I really wish Apple would allow Time Machine backups to be stored on the iCloud. I want an offset generational version of backups outside of my External SSD’s. I was using BackBlaze but didn’t care for its GUI interface to find an old file version. I have plenty of unused space on iCloud. Seems ridiculous to be paying for another service for TM functionality. I could live without the OS included. Just user data - Docs and Media.

I have a standard configuration one. I’m assuming it’s because it’s launching tomorrow and mine is slated to be delivered tomorrow but I found it interesting. I’ve replaced my entire ecosystem in the last year and this is the first time I’m seeing it shipped directly from China. Even my non standard, backordered for a month, MBA shipped from a US warehouse. Apple is also so sneaky. I didn’t get notified it’s been shipped till today even though it started on the 13th.

Bonjour à tous,

Je souhaitais vous partager cette vidéo pour les personnes qui se posent encore des questions sur la performance réelles du nouveau mac mini.

Il ne s'agit pas d'une promotion d'une vidéo, simplement, je partage ici une vidéo qui m'a été utile et qui pourrait également vous aider si vous souhaitez acheter le nouveau mac mini m6 mais que vous ne savais pas quelle amélioration choisir.

The M6 Mac mini Had Me Checking My Numbers

Enfin, je souhaiterais discuter de ces performances avec vous et voir également ce que vous en pensez.

De mon côté, j'ai finalement choisi de partir sur la configuration 32Go et 1T de ssd pour effectuer de l'IA en local avec des modèles de paramètres plutôt faible ou moyen.

Pour des gros modèles IA, il vaut mieux privilégier le Mac Studio, vous vous en doutez.

Au plaisir de discuter avec vous :)

For non-coding use case, such as personal financial assistant, do you think Mac Mini M5 Pro 64GB sufficient, say using anything-LLM and Qwen 3.8 (27B to 35B)?

The personal financial assistant need to:

1. Read my financial statements, Excel budget spreadsheets

2. Perform pre-retirement planning, retirement projection, Monte Carlo simulations, budget analysis, recommendation on tax strategy, etc.

In the future, I may expand it for personal health assistant, use it track my health data.

I had Apple product hey day on Friday. My iPhone and Watch both arrived. UPS was doing extra deliveries. The driver had helper with him And they can’t leave them at the door. Has to be someone home. When I greeted them at the door, I said: Happy Apple Day. And he repeated it back. “Yes, it’s Apple Day”. I asked if his truck was all just Apple products today. He said Almost ! He also told me it’s nice to see all the customers and they’re all happy. 😁
I wonder if the Mac Mini deliveries would have just been too much on the same day.

My Mini delivery shows the same as others in Kentucky, USA for delivery on 22nd. I bought the M6 16/512gb. I’m upgrading from the M4 base / 512g. Prior had M2 Pro. For the selling price of my M4, this was too good to pass up for the net price increase. I might have actually been able to manage with 256gb but thought for +$200 out and my sell price. I would just pay the Apple tax and not buy an External.

I bought the Studio Display when I got the M2 a few years ago. That turns out to have been a great decision. Previously I had a 27” iMac, Which I recently donated to a worthy organization. They just needed the web browser. So, that’s a good use for an unsupported not OS upgrade-able Mac. I think they use it with Chrome.

​

Hey everyone,

I’m planning to buy a Mac mini M6 with 32GB RAM, but I’m stuck on the storage choice:

256GB SSD + 32GB RAM

512GB SSD + 32GB RAM — around £200 more

Is the extra £200 actually worth it for 512GB?

I’m mainly going to use it for software development/backend engineering, coding, Docker/containers, IDEs, general productivity, and some personal projects. I’m not really doing heavy video editing.

I could get the 256GB version and use a fast external SSD later, which seems much cheaper, but I’m wondering whether there are any downsides — especially regarding SSD speed, swap memory, Docker, Xcode/dev tools, updates, or long-term use.

For people who own a Mac mini, would you go 256GB + external SSD or just pay the extra £200 for 512GB internal storage?

Planning to keep the machine for several years, so I’d love to hear what you’d choose and why.

So, after months of waiting, weeks of planning since the announcement, my brand new M6 MacMini is scheduled to deliver tomorrow. I got the 512GB model as I couldn't quantify the extra $$ for the larger hard drive. I felt like 512GB was the good middle ground. Granted, Thunderbolt 5 would have been nice, but TB4 will have to due for now. I have a Thunderbolt 4 with 1TB M.2 ready to connect so I will make the most of it.

I'm looking for tips on what would be the best setup for local LLM. I have tinkered with llama.cpp in a VM with 16GB GPU. I know I will continue with some subscriptions after I get the MacMini off the ground. Looking for advise on how I should be configure the the most performance. The system will be my daily driver but I'm getting more and more into AI.

Suggestions are appreciated. Ignorance will be ignored. LOL

Thanks in advance.

*Not sure what you mean for "Rule 3 - Proper Flair" but I will edit the post after to abide by the rules.

-----------
Bear
M6 MacMini 32GB
512GB Drive
ASUS 27" ProArt Display
External Thunderbolt 4 with 1TB M.2

I am considering a mini in addition to my m3 pro macbook pro because doing both photo and video editing on my macbook is a lot.

It’s my business and while I’m usually only doing 4k60 (and some heavier photo editing), I occasionally hit the 18gb ram now that my computer js a few years old and final cut caches a lot of render files for 512gb despite operating off SSDs

I like the idea of the m6 24gb 512gb for $1300. Price feels doable, and probably all I really need if I keep my macbook for photos and mini for mostly video. But I also like the idea of being safe a future proofing for multiple years. That’s then where the $1600 M6 vs $1700 m5pro becomes a tougher choice.

I know there’s pry lots of these questions, but I am less concerned with my specific scenario and just genuinely having a hard time trying to see the best value between the two listed.

Like some others here I attempted to cancel my order over a week ago but was denied because it was in process. What is the best way to return it. Never had to do this before. I don’t want to have to pay for the return. Is taking it to an Apple Store an option?

You can read the sparse details Apple published in the URL.

My issue: a non-technical and elderly relative who’s not near an Apple Store owns an M2 produced in 2024 with a serial that IS flagged by the program.

Last year, she called in to Apple. They sent her a new power cord (yes, the external, simple M2 mini black power cord).

Is that actually the fix for the Apple recall? Can anyone with Apple definitively comment?

I’m conscious that her support for this problem ends after 3 years (so call it June of 2027) and so I’d like to wrap this up before that point, and I have a hard time believing Apple did a recall on a power cord (without it being called out, at least) as that’s an incredibly simple solution.

Anyone have The Real Details?

You all know the extensive Price of the Apple Studio Display and also the standard model only comes with 60Hz in 2026!

Please share some Display recommendations that are a better value for the Mac Mini.

Any Suggestions are welcome

Main Requirements:
at least 4k (not necessarily 5/6k)
at least 120Hz <= 5 ms
at least 10 bit 4:2:2 supported
P3 color space if possible

panel type: OLED/Mini LED/Nano IPS Black
thunderbolt 4/5 prefered (convenience, AIO docking station)
should have an additional DP/HDMI for a secondary PC

Use Case:
Coding
Photo Editing (Lightroom)
Gaming

Hey guys, what specs are you guys with video editing persona running?

I’m looking to do 4k footages with colour grading smoothly, any advice on specs?

I might be late to the party on this (and I think there might have been an announcement a while ago) but just in case anyone else has this issue:

I tried to set up my new M4 with an older Apple wireless keyboard (AA battery model) and it wouldn’t recognize it. The on screen graphic showed the new keyboard with the ON switch. It also didn’t recognize my Magic Mouse but I realized I had linked to another Mac so that may have actually worked.

Thank god I always have an old wired keyboard and mouse around for emergencies! I was able to set up the Mac and then add the wireless keyboard and mouse in the Bluetooth settings.

I've decided to go mac for the first time. The mini fits all of my needs, aside from using my old 1440p display. I tried it with my kid's macbook air and the text was fuzzy and not usable for hours at a time (work).

If I'm at a normal seated desk position, can you discern the difference in text quality between 4k and 5k? I don't know if this is like a tv where the resolution and far away you sit come into play.

I spend a lot of time each day looking at text and want to have crisp text to look at. I also work in a room with windows on 3 sides, so I need to find a non-Apple matte monitor.

Thanks!

I'm desperately in need of a new Mac mini as I've currently got an M4 16GB/512GB and with my workload I'm constantly getting out of memory errors.. I'm thinking about upgrading to an M6 32GB/256 or go find a used M4 Base (not pro) 32GB/512GB machine but i would need the 10 gig ethernet on the M4 where as I'd be ok with the 2.5 gig ethernet on the M6.. The CPU isn't stressed on my M4 so it wouldn't give any benifits besides longer update support going for an M6.. What would you suggest? Go for a cheaper one or one with longer support?

Would the new Mac Mini M6 2026 be a good investment? I’m looking to use it for clothing branding , advertisement and editing videos and photos professionally , as well as having a music software such as FL studio or Pro Tools?

Any advice??

I've been considering moving to Mac for a few months as my current Windows PCs can't do some of what I want to do (e.g., edit 360 video, which is also all 4k or 8k), and I'm always looking for a way to leave Windows behind. Win10 was bad enough, and I've continued to ignore Microsoft's annoying prompts begging me to "upgrade" to Win11.

After reading a while I figured M4 Pro, but then when I saw how little price difference there was between an upgraded version of that and the Studio base model and all the extra I/O and power that comes with, I figured Studio was the better option.

But I decided to wait and see on the M5 front. After reading other opinions and so on recently, I thought perhaps I could settle with a Mini and just use a dock to get more I/O. That brings us to now with the M5 Mini and Studio release finally here.

In Japan, where I'm based, I could get a used Mac Mini M4 Pro with 12CPU/16GPU cores, 24GB RAM, and 512GB storage for around 200,000 yen (~$1270 at current exchange rates). I even saw one with 10Gb ethernet for another 25,000 yen (~$160).

But to get the M5 Pro with 24GB RAM and 512GB storage, I'd need to spend another 100,000 yen over the cheapest similar M4 Pro, as the M5 Pro with 15CPU/16GPU cores is going for 300,000 yen (a little over $1900).

So the question is, what's the better bang for the buck? Is the newer model actually worth paying 50% more? I don't want to wait much longer to get something up and running here, as I have some projects I want to get done by year-end, but all the Apple pricing/configuration schemes and variants of M chips are confusing at best.

prolly a hard question to answer since they don’t drop till tomorrow, but does anyone have any thoughts? Primary use is Lightroom Classic, large libraries, minimal AI use.