Apple's Mac desktop lineup has been refreshed around local artificial intelligence, and buyers weighing a Mac Mini, Mac Studio, or iMac now face a wider spread in price and capability than in recent years. The Mac Mini and Mac Studio were updated with new chips, while the iMac remains on the M4 chip it has used since 2024. Before the M6 Mac Mini arrived, Mac Minis had been sold out for most of the year, and Mac Studio orders were backlogged for months.
The Mac Mini now starts $300 higher than before, but its base model carries higher specifications and an emphasis on running AI locally. Apple offers two versions: one with the M6 chip and one with the M5 Pro. The M6 model is the configuration most buyers should consider, offering strong GPU performance for creative work such as video editing and design. The M6 Mac Mini is only a couple hundred dollars cheaper than a comparably configured MacBook Air.
Apple's M5 Pro Mac Mini has not been tested by the reviewer, but its main advantage is graphics, with configurations reaching 20 GPU cores for gaming, 3D modeling, and video rendering. The M6 Mac Mini is available for same-day pickup at an Apple Store, while M5 Pro models may take up to four weeks to ship. For an always-on AI machine controlled remotely from a MacBook or iPhone, the Mac Mini's small form factor is now an advantage, provided buyers upgrade the memory.
The Mac Studio also comes in two distinct versions. The base model uses an M5 Max chip, the same chip found in the MacBook Pro, with strong GPU performance, and it can be configured with up to 128 GB of unified memory for heavy local AI models, pushing the price past $5,000. The M5 Ultra, which stitches two M5 Max dies together, sometimes doubled performance in testing. A test unit with 256 GB of memory cost over $11,000.
On the M5 Ultra, the reviewer ran a foundation-tier large language model entirely on-device, with no cloud connection. Simple agentic tests that took minutes on the M5 Ultra took five times as long on an M5 Max MacBook Pro. Games including Cyberpunk 2077 also ran smoothly. Mac Studio shipping remains slow: M5 Max models with 128 GB of memory or more may take up to a month and a half, and the M5 Ultra may take up to four months.
The iMac has received sporadic updates and has not been refreshed since 2024, though its screen remains sharp and its performance solid. A model with 16 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, an M4 chip with an eight-core GPU, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a 4.5K display costs $1,499; a second M4 model with a 10-core GPU and four Thunderbolt 4 ports starts at $1,699. Only a 23.5-inch size is offered, and at 4.5K it is the only desktop-size Mac monitor below 5K.
The iMac is the only Mac desktop sold in seven colors, but it cannot be upgraded after purchase and locks buyers into a one-time decision. Apple said on an earnings call that both the Mac Mini and Mac Studio are "amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools" and that customer adoption happened faster than expected. AI frameworks released in 2026, such as OpenClaw, run best on a dedicated machine that never turns off and has ample RAM.
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