Apple Unveils New Mac Mini and Mac Studio with M6 and M5 Ultra Chips

The M6 chip is built on a 2-nanometer process and features a 12-core CPU with two super cores, four performance cores and six efficiency cores, a 12-core GPU with an integrated neural network accelerator, and dual 16-core neural engines. It supports up to 32GB of unified memory with 170GB/s bandwidth. The M5 Ultra uses a new UltraFusion packaging technology to connect two dual-die M5 Max chips with over 4.4TB/s inter-die bandwidth, forming the first four-die architecture. It offers up to a 36-core CPU with 12 super cores and 24 performance cores, an 80-core GPU, a 32-core neural engine and a dedicated media engine with four ProRes encode/decode engines, supporting up to 512GB of unified memory at 1.2TB/s.

The new Mac mini comes in M6 and M5 Pro variants. Both support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Genlock, and include a 2.5Gb Ethernet port that can be upgraded to 10Gb. The front has two USB-C ports with USB 3 support and a high-impedance headphone jack, while the rear provides HDMI and Ethernet, with three Thunderbolt 4 ports on the M6 model and three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M5 Pro model. Pre-orders in mainland China start Aug. 27, with sales on Sept. 22. The M6 version starts at RMB 6,999 (RMB 6,199 educational), and the M5 Pro version at RMB 12,999 (RMB 12,199 educational).

The new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips adds hardware acceleration for H.264, HEVC, ProRes and AV1 decoding, sixth-generation PCIe SSDs, up to six Thunderbolt 5 ports with 120Gb/s speeds and RDMA support for clustering, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 through the N1 chip, Genlock, and support for up to eight displays or four 5K/120Hz Studio Display XDR monitors. Pre-orders open Aug. 27, with release Sept. 22; the 512GB unified memory version is expected in late October. M5 Max starts at RMB 19,999 (RMB 18,399 educational), and M5 Ultra at RMB 46,999 (RMB 43,599 educational).

Sony on Aug. 25 released the Xperia 10 VIII, featuring a 6.1-inch 120Hz display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Sony says the screen is 50 percent brighter and includes automatic color adjustment for visibility in direct sunlight. The redesigned bottom speaker driver improves bass, while the 3.5mm headphone jack supports high-resolution audio. It retains a dedicated shutter button. Sony promises four major Android updates and six years of security updates.

ByteDance on Aug. 25 launched Doubao Work, an AI agent for productivity. It can break down goals, call tools and run complex workflows, generate and edit images, videos, web pages or apps, and operate browsers and computers with user authorization. For long-running tasks, it can use cloud computers, and users can remotely control the computer via their phones. Deep integration with Feishu allows the agent to inherit enterprise knowledge and work context; content created together is saved back to Feishu. The desktop version is available from the official website.

GrapheneOS announced Aug. 25 that it will officially support Motorola smartphones starting next year, initially focusing on traditional flagship models and then foldables. Motorola devices running GrapheneOS will receive seven years of full system updates, compared with the three years of system updates and five years of security updates for the 2026 Motorola Razr Ultra. GrapheneOS emphasizes hardware-level security, removes built-in tracking and isolates Google Play services in a sandbox.

Dreame Technology said Aug. 25 that it will adjust some exploratory businesses and focus on smart home, outdoor courtyard, smart mobility and embodied intelligence. The company said its core business remains stable and overseas business continues to grow.

Apple Wallet added support for Zhengzhou Green City Pass transit cards.

At Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, remakes such as The Witcher 3 and Heroes of Might and Magic III were announced, along with new titles like Silent Hill: Townfall and Final Fantasy VII Revelation.

Nothing released Nothing OS 5.0 based on Android 17, with public beta rolling out from Aug. 26 starting with Phone (3) and a stable release in mid-October.

OpenAI opened the upgraded Task Scheduling feature to free accounts, with support for sharing scheduled tasks, and added event-triggered prompts based on Gmail, Slack and GitHub activity for paid subscribers.

Anthropic merged Claude chat and Cowork memory systems, capturing and updating topic memories during conversations instead of generating summaries afterward. Users can view, edit and delete memories. Sensitive information such as health status, race, religion, political views and gender identity is not stored by default, and government ID numbers, Social Security codes, criminal records and immigration status are prohibited. Separately, Business Insider reported that security contractor Allied Universal warned of possible strikes, leading Anthropic to tell employees to work from home.

According to leaker OnLeaks and Android Headlines, Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra CAD renders show an iPhone-like rear camera module, a retained S Pen, one fewer telephoto lens and no Qi2 magnetic module.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple may launch AirPods 5 as early as September with regular and active noise-canceling versions.