Apple quietly refreshed its Polishing Cloth alongside the new Mac mini and Mac Studio launches, now selling it for $9 instead of the original $19. The product description remains unchanged, and Apple hasn't specified what, if anything, is different about the new version.
Apple unveiled two new processors, the M5 Ultra and M6, to power refreshed Mac Studio and Mac Mini lines. The M5 Ultra fuses two M5 Max dies into Apple's first quad-die chip with up to 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores, and 1.2 TB/s memory bandwidth, while the 2nm M6 targets everyday users with a 12-core CPU and nearly 30% more peak GPU compute for AI tasks than the M5.
Apple introduced a refreshed Mac Mini powered by its new M6 chip, priced from $899 for 256GB storage and 16GB RAM, with pre-orders open now and shipping starting September 22. A higher-end M5 Pro variant starts at $1,699 with 512GB storage and 24GB RAM. Apple also launched new Mac Studio desktops built on M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, priced from $2,499 and $5,499 respectively.
Apple released a support page listing 50 ways users can adapt their devices as they age, organized into ten categories covering vision, hearing, mobility and cognition. The list draws mostly on existing accessibility settings, such as enlarging text, boosting contrast, and Sound Recognition, which can alert users to doorbells, alarms or appliance beeps. The release coincides with Apple's 50th anniversary and highlights features many customers may not know already exist.
Apple unveiled its M6 processor, first appearing in the Mac Mini, built on a 2nm manufacturing process with 12 CPU cores, a 12-core GPU, and a dual 16-core neural engine. Apple claims roughly 20% faster multithreaded performance and larger GPU gains over the M5, along with memory bandwidth up to 170GB/s, though independent testing hasn't yet confirmed these figures.
Apple announced updated Mac mini models built on its new M6 chip and the higher-end M5 Pro, promising as much as 4x faster AI processing, doubled graphics and storage speeds, and a 40 percent CPU gain over the previous generation. Both configurations add Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and faster Ethernet options, and ship with macOS 27 and Apple's next Apple Intelligence features including Siri AI. The machines are open for preorder now and go on sale September 22.
Apple unveiled a refreshed Mac Studio built around its M5 Max and new M5 Ultra silicon, promising up to 4.3x faster on-device AI performance, 1.8x faster graphics, and support for up to 512GB of unified memory. The desktop also gains Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thunderbolt 5, with the latter allowing multiple units to be clustered for tripled AI inference speeds. Pre-orders opened today, positioning the machine as Apple's flagship workstation for AI researchers and creative professionals.
Apple has launched M6, its first chip built on a 2-nanometer process, inside a refreshed Mac mini, featuring a 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Alongside it, the new Mac Studio gets M5 Ultra, Apple's first quad-die SoC, offering up to 36 CPU cores, 80 GPU cores and 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth.
Reports indicate Apple is preparing an updated Mac mini built around the M6 chip, with the biggest improvements expected in graphics performance and AI processing rather than overall design changes. The move follows strong demand for the current M4 Mac mini, which had become a popular low-cost entry point into the Mac lineup.
Apple has updated the Mac mini and Mac Studio with two new chips: the M6, its first 2nm chip, and the M5 Ultra, now the most powerful chip in its lineup for AI tasks. The hardware itself sees no major feature additions beyond the spec bump, but Apple's messaging emphasizes their suitability for local AI inference and development.
Apple unveiled updated Mac Mini and Mac Studio desktops featuring new chip options, including the first Apple computer built on an M6-generation chip made with TSMC's 2-nanometer process, alongside an M5 Pro option. The company emphasized neural engine hardware and a memory architecture designed to help developers run and fine-tune large AI models directly on the machines rather than in the cloud.
Apple has refreshed its Mac Mini and Mac Studio lineups, but industry-wide memory chip shortages combined with surging demand for AI computing hardware are expected to limit availability. Buyers hoping for quick access to these updated compact desktops may face delays or stock shortages in the near term.