Why does the new M5 Pro Mac mini cost more than the M6 model?
Apple is now selling two different new Mac mini configurations at once — one with the brand-new M6 chip, another with the pricier M5 Pro. The gap comes down to chip category rather than release date.
Apple surprised customers this week by refreshing the Mac mini lineup with two distinct new models rather than one. One version gets the brand-new M6 chip, debuting for the first time in the Mac mini and offering improved speed and efficiency over the previous generation. The other, more expensive model comes with the M5 Pro chip instead. The base M6 Mac mini starts at $899, while the M5 Pro version starts at $1,699.
Newer isn't automatically better
Although the M5 Pro has technically been available since March, it belongs to a different, higher-performance category than the M6. Apple's "Pro" chips are built for heavier workloads. The M6 tops out at a 12-core CPU, while the M5 Pro configurations offer 15 or 18 cores. The M6 does bring a new 2-nanometer architecture and a configuration favoring power efficiency, with two "super" cores, four performance cores and six efficiency cores. The M5 Pro's base setup includes five super cores and 10 performance cores, rising to six super cores and 10 performance cores in the 18-core version.
Graphics performance also differs sharply: the M6 Mac mini comes with a 12-core GPU, while the M5 Pro can be configured with a 16- or 20-core GPU, better suited for demanding tasks like 3D rendering, gaming or training AI models.
Storage and memory further widen the price gap. The base M6 model ships with a 256GB SSD, expandable to 512GB, 1TB or 2TB, whereas the M5 Pro starts at 512GB and can go up to 8TB. On RAM, the M6 offers 16GB, 24GB or 32GB, while the M5 Pro ranges from 24GB up to 64GB — a meaningful cost driver given current elevated memory prices.
Which one to choose
For everyday tasks like web browsing, document editing, light video editing or learning to code, the M6 is more than capable. Users running local AI models or engineering software, however, will benefit more from the M5 Pro, which also comes in cheaper than Apple's new Mac Studio lineup despite its higher performance.
