Apple M6 Mac mini review: $300 price hike spoils a nice upgrade

Key Points:

• Apple’s new Mac mini retains the same design as previous models but features the new M6 chip, marking a significant CPU and GPU upgrade; however, the base price has increased by $300 compared to the 2024 M4 Mac mini with identical memory and storage specs.
• The M6 chip introduces a unique combination of two “Super” cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores, totaling 12 CPU cores, alongside 12 GPU cores and enhanced neural engine capabilities, offering improved single-core and multi-core performance over the M5 and M4 generations.
• Despite the performance gains, the M6 Mac mini’s $899 starting price is a notable jump from the $599 M4 model, resetting Mac mini pricing to around 2020 levels and making it less of a value proposition than its predecessor.
• The design changes remain minimal, with a slightly taller but smaller footprint than earlier Intel and M1/M2 models, and the device includes Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-C, HDMI, and Ethernet options, though the placement of the power button remains a usability complaint.
• While the M6 offers solid improvements for general and AI-related tasks, higher-end multi-core performance still favors the M5 Max and similar chips, and Apple may skip M6 Pro/Max/Ultra chips in favor of an M7 generation, likely due to production constraints on TSMC’s 2 nm process.