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FnScribe is a new open-source macOS menu-bar app that transcribes speech locally on the device and inserts text directly into whatever app is focused. Users trigger it with a push-to-talk shortcut (the fn/Globe key) or a hands-free mode, and it includes smart cleanup features like filler-word removal, punctuation commands, list formatting, and voice-based correction phrases like 'scratch that.'
Following Apple's announcement of refreshed Mac Studio and Mac mini lineups with M6 and M5 Pro/Max/Ultra chips, retailers Amazon and Best Buy began accepting pre-orders the same day. Pricing starts at $899 for the base Mac mini and $2,499 for the Mac Studio, alongside an updated Magic Keyboard and a cheaper $9 Polishing Cloth.
The Asahi Linux project has released version 7.2 of its Progress Linux distribution, continuing its effort to bring full Linux support to Apple Silicon Macs. This update focuses heavily on improving power management, particularly around how the application CPU cores enter and exit sleep states using ARM's Wait For Interrupt instruction and Apple's deep-sleep variant. The team is also working to align its downstream power management driver with the standardized Power State Coordination Interface required for upstream kernel acceptance.
A commentator argues that Apple should introduce a new budget desktop, dubbed the Mac Neo, to replace the entry-level role the Mac mini once played. The suggestion comes as the M6 Mac mini's starting price has risen to $899, well above the sub-$1,000, guilt-free price point the mini has occupied since its 2005 debut at $499. The piece notes that rising memory costs and AI demand have pushed Apple Silicon machines toward power users, leaving casual buyers, students, and hobbyists without an affordable Mac option.
Apple has released the M5 Ultra chip for the new Mac Studio, built by fusing two dual-die M5 Max chips into a quad-die design, a first for the company's silicon lineup. The chip offers up to 36 CPU cores, a jump in inter-die connection speed to 4.4TB/s, and unified memory bandwidth of 1.2TB/s, both notable increases over the M3 Ultra.
Apple has released a new Mac mini lineup powered by its M6 chip and M5 Pro chip, replacing the previous M4 and M4 Pro models. The M6, built on a 2nm process, brings a 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, and dual 16-core Neural Engine, while the M5 Pro offers up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU. Both versions also gain higher memory bandwidth and increased maximum RAM configurations.
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 two new Apple Silicon chips: the M6, its first processor built on a 2-nanometer process, arrives in a redesigned Mac mini, while the M5 Ultra, described as Apple's most powerful chip yet, powers an updated Mac Studio. The M6 combines three CPU core types—super, performance and efficiency cores—for the first time, alongside a 12-core GPU with per-core Neural Accelerators and native FP8 support for faster AI processing.
Apple has introduced the M5 Ultra, its most powerful chip yet, by fusing two M5 Max dies into a single quad-die processor connected at 4.4TB/s. It offers up to 36 CPU cores, an 80-core GPU option, and support for up to 512GB of unified memory with 1.2TB/s bandwidth, arriving in new Mac Studio models starting at $5,499.
Apple has updated its Mac Mini and Mac Studio desktops with new internals while keeping their exterior designs unchanged. The Mac Mini now ships with either the M5 Pro or the all-new M6 chip, Apple's first built on 2-nanometer technology, featuring a 12-core CPU, a 12-core GPU, and a dual 16-core Neural Engine for improved AI performance. The Mac Studio gains an M5 Ultra option, and both machines return to steady availability after months of limited stock.
Parallels Desktop 27 introduces a new Metal-based graphics driver enabling hardware-accelerated OpenGL 4.3 for Windows virtual machines running on Apple Silicon Macs. This unlocks professional Windows applications like ArcGIS Pro, ZWCAD, and Blender 4.3 that previously required this graphics baseline to function. Parallels also touts faster AI workload performance and new enterprise management tools aimed at IT departments.