Perhaps it is appropriate that the last few days of Tim Cook’s leadership at Apple is marked by the return of Mac manufacturing to America in the form of the new Mac mini, which the company has promised it will assemble in the US this year. The company on Tuesday also introduced new Mac Studio models.
It’s a perfect footnote to illustrate the tremendous work Cook has done to balance sometimes opposing forces both within and outside the company. In this instance, it mirrors his difficult diplomacy to try to get Apple one the right side of the Trump Administration.
US officials have long wanted Apple to bring all of its product manufacturing back home. The company, in turn, has had to argue and cajole and show that this is simply not possible — because even if you built new factories today, you would not have sufficiently skilled employees to work in them tomorrow.
That reality has guided Apple in its approach to investing in US manufacturing. The company seeks to develop the most high-tech manufacturing in the US, while leaving more general product assembly elsewhere. This changes with the Mac mini, which is now the company’s flagship “Made in USA” product with final assembly in the US, replacing the now-discontinued Mac Pro. (Some components are made outside the US, but assembly has been promised at Houston.)
You should see this as a continuation of the company’s $600 billion investment in US manufacturing, which most recently saw Cook and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tour Apple/Foxconn’s Houston facility, where manufacturing will take place. It’s not the only hardware the company makes in the US; it also manufactures its Private Cloud Compute AI servers there. Both production lines are significant.
“Mac mini has always been our most versatile Mac. Whether it’s being used as a home computer, powering a professional studio, or as an always-on agentic device, it’s the little Mac that can do it all,” Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, said in a statement.
The all-new Mac mini features M6 and M5 Pro configurations that the company says provide a massive leap in AI performance (up to four times faster than before). Storage and graphics are twice as fast, while the processor delivers 40% better performance than the one it replaces. Configurations ramp up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU.
These things are fast. That’s significant given the growing number of people using one or more of these Macs to drive on-premises AI clusters. The new models are available now to order for delivery Sept. 22.
Both Mac mini models include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, as well as upgraded 2.5Gb Ethernet, with a 10Gb option available. With industry-leading performance per watt, these new Macs are fast, quiet, and cheaper to run, even at peak workloads.
They offer two USB-C port that support USB 3, a headphone jack, three Thunderbolt 4 ports on Mac mini with M6, and three Thunderbolt 5 ports on Mac mini with M5 Pro, along with HDMI and Ethernet. (You can cluster multiple Mac minis using Thunderbolt to create AI machines.)
It is also appropriate to point to the environmental credentials of these Macs, given Apple’s plan to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by 2030. The Macs are made with 50% recycled material overall, including 100% recycled aluminum in the enclosure and 100% recycled rare earth elements in all magnets. All the energy used to make these Macs is sourced from renewable energy, Apple claims.
Apple also introduced new Mac Studio configurations equipped with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, designed to handle the most demanding workflows. Available for pre-order now these, too, will ship Sept. 22.
The company promises up 4.3x faster AI performance, up to 2x faster storage, up to 1.8x faster graphics, and up to 1.3x faster CPU speed, along with higher memory bandwidth .“Mac Studio is the ultimate desktop for on-device AI and the world’s most demanding pro workflows, relied on by users for its tremendous performance and extensive pro connectivity, all in a quiet, compact design that sits right on your desk — and today, we’re pushing the boundaries even further,” said Srouji.
Mac Studio with M5 Max features an 18-core CPU, an up-to-40-core GPU with Neural Accelerators built into each core, and up to 128GB of unified memory. Prices start at $2,499.
The M5 Ultra variant scales up to a 36-core CPU, up to an 80-core GPU, and a possible 512GB of unified memory, enabling users to run enormous LLMs entirely on device. You also get Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 and Thunderbolt 5, which enables multiple Mac Studio systems to be clustered for the most powerful possible on-prem AI deployments. Pricing starts at $5,499.
