Apple defies memory shortage with new Mac minis

Apple on Tuesday heralded the imminent refresh of its headless Mac kit with new versions of the Mac Studio and the Mac mini that you can pre-order now for shipping on September 22, 2026. The diminutive desktops promise a high level of local AI performance with memory prices to match. "[T]he new Mac Studio is our most powerful …

[MachDiamond]

Need some AI sickness bags

I need computers to do real work. Running AI isn't helpful so a computer optimized to run AI (doing what, I have no idea) isn't going to get me to pry open my wallet.

[Steve Davies 3]

Re: Need some AI sickness bags

Apple Intelligence can be disabled in 'System Settings'. I just acquired an M4 MBP secondhand and the setting it right there alongside Siri. Both are disabled on my kit.

At least it isn't hidden in almost every app crevice unlike AI on Windows 11.

[MachDiamond]

Re: Need some AI sickness bags

"Apple Intelligence can be disabled in 'System Settings'."

Yes, OK, Fine. You still wind up paying for a machine that's being optimized for running AI than for general computing.

I'm not going to buy a car that's hopped up to get from 0-100kph in 3 seconds. I don't have to do that, but I'd still be paying for the capability where I could buy a more modest car that can't do that and spend far less and may be less money to service and keep maintained.

[Rich 2]

Re: Need some AI sickness bags

It is intensely annoying that so much of the press refers to “AI” but never says what the application is. It’s like saying “I’m studying for a degree” and then refusing to say what the subject is - it’s meaningless

[xyz]

Yeah I'm baffled....

Given that the majority of the GenPop just want to look at TikTok etc on their phones and business just wants to do accounts and orders and make a buck, there can't be that many people sitting at home getting AI to understand the universe for them or resolve global warming and it's just so cringe getting your big, strap on AI to work out your holiday itinerary.

Maybe they're all making AI generated cat videos? Mystifying.

[bigphil9009]

Re: Yeah I'm baffled....

Is that a... Seveneves reference?! Bloody good work Sir!

[breakfast]

Re: Yeah I'm baffled....

You could ask even a very basic contemporary AI how to resolve global warming and it would be able to give you an entirely practical solution, because that's in its training data plenty of times. We know how to resolve it, but some very rich people don't want us to.

What the slopdorks want is a new version of Carbon Capture and Storage now that has been broadly debunked; a way to promise a magical fix in the future that means everybody can keep burning fossil fuels today.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: Yeah I'm baffled....

Said it before and I'll say it again. Just. Plant. Trees. A lot of 'em.

Even if everyone stopped burning fossil fuels right now (which they won't; they can't - too integral to everything most people do just to exist; it will take decades to wean off) thus-far accumulated CO2 is still in the atmosphere and won't go away by itself. The end goal isn't just to stop CO2 emissions, but reduce what's already accumulated.

For their minimal cost and simplicity, trees suck up CO2 way better than anything we can manufacture.

Plus they can be harvested for building materials, with replacements planted to make up the shortfall. Over and over.

[Joe Gurman]

Re: Yeah I'm baffled....

A lot of the planet has been getting hotter and drier, and as a result, vast areas of forest and grassland have been burning, depositing vast amounts of carbon as PM2.5 in the atmosphere and eventually in our lungs. Might be too late or even counterproductive to plant more trees at this moment.

[herman]

Re: Yeah I'm baffled....

You don't even have to plant the trees. The moment you stop farming, trees come up like weeds and after twenty odd years they are mature. The tree cover in Europe has increased enormously - more than 30% over the last few decades thanks to more intensive farming on less area.

[rg287]

Re: Yeah I'm baffled....

There is one - and precisely one - properly useful application of Carbon Capture, which is bolting it onto the outflow of high intensity industrial processes that we can't easily do away with like cement or steel plants (SSAB in Sweden has "zero fossil" steel, but I understand it's a fossil-free recycling process, not making virgin steel).

And this is assuming you can't find a direct use for the raw outflow - like British Sugar did when they piped waste CO₂ and heat into the greenhouses at Cornerways Nursery to increase tomato yields.

These chucklefucks spinning carbon capture systems in free air are way down the paradoxical consume-to-save brainrot, particularly since they seem to be building them in places which have abundant renewable energy like Iceland (geothermal) and Kenya (solar), but which don't necessarily have high industrial emissions or especially high ambient CO₂ levels.

The tech is useful for mitigating high point-emissions. Particularly if it can provide a usefully pure supply of food/medical/industrial-grade CO₂, diversifying supply chains (most medical grade CO₂ is a byproduct of ammonia and (bio)ethanol production, which famously had issues in 2018 and 2022. The UK's largest bioethanol plant has also recently shut down, cutting domestic CO₂ supplies by 30%).

[UnknownUnknown]

Apple need to make their own memory on chip

Apple and TSMC just need to get on with designing and baking memory directly onto the M- Series processor line themselves instead of relying on a memory chiplets supply to be bolted on.

Break the dependency on the boom and bust memory makers once and for all and control your own destiny.

How hard can it be to do after the hard part of making the compute, graphics and other parts of the M processors???

[Mishak]

Re: Apple need to make their own memory on chip

The problem you get is the size of the chip - each bit of memory requires at least one transistor and a capacitor. If you put them all on the same die, then the chance of a defect goes up with the square of the die area - the bigger the die, the larger the chance of it not working and the yield dropping (which increases the cost). Not only that, the manufacturing processes are different, so you probably end up with something that's not optimal.

Stacking the memory on top means the dies are smaller, so the yield is higher for the same number of defects per wafer and different processes can be used.

And there's also the advantage that you only need to produce two devices (a CPU and a memory chip), rather than one for each memory configuration that you plan to sell.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Apple need to make their own memory on chip

The Apple Unified Memory Architecture is already baking the memory on-processor die - it’s just using someone else’s memory.

“Apple sources the unified memory (RAM) used in its M-series processors from major memory manufacturers including SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron.While Apple designs the architecture for its custom silicon chips (such as the M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 series) and has them physically fabricated by TSMC, it does not manufacture its own memory dies. Instead, Apple buys standard LPDDR DRAM modules from these leading semiconductor companies and places them directly on-package right next to the main processor to create its Unified Memory Architecture (UMA). Specific suppliers can vary by production run, device model, and component availability, with SK Hynix and Samsung frequently identified as primary providers for M-series Mac hardware”

[katrinab]

Re: Apple need to make their own memory on chip

I don't think TSMC have the ability to produce memory chips?

As far as I'm aware, the only company that can do both memory and logic is Samsung, and not necessarily from the same fabs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Apple need to make their own memory on chip

Maybe they should learn … past processor cache.

World also make them far less reliant on the LPDDR RAM module makers and open up new revenue streams

[retiredFool]

Re: Apple need to make their own memory on chip

The "recipe" for making big ram chips and logic chips is different. You optimize slightly differently for the needs of the two. One thing you can be sure of when it comes to chips. They optimize the begeejus out of it.

[nohatjim]

I will just keep using my secondhand M1 Studio for another few years.

[Excused Boots]

Which is absolutely fine. If what you have is sufficient for your needs, then there is absolutely no need to upgrade.

Only when it can no longer do what you need it to do, do you think about upgrading,

[Throg]

Agreed. I've just ordered an M6 to replace my ten year old Intel i7 iMac. The latter has served me well, but I'm stuck on Logic Pro 11 now until I upgrade the hardware.

The iMac hardware is still stubbornly hanging on, so I'll probably move it over to a Linux distro and do something non music studio related with it.

[Mishak]

The problem you get is the size of the chip - each bit of memory requires at least one transistor and a capacitor. If you put them all on the same die, then the chance of a defect goes up with the square of the die area - the bigger the die, the larger the chance of it not working and the yield dropping (which increases the cost). Not only that, the manufacturing processes are different, so you probably end up with something that's not optimal.

Stacking the memory on top means the dies are smaller, so the yield is higher for the same number of defects per wafer and different processes can be used.

And there's also the advantage that you only need to produce two devices (a CPU and a memory chip), rather than one for each memory configuration that you plan to sell.

[Kerfufflinator]

Every time Apple launches some new hardware with fancy specs, my dad sends me links. But these prices are just ridiculous.I would love to have the Ultra at home for running grossly inappropriate things like a virtualized proxmox (thanks, Apple, for choosing ARM) but sticking to 30 pound optiplexes (and no proxmox at all) from gumtree for now it is.

[werdsmith]

I use PXVirt fork of Proxmox across two Raspberry Pis and it works like a dream.

However, I did buy the 16GB Pi 5 SBCs before the RAM prices went stupido.

[Kerfufflinator]

This made me read up on proxmox again, and turns out, arm64/aarch64 support was recently announced! https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/proxmox-virtual-environment-now-available-for-64-bit-arm-arm64.185527/

Just need to install UEFI firmware for it to work on the pi.

[Editra]

Good move.

I repurposed the Pi 5 8 GB I used for a year with Pi-Hole for experimentation and learning. Now, a 1 GB (the only model that didn't see a price increase) does that job.

Coming from a Windows/Mac background, I was pleasantly surprised by the rock-solid reliability of these diminutive computers. So reliable I basically forgot about that Pi-Hole server: "Oh, I guess I should upgrade its blocklists. It's been a few weeks".

[IGotOut]

Great Article.

So how is it running Video editing? Handling massive RAW photos, Rendering 3D models?

Oh I forgot, AI. Nothing but fucking AI.

99% of traditional Mac users probably going give a flying fuck about AI agents.

But still. AI, let's talk nothing but AI.

This is nothing but a dog shit press release. Why are we subjected to this crap.

[breakfast]

Re: Great review...

That's a question I'd really like someone a bit serious like the Register to cover - are these AI accelerated chips actually good for real work or are they only useful if you're a determined sloperator?

Given that they appear to be the only thing one can buy these days, "AI chips reviewed for actual work people need to get done" is a real gap in the market as far as I can tell.

[Cubbie Roo]

Re: Great Article.

Well with those specs it's pretty much a given that these will rip through GFX work like crazy, in fact with that amount of GPU cores & memory you'll never even come close to maxing out with local rendering.

[katrinab]

Not sure I agree with the headline

You used to be able to max out the Mac Studio at 512GB RAM, now you can only max it out at 256GB.

For comparison, I have 512GB in my Thinkstation P620, and could max it out at 2TB if I was a billionaire. Obviously not quite the same time because Threadrippers don't do unified RAM.

[elsergiovolador]

Re: Not sure I agree with the headline

You'll miss the bandwidth that is on Mac Studio. They seem to be offering it back from October. That said the 512GB seems old now. They should have gone for 1-2TB options with a mortgage broker.

[User McUser]

$4,000 USD for 256GB RAM?

Huh, I figured Apple would have raised RAM prices, but this is basically how it has always been with them.

[X5-332960073452]

Re: $4,000 USD for 256GB RAM?

Appreciate the icon, but it's $/£ 4000 for the upgrade from 96 to 256 GB, so really $/£ 4000 for 196GB = $/£ 25 per GB

[BinkyTheMagicPaperclip]

Mac Mini prices are utterly obscene

I'd need to check the benchmarks but I looked at price vs an AMD Strix system and it was a clear *grand* over some other systems.

1TB of SSD storage costs 550 quid because f you, that's why. I know NVMe is expensive, but when a *good* NVMe is currently 200 quid for 1TB and Apple are charging 500 quid to upgrade from 256GB to 1TB, well, that goes beyond extracting the urine, and straight into price gouging.

For that price it really needs to have a very sizable advantage over cheaper desktops or LLM systems, and I'm unconvinced it has.

[elsergiovolador]

Re: Mac Mini prices are utterly obscene

Isn't that beautiful to pay so much taxes for CMA to ignore price gouging.

[frankyunderwood123]

Re: Mac Mini prices are utterly obscene

They were competitive big time with external storage thrown into the mix - this is before the price of storage and ram went through the roof.

A standard mac mini bumped up to 24gb of RAM was reasonably priced.

Rather than bumping up the internal storage, just use external at 40gbps - with the right nvme the speed approaches that of internal.

I got the M1 back in late 2020 - that little machine cost £680 at the time and is still going strong - my wife uses it for graphics and has yet to make it sweat over any tasks.

The form factor is part of the appeal, but so is the solid engineering. Could I have got something with more storage and RAM for the same price? Sure - with a much larger form factor.

My wife simply connects external storage to it.

I got the mac mini M4 pro when it came out and have 8tb of external storage hooked up to it.

This little box is simply incredible - it handles anything I throw at it with ease.

Heck, using crossover, I can get 60fps in games like RDR2 and 40fps in modern FPS titles - but I didn't buy it for gaming.

It was expensive - but not obscene at the time.

Again,we're back down to the form factor. It's tiny, yet has a generous amount of ports.

Try and do a self-build with a similar tiny form factor and the same performance and just see how much it costs you.

[Marty McFly]

US Made?

Last February Apple announced that some of the next Mini's would be produced in Houston, TX. I wish they would have specified which models in this press release.

[Throg]

Re: US Made?

As far as I'm aware it won't be the early models of these machines as Houston has only just come online. I read somewhere that eventually Houston will supply US customers and everyone else will get machines made in China, but I can't find that reference now.

[frankyunderwood123]

sticking with my m4 pro…

probably for another decade at this rate.

Screw AI. I’m forced to use it at work and know I’ll be redundant within 18 months anyway.

In about 4 or 5 years I’ll replace macOS with Linux because it seems clear to me that Apple will eventually enshitify macOS like microsoft did with windows.

It’s still a good OS, but the direction of travel is concerning. A fucking I.

[MachDiamond]

Re: sticking with my m4 pro…

"It’s still a good OS, but the direction of travel is concerning. A fucking I."

If there were a useful use case for AI, I'd not be so critical myself, but I'm not seeing examples that impact the sorts of things I do. Especially the things I do for money where I can justify investing in tools. The pile of 120 film in the fridge doesn't have to be justified as it's hobby stuff.

[BebopWeBop]

And there I am doing productive (and very very well paid work) from a base (office, I have a laptop, a pen and paper as well for emergencies) lat 2018 Mac Mini - maxed out on memory, but both R* and even Mathematica when I have to use it, are quite workable. Better not tell Apple.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Our most powerful ever" - yawn

Come on, try saying something original.

OF COURSE it's going to be the most powerful ever as innovation mostly tends to point upwards - yawn. "Not quite as beefy as our previous model" is obviously not going to sell much, but "most powerful ever" is only impressive until you start thinking about it - it's a "duh" statement.

I'm sure somewhere in their articles they will also mention to be really "excited" about it, merely indicating that with all that power there's still no access to a proper thesaurus.

I like Apple gear, but their naming and marketing occasionally rather irritates me.

[Tim99]

"a proper thesaurus". My iMac is set up with the OED, its thesaurus is OK.

Caveat: I am old and went to a school that had "illusions" of grandeur, where I was taught "Oxford English": the use of the letter "z" in appropriate places, the Oxford comma, etc. I do have a dead tree version of the OED that I bought in 1986 (to replace an earlier version) which I use occasionally if I'm on an iPad; but, all up, for "free" the electronic one is OK.