Black Friday pricing reached Apple’s desktops early this year. Amazon and Expercom have cut every Mac mini and Mac Studio configuration worth buying, with savings running from $120 up to $205.
The Mac mini starts the list because the entry model is the one most desks actually need, since it covers email, documents, browsing, video calls and photo work without breaking a sweat. It’s also the cheapest route into Apple’s M6 chip, undercutting every M6 laptop by hundreds while driving the same screens. Small box, serious chip.
Apple Mac mini (M6, 2026)
12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, 16GB memory, 256GB storage
Price: $779 at Amazon ($120 off the $899 list price)
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon
Mac mini
The current mini keeps the five-inch-square aluminum shell from last generation, and the M6 version weighs just a pound and a half. Two USB-C ports and a headphone jack face forward, within easy reach on a crowded desk. Three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI and 2.5Gb Ethernet cover the back, and built-in Wi-Fi 7 with Bluetooth 6 handles the wireless side without a single cable. The machine can drive up to three external displays at once, so one mini can anchor a full multi-screen desk.
The base configuration pairs that M6 chip with 16GB of memory and a 256GB drive. Tiny footprint, real power.
That base mini got a Gadgeteer piece at this price in November, and the $779 tag still holds.
The M6 isn’t a token update either. It brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing, AV1 decode and a ProRes media engine to the entry desktop, features that speed up games, streams and video exports alike, straight out of the box. The entry chip no longer feels like the consolation prize, and it runs the same macOS and Apple Intelligence features as the Pro tier.
M6 mini with 512GB of storage
Doubling the storage to 512GB takes the mini to $949 at Amazon, down from $1,099.
I would take this one over the base model for a main computer. The $170 step buys breathing room that lasts for years.
Apple Mac mini (M6, 2026)
12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, 16GB memory, 512GB storage
Price: $949 at Amazon ($150 off the $1,099 list price)
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon
M6 mini with 24GB of memory
The 24GB configuration pairs the bigger memory pool with a 512GB drive, the pairing most people picture when they spec a mini for the next five years of ownership. Amazon has it at $1,149.99 against a $1,299 list price. Memory bandwidth climbs to 170GB/s on this tier, up from 153GB/s on the 16GB models, a gap that shows up when big files stay open all day.
That headroom suits heavier multitasking and local AI models. It’s the mini configuration I’d buy for a five-year run.
Apple Mac mini (M6, 2026)
12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, 24GB memory, 512GB storage
Price: $1,149.99 at Amazon ($149.01 off the $1,299 list price)
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon
M5 Pro mini with 24GB and 512GB
The M5 Pro mini jumps to a 15-core CPU and a 16-core GPU, and it nearly doubles the memory bandwidth of the 24GB M6 tier. The three rear ports move up to Thunderbolt 5, and storage options run from 512GB to a full 8TB. Amazon prices it at $1,549, which is $150 under the $1,699 list price and the strongest percentage cut on a Pro mini so far.
This is the mini for video timelines, big codebases and virtual machines. It still fits in the same five-inch square, which never stops being funny.
Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro, 2026)
15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 24GB memory, 512GB storage
Price: $1,549 at Amazon ($150 off the $1,699 list price)
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon
M5 Pro mini with 48GB and 4TB at Expercom
Expercom carries the built-to-order end of the mini line. Its top mini pairs the M5 Pro with 48GB and 4TB. That build runs $3,894, a full $205 under list.
Four terabytes inside the box removes the external drive shuffle from a media workflow entirely, and it keeps project archives on the fastest storage the machine has. The $205 saving is the largest single cut in this entire roundup.
Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro, 2026)
15-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 48GB memory, 4TB storage
Price: $3,894 at Expercom ($205 off the $4,099 list price)
Where to buy: Buy at Expercom
Mac Studio
The Studio is the bigger aluminum box, 7.7 inches square and 3.7 inches tall, with a perforated back panel that pulls air through the case. It’s built around the M5 Max chip, weighs six pounds, and supports up to five external displays over Thunderbolt and HDMI. The front carries two USB-C ports and an SD card slot, a small mercy for photographers who still shoot to cards, and a headphone jack sits at the back for studio monitors.
Four Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI, USB-A and 10Gb Ethernet line the back. Serious ports, zero dongles.
M5 Max Studio with 512GB at Amazon
The entry Studio runs an 18-core CPU and a 32-core GPU. Memory starts at 36GB with a 512GB drive. Amazon has it at $2,299, $200 off list.
That’s a workstation for editing, 3D work and local AI jobs, priced below plenty of lesser laptops with weaker chips, and it’s sized for a desk corner rather than a tower bay. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 ride along this generation through Apple’s N1 wireless chip, a first for the Studio line, and Thread networking comes with it.
Apple Mac Studio (M5 Max, 2026)
18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB memory, 512GB storage, 10Gb Ethernet
Price: $2,299 at Amazon ($200 off the $2,499 list price)
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon
M5 Max Studio with 1TB at Expercom
Expercom’s Studio build keeps the same M5 Max chip and 36GB of memory, doubles storage to a full terabyte, and runs $2,659, which is $140 under the $2,799 list price.
The extra 512GB costs $360 over the Amazon configuration and saves the external drive dance from day one. Anyone speccing a Studio for paid client work should start here.
Apple Mac Studio (M5 Max, 2026)
18-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 36GB memory, 1TB storage, 10Gb Ethernet
Price: $2,659 at Expercom ($140 off the $2,799 list price)
Where to buy: Buy at Expercom
Memory bandwidth tells the real story on this box. The 32-core GPU configuration moves data at 460GB/s, and Apple rates the chip for up to 128GB of memory in higher builds, fast enough to keep models and 8K timelines in memory. Editors, developers and anyone running local models feel that speed every single day, in shorter renders and snappier timelines.
Both lines reached stores on September 22, just seven weeks ago. Anyone holding out for deeper pricing is gambling against a bird in hand.
Buy it if a desktop Mac anchors the desk, because every configuration worth owning is discounted at once this season.
Skip it if a laptop has to travel, or if the current machine still handles the workload without complaint. These prices may well resurface in Black Friday week, and patience costs nothing here.
