviewers across the tech press praise the M6 Mac mini's performance but agree the new $899 starting price erodes its signature value.
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What to know
- Apple's M6 Mac mini starts at $899, a $300 increase over the M4 model's former $599 starting price, though the base $599 model had already been discontinued in May.
- The M6 is Apple's first 2nm Mac chip, adding two CPU cores, a 12-core GPU, and Neural Accelerators per GPU core, with Apple claiming up to 2x graphics and 4x on-device AI performance over the M4.
- A new M5 Pro configuration replaces the M4 Pro tier and can be specced up to $2,899, a price that reviewers say overlaps with the Mac Studio.
- Every major review outlet published simultaneously on September 21, 2026, and converged on the same take: strong performance gains undercut by a price hike that erodes the Mac mini's traditional value.
“More expensive than last year and gets ludicrous — to the point where you should just buy a Mac Studio”
The Verge, Review pros/cons summary · The Verge ↗ · Sep 20
Apple ManufacturerAndrew Cunningham Ars Technica reviewerAntonio G. Di Benedetto The Verge reviewerDevindra Hardawar Engadget reviewerChance Miller 9to5Mac reviewer
How it unfolded 4 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Reviewers convergeGains real, but value proposition erodes
Across Ars Technica, Engadget, Tom's Hardware and others, the consensus held that the M6 mini is the fastest small desktop on the market but that the price increase, plus pricier storage/memory upgrades, undercuts what made the Mac mini a standout deal.
“The M4 Mac mini was one of Apple's best values ever. This one, not so much.”
— Andrew Cunningham -
Noticing how the M6 has finally doubled the M1's single core performance, nearly six years later. The M1 mini was my first foray into mac computing. I used it as my daily driver until I got the M1 Macbook Pro a year later. Been using that ever since. I think Apple's real problem is that they built machines that can last. I've had no interest in…
2 more of the top 3 · 20 posts in this stretch
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The first reviews of the new M5 Pro and M6 Mac mini are starting to come out, and they concentrate on how the new processors make this smallest Mac one of the best buys, but at a price. https:// appleinsider.com/articles/26/0 9/21/mac-mini-review-roundup-m6-and-m5-pro-make-this-a-marvel-but-a-costly-one?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon
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My review of the M6 Mac mini is now live. It keeps the same adorable design we've come to love, and the M6 chip is impressive. A few things have changed since the last Mac mini update, though. My full thoughts:
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Apple's M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini reviews go live simultaneously
Review embargoes lifted across dozens of outlets, detailing the M6's 2nm design (2 super cores, 4 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores), 12-core GPU, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and 2.5Gb Ethernet, alongside a new $899 starting price versus the M4's former $599, and M5 Pro configs reaching $2,899.
“It remains the best tiny computer you can buy, but $900 stings compared to the $600 of the last-gen.”
— Antonio G. Di Benedetto -
first by iClarified, 2d ago · also PCMag, AppleInsider, Trusted Reviews, Wired, ZDNET, 9to5Mac +2
8 more headlines
- Apple Mac mini (2026, M5 Pro) Review: Same Small Frame, New Powerlifting Heights PCMag · 2d ago
- Mac mini review roundup: M6 and M5 Pro make this a marvel, but a costly one AppleInsider · 2d ago
- Apple Mac Mini (2026, M5 Pro) Review Trusted Reviews · 2d ago
- Review: Apple Mac Mini (M6) Wired · 2d ago
- Apple Mac Mini M5 Pro review: Serious power, for the right users ZDNET · 2d ago
- M6 Mac mini review: Apple's most versatile Mac continues to shine 9to5Mac · 2d ago
- Mac mini (late 2026) review: strong M6 performance, faster storage over the M4, and small footprint, but pricey storage and memory erode its value proposition Tom's Hardware · 2d ago
- Apple Mac mini (2026, M6) Review: Making Mincemeat of Midpriced Mini-Desktops PCMag Australia · 1d ago
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first by Six Colors, 2d ago · also Press Start, Gizmodo, PetaPixel
3 more headlines
- Apple Mac Mini With M6 Review - Even More Power In A Tiny Package Press Start · 2d ago
- M6 Mac mini Review: A Better Tiny Desktop, With or Without AI Gizmodo · 2d ago
- Mac mini With M6 Review: Powerful Enough for Some Photographers PetaPixel · 2d ago
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Apple's Mac mini M5 Pro, in My Tests, Emerged as the Ultimate Compact Desktop https://www. pcmag.com/reviews/apple-mac-mi ni-2026-m5-pro?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Desktop PCs: Expert Reviews and Top Deals @ desktop-pcs-expert-reviews-and-top-deals-PCMag
2 more of the top 3 · 4 posts in this stretch
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I Tested Apple's New M6 Mac Mini. It Makes Mincemeat of Competing Mini-Desktops https://www. pcmag.com/reviews/apple-mac-mi ni-2026-m6?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Desktop PCs: Expert Reviews and Top Deals @ desktop-pcs-expert-reviews-and-top-deals-PCMag
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My review of the M6 Mac mini is now live. It keeps the same adorable design we’ve come to love, and the M6 chip is impressive. A few things have changed since the last Mac mini update, though. My full thoughts:
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- 1 day quiet
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Further leaked M6 benchmarks confirm performance jump
Additional benchmark leaks days before launch reinforced the earlier numbers, pointing to a new Mac mini with notably higher single- and multi-core scores.
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first by iPhone in Canada, 4d ago
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- 3 days quiet
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Leaked Geekbench listings reveal M6 chip gains
Ahead of the official launch, benchmark listings attributed to the M6 chip surfaced online, giving an early look at CPU and GPU performance gains over the M4 and M5 chips.
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first by Gadgets 360, 8d ago
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first by AppleInsider, 8d ago
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What people are saying 17 voices from 3 sites · best of 24 · verbatim
- Sep 22
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> I think Apple's real problem is that they built machines that can last.When they can justify it, they will add features to macOS which bog down the older systems. Eventually they will say that older systems just don’t have what it takes to run macOS and stop supporting themApple has never had an issue with taking machines that can last out of…
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> I think Apple's real problem is that they built machines that can lastNo worries, they will be unsupported by the software pretty soon
- Sep 21
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i feel m6 is good for daily tasks and its price is okay compared to m5. where m5 is best for local models because of its unified memory of 64GB but its expensive compared to NVIDIA Geforce RTX 5070Ti. with 64 GB you can fit models where it won't even load in 16GB VRAM.
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The cheaper Mac Mini is no more, but but Apple's new midrange take on its tiny desktop is a good-value powerhouse for most everything you’ll want to do on a Mac short of workstation tasks. Here's our review of M6 Mac Mini: https://www. pcmag.com/reviews/apple-mac-mi ni-2026-m6
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I hate to be that guy, but computer prices, even Apple machines, are still so cheap.My first 'modern' Mac was the 13" 2010 MacBook Pro, and it was $1299. The current Air is $1299. Inflation be damned.Let's not even go back in time and look at what the PowerBook G4 or PowerBook 5300c cost...
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+1100€ for the 2TB upgrade nowadays, thats not an "Apple tax" anymore thats just straight up robbery. Even a pcie gen5 nvme costs only about 300€, even with todays prices, so 600€ would be quite in line with Apple pricing, but 1100€!? Thats just being a dick.
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Apple Mac mini review (arstechnica.com) Discussion | Main Link
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On the price hikes on RAM and everything else we're still looking for the guys that did this...
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Their machines have always lasted. I bought a refurbished Intel Macbook Pro 13" for personal use in 2015, and kept it for 7 years (I did replace the battery with an iFixit kit along the way). I only upgraded because I figured there's no way I would tell people I work with professionally to depend on hardware that old, so in later 2022 I replaced…
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This is why they are pushing into services. Now the devices are (profitable) channels for upselling. Cook was willing to do some of this, but the new guy seems more interested in this.Unfortunately it degrades a major value prop of using Apple in the first place.
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I also use the M1 mini. It replaced my 2009 Mac Pro. Apple didn't always make solid machines, like the crap 2016-2019 MBPs, but now they've gotten it right.
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Would love to see them put out a Mac mini Neo to line up with the laptop now that the Mac Mini is becoming a more performant, expensive device.
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> I think Apple's real problem is that they built machines that can last.So do Toyota and Honda, and their sales seems be pretty steady.
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I’m going to keep an eye out for the incoming refurb $200 M4s. Handy little machines to have as a low power tmux terminal.
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Those L1 cache specs have to be wrong, right? Bigger L1 on the e core than p core seems like it has to be incorrect (unless the lower clock lets them get away with something?)
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The price hikes drove me back to windows. If I'm paying those prices I may as well be able to play games with my kid again. I see no advantage to using Apple right now outside of the iPhone.
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Review: Apple Mac Mini (M6) https://www. wired.com/review/apple-mac-min i-m6/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Gear & Gadgets @ gear-gadgets-WIRED