Update: Apple just announced the new Mac mini with M5 and M5 Pro chips.
It's been almost two years since Apple launched the current M4 and M4 Pro Mac mini models, but the good news is that a refresh is on its way any day now.
According to the latest report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple plans to debut a new Mac mini in the "coming days." In other words, expect to see it drop before Apple's September iPhone event, which is looking increasingly likely to be held on Wednesday, September 9.
The new models are essentially a refresh, so they are likely to retain the same design but with some internal upgrades. However, there remains some uncertainty as to whether the new Mac mini models will be powered by M5 or M6 chips.
Gurman says Apple has tested models with both chips, but in a June report, Gurman claimed Apple had canceled plans for higher-end M6 Pro chips. That would seem to suggest the new Mac mini models will be powered by the M5 and M5 Pro variants. Currently, the Mac mini can be configured with a standard M4 chip or a higher-end M4 Pro chip.
When the M4 Pro model launched in October 2024, the starting price was $1,399, but Apple has been hit by the rapid expansion of AI data centres, which has driven up the demand for memory and storage chips across the tech industry. Apple in June increased the starting price of the Mac mini with M4 Pro chip to $1,599, up from $1,399, adding an extra $200 onto the price of the higher-tier model.
Apple had already raised the Mac mini's effective starting price in May by discontinuing the $599 configuration with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, leaving the $799 model with a 512GB SSD as the new entry-level option. Since then it has reinstated the 16GB RAM / 256GB storage option, but the $799 starting price remains.
Apple's Mac mini has become one of the machines of choice for running AI agents, and Apple has seen a surge in demand for the small form-factor machine. Combined with ongoing memory supply constraints, the popularity of the Mac mini over the last few months has seen its shipping times extend into 4-10 weeks. So don't hang around if you want to get your hands on one – get your pre-order in on the day it's announced.
