After nearly two years, Apple's new Mac mini is about to be released.

Mark Gurman, a well-known Apple reporter, revealed today that Apple is preparing to launch a new Mac mini, marking the first hardware update for the product since 2024.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the new Mac mini could be unveiled as soon as the next few days, potentially even before Apple's September fall product launch event.

The chip will be a major highlight of this Mac mini upgrade.

Reports indicate that Apple has already tested Mac mini models equipped with both the M5 and M6 chips.

The Mac mini currently sold on Apple's official website was released in 2024, offering two chip versions: M4 and M4 Pro.

Among them, the M4 version features a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, with a starting price of 5,999 yuan on Apple's China website. Thanks to its compact design, solid performance, and relatively low entry barrier into the Mac ecosystem, it has become a popular model in Apple's desktop computer lineup.

Notably, the Mac mini also experienced an unexpected sales surge this year due to the "lobster craze."

As AI tools like OpenClaw gained popularity, many users began attempting to deploy related AI applications locally. The Mac mini, with its small footprint, low power consumption, and Apple Silicon's unified memory architecture, became a go-to choice for users setting up local AI environments.

Driven by this demand, the Mac mini M4 saw stock shortages across both online and offline channels, with some popular configurations selling out quickly in the short term, and second-hand market prices also rising accordingly.

It's also worth noting that if the new Mac mini launches as scheduled before the end of this month, it could become the last Apple product released during Tim Cook's tenure, drawing a close to his era of product updates at Apple.