GoKawiil
Tech News
Apple this week rolled out updated Mac mini and Mac Studio models and sent out official invitations for its September event, where the iPhone 18 Pro lineup is expected to debut. Reports also point to additional fall product announcements still to come, alongside a small round of layoffs affecting roughly 200 employees.
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.
Apple's newly unveiled Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro chips carries several specs the company didn't spotlight at launch. Memory bandwidth actually varies by RAM configuration, topping out only with the M5 Pro model, and the machine includes an Apple-designed N1 chip enabling Thread smart-home support. Additionally, units will ship with the unreleased macOS Golden Gate already installed.
Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics released Microduck, a 25-centimeter open-source robot shaped like a duck that costs $399 and can walk, grip objects up to 800 grams, right itself after falling, and even roller skate. The robot uses a camera, lidar, and dual IMUs to sense its surroundings, and its behaviors are trained in simulation before being deployed and fine-tuned on the physical device.
Pollen Robotics, owned by Hugging Face, has opened pre-orders for Microduck, a 25cm, sub-800g bipedal robot priced at $399. Unlike the stationary Reachy Mini, Microduck is built for mobility, packing 15 motors, a camera, LiDAR, two IMUs and an articulated beak so it can walk, sit, crouch, recover from falls and even roller-skate.
A worldwide shortage of memory chips, driven largely by demand for AI infrastructure, is squeezing hardware manufacturers just as major companies prepare new product launches. Apple has already unveiled Mac minis and Mac Studios with new M6 chips, with an iPhone event expected in September featuring the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, a foldable iPhone, and new Apple Watches. Makers are responding to rising component costs by either raising prices on devices or reducing memory and storage specifications to keep costs down.
Pollen Robotics, the robotics arm behind Hugging Face's Reachy Mini, has revealed the Microduck, a small one-eyed biped robot under 10 inches tall. It costs $399, comes in four colors, and is expected to ship before Christmas 2026, with demos showing it rolling on skates, kicking balls, and picking up small objects.
A tech roundup recommends external displays for buyers of Apple's newly released Mac mini and Mac Studio, highlighting Apple's own Studio Display and the newer Studio Display XDR as standout choices. The Studio Display offers a 27-inch 5K panel, a 12MP Center Stage webcam, True Tone technology, and Thunderbolt 5 ports, while the XDR variant adds mini-LED technology and a 120Hz refresh rate.
Apple's Mac mini lineup includes both the newer M6 chip and the older M5 Pro, but the M5 Pro model is priced higher because it targets a different performance tier. The M5 Pro offers more CPU and GPU cores, higher RAM ceilings up to 64GB, and storage options up to 8TB, compared to the M6's maximum 12-core CPU, 32GB RAM, and 2TB storage.
Apple broke a decade-long pattern this week by quietly releasing updated Mac mini and Mac Studio models in late August, even though they won't ship until September 22. This timing suggests Apple needed to clear these updates off its plate before the September 9 'Surprise and shine' event, which is rumored to feature five to nine or more new products.
Apple's Mac Studio, available with M5 Max or the fused-together M5 Ultra chip, offers up to 80 GPU cores, 512GB of RAM and a 16TB SSD, along with more ports than the Mac mini, including four Thunderbolt 5 connections. The Mac mini starts at $899 and covers most everyday needs, while the Mac Studio starts at $2,499 and targets professionals with intensive workloads.
Amazon has opened pre-orders for Apple's new M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini models across several configurations, ranging from $899 to $1,699. Best Buy is separately offering up to $500 off the M6 Mac mini when trading in an older M4 unit, while other current discounts include AirTag 2 at $20, renewed iPhone 17 Pro units up to $220 off, and Apple's official iPhone Air Bumper case down to under $13.