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The Best Compact Desktop Is No Longer A Great Deal
Engadget • • general
Key Points:
- The new M6 Mac mini starts at $899, significantly higher than the previous $599 base price, reflecting increased demand and rising memory and storage costs amid the AI boom.
- Apple offers two Mac mini options: the M6 chip with up to 32GB RAM and the more powerful M5 Pro with up to 64GB RAM, targeting different user needs from mainstream to professional workloads.
- Apple emphasizes AI performance gains, claiming the M6 is 13.5x faster than the M1 for LLM prompt processing, with notable improvements in general tasks like Excel and video transcoding.
- The Mac mini retains its compact 5x5 inch design and quiet operation, with a solid port selection including Thunderbolt 4/5, though it lacks an SD card slot, which remains exclusive to higher-end Mac Studio models.
- Real-world testing shows the M6 Mac mini excels in multitasking, gaming, and media tasks, delivering smooth performance and quiet operation, making it the best compact desktop option despite the higher price.
