Apple M6 Mac mini Geekbench 7 scores surface ahead of September 22 launch at 899 dollars

The first benchmark record for the M6 Mac mini has appeared in the Geekbench 7 database. The tested device carries the model identifier "Mac18,5" and runs an Apple M6 chip with a 12-core CPU and a base frequency of 4.78GHz. By comparison, the M4 Mac mini has a base frequency of 4.4GHz, while the original M1-based Mac mini had a base frequency of 3.2GHz. The database currently contains only one CPU test record for Mac18,5, with no GPU or AI performance results yet.

In the Geekbench 7 single-core test, the M6 Mac mini scored 4,071. That is roughly 24% higher than the previous-generation M4 Mac mini, 69% higher than the M2 Mac mini, and about 89% higher than the M1 Mac mini. In the multi-core test, the M6 Mac mini scored 22,783, about 48% above the M4 Mac mini, 132% higher than the M2 Mac mini, and 165% higher than the M1 Mac mini.

The M6 chip is manufactured on a 2-nanometer process and has a 12-core CPU comprising two Super Cores, four performance cores, and six efficiency cores. On the graphics side, the M6 Mac mini is equipped with a 12-core GPU, with a neural accelerator added to each GPU core. The chip also features dual 16-core neural engines, and unified memory bandwidth rises to as much as 170GB/s. Apple's published figures show that the M6 Mac mini's GPU graphics performance can reach up to twice that of the M4, while AI computing capability can reach up to four times that of the M4; in LM Studio, large language model prompt processing speed can reach up to 4.8 times that of the M4.

The M6 Mac mini retains the compact chassis of the current Mac mini generation, measuring 5 by 5 inches and weighing about 1.5 pounds. Its exterior is essentially unchanged from the M4 Mac mini, with upgrades concentrated in the internal hardware. The machine offers 16GB, 24GB, and 32GB of unified memory, with storage starting at 256GB and options up to 2TB. The chip upgrade skips the previous M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 sequence: Apple did not use the M5 in the Mac mini and moved directly to the M6.

For connectivity, the new Mac mini has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-C ports on the front of the chassis, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port, with an optional upgrade to 10Gbps Ethernet. Wireless connectivity is upgraded to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. For display output, the model can connect up to three external monitors and supports a range of combinations including 6K, 5K, and 4K high-refresh-rate displays.

On price, the M6 Mac mini starts at 899 dollars, 300 dollars above the 599 dollar starting price of the M4 Mac mini at launch. The base configuration includes the M6 chip, 16GB of unified memory, 256GB of storage, and 2.5Gbps Ethernet. Upgrading memory to 24GB or 32GB costs an additional 200 dollars, moving storage from 256GB to 512GB adds 200 dollars, and 1TB and 2TB configurations cost more. The M6 Mac mini will officially launch on September 22, 2026.