M6 Mac mini: Three things Apple didn’t highlight in the announcement

Go to the 9to5Mac home page Switch site 9to5Toys 9to5Google Logo 9to5Google Electrek Drone DJ Logo DroneDJ Space Explored About Privacy Toggle social menu Toggle dark mode Search for: Submit Toggle search form Forums Store Podcasts Apple@Work Happy Hour 9to5Mac Daily Overtime iPhone iPhone Mac Mac MacBook Pro MacBook Air iMac Mac mini Mac Studio Mac Pro iPad iPad Pro iPad Air iPad mini iPad iPadOS Watch Apple Watch Apple Watch Ultra Apple Health Apple Watch SE Vision Vision Pro visionOS Music and TV Apple Music AirPods HomePod Apple TV Guides Reviews How Tos AAPL Apple Store Apple Arcade Apple Card Apple Silicon Apple One Apple Fitness+ CarPlay Siri HomeKit Toggle dark mode M6 Mac mini: Three things Apple didn’t highlight in the announcement Ryan Christoffel | Aug 27 2026 - 11:20 am PT 0 Comments A new Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro was unveiled this week, but we’ve since learned three things about the product that weren’t highlighted by Apple.

If you’re planning to order a Mac mini, the pre-order page doesn’t tell the full story about a key spec: memory bandwidth. Digging into the technical specs reveals that your RAM choice might directly impact overall memory bandwidth.

The base M6 Mac mini with 16GB of RAM offers 153GB/s memory bandwidth. But if you upgrade to 24GB or 32GB of RAM, that number bumps up to 170GB/s.

Meanwhile, you’ll need to choose M5 Pro to get the maximum memory bandwidth of 307GB/s.

Every configuration is still an improvement over the M4 models, but it’s worth noting the differences.

When Apple announced the new Mac mini, it highlighted Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support. Both are upgrades from the M4 model’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

But digging into the technical specs reveals that the M6 Mac mini includes an Apple-designed N1 chip. As a result, the Mac mini also has Thread support.

Thread has been part of the iPhone since the iPhone 15 Pro, with Apple touting its benefits for smart home accessories and automation. But it’s new to the Mac mini.

If you try to avoid installing new macOS versions right away, it’s worth knowing that the M6 Mac mini ships with macOS Golden Gate.

Apple doesn’t explicitly say that anywhere on its website. However, the company reportedly confirmed to John Gruber that the new version of macOS is preinstalled.

This isn’t too surprising, since the M6 Mac mini won’t ship until September 22. macOS 27 will likely be released the week beforehand—on or around September 14. But anyone uneasy about upgrading to the latest software should take note.

For a full rundown of everything new in the M6 Mac mini vs the M4 model, see our overview here .

You can pre-order the M6 and M5 Pro Mac mini here starting at $899.

Are you planning to buy an M6 Mac mini? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.

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Expand Close comments Expand Close comments Guides News Author Ryan Christoffel iryantldr Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.