[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-apples-2026-mac-desktop-lineup-gets-a-hands-on-test":10,"sections":35},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":30,"feedback":34,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":34,"total_tokens":34},10168,"apples-2026-mac-desktop-lineup-gets-a-hands-on-test","Apple's 2026 Mac Desktop Lineup Gets a Hands-On Test","Reviewers put Apple's four new Mac desktops through real workloads and find the price hikes only pay off for specific buyers.","Apple's new Mac desktop lineup just got put through its paces, and the verdict is mixed.\n\nPCMag's Joe Osborne and CNET's Josh Goldman tested all four of Apple's new Mac desktops: the $899 Mac mini M6, a Mac mini with M5 Pro, and two Mac Studio configurations built on M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, the top Studio starting at $5,499. They benchmarked the base M6 mini against competing PC mini PCs, checked how each machine handles Apple Intelligence workloads and their RAM demands, and dug into memory bandwidth as a future-proofing question. They also tried gaming on Apple Silicon, still a weak spot for the platform. The hardware itself arrived as a surprise, announced ahead of Apple's usual iPhone-season launch window.\n\nApple raised prices across this lineup, and the reviewers' real question is whether that increase is worth it. Their answer: the base M6 mini is still the easy recommendation for everyday use, but the M5 Pro and Mac Studio tiers only make financial sense if you're running the specific heavy AI or creative workloads that need the extra bandwidth.\n\nA $5,499 machine is still a small box asking a large price, and whether the M5 Ultra's bandwidth gains justify that gap depends entirely on what you're actually running on it, not on the spec sheet.","[\"apple\",\"mac mini\",\"mac studio\",\"apple silicon\"]","2026-10-05T11:57:17.000Z","2026-10-06T04:23:04.708Z","2026-10-06T04:23:10.140Z","published",null,[],"reviews",[26,27,28,29],"apple","mac mini","mac studio","apple silicon",[31],{"name":32,"url":33},"Mashable","https:\u002F\u002Fmashable.com\u002Ftech\u002Fapples-2026-mac-desktop-lineup-tested",0,{"sections":36},[37,42,47,52,57,62,67,72,77,82,87,92,96,99],{"name":38,"slug":39,"count":40,"latest_published_at":41},"AI","ai",6357,"2026-10-06T17:28:33.000Z",{"name":43,"slug":44,"count":45,"latest_published_at":46},"Security","security",892,"2026-10-06T17:50:11.000Z",{"name":48,"slug":49,"count":50,"latest_published_at":51},"Policy","policy",468,"2026-10-06T17:01:52.000Z",{"name":53,"slug":54,"count":55,"latest_published_at":56},"Deals","deals",406,"2026-10-06T18:26:53.000Z",{"name":58,"slug":59,"count":60,"latest_published_at":61},"Hardware","hardware",216,"2026-10-06T18:22:57.000Z",{"name":63,"slug":64,"count":65,"latest_published_at":66},"Science","science",184,"2026-10-06T18:10:45.000Z",{"name":68,"slug":69,"count":70,"latest_published_at":71},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",166,"2026-10-06T17:31:59.000Z",{"name":73,"slug":74,"count":75,"latest_published_at":76},"Software","software",109,"2026-10-06T17:06:24.000Z",{"name":78,"slug":79,"count":80,"latest_published_at":81},"Startups","startups",105,"2026-10-06T16:29:12.000Z",{"name":83,"slug":84,"count":85,"latest_published_at":86},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",103,"2026-10-06T17:20:00.000Z",{"name":88,"slug":89,"count":90,"latest_published_at":91},"Gaming","gaming",55,"2026-10-06T09:38:03.000Z",{"name":93,"slug":94,"count":90,"latest_published_at":95},"General","general","2026-10-06T13:57:32.000Z",{"name":97,"slug":24,"count":98,"latest_published_at":18},"Reviews",33,{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]