M6 Mac mini Is WAY Faster… But Don’t Buy the Wrong One

Summary

The presenter’s first-day tests find that the M6 Mac mini is substantially faster than the M4, but the 256GB configuration has a significant storage-performance trade-off. This is an initial review, not a long-term assessment.

Performance

The tested M6 scored 4,653 in single-core, 21,005 in multi-core, and 99,620 in Metal. Compared with the M4, the presenter calculates gains of about 23% in single-core, 42% in multi-core, and 80% in graphics. He attributes some of the increase to two additional CPU and GPU cores.

The presenter says the M6 performs around the M4 Pro level in some areas, with particularly notable improvements for on-device AI.

256GB SSD caveat

According to the presenter, Apple’s claim of roughly 6,000 MB/s read and write speeds—and similar results from other reviewers—applies to models with 512GB or more. His 256GB unit, which he says uses one NAND chip instead of two, tested at about 2,514 MB/s read and 3,176 MB/s write. Results may vary between tests and reviewers.

Storage and upgradeability

The presenter says the M6’s internal storage is soldered and cannot be replaced, unlike the M4’s storage module. Buyers therefore need to choose their capacity up front.

The 512GB-and-up versions are about twice as fast as the base model’s SSD. External drives can reach roughly 3,000 MB/s, making them potentially comparable to the 256GB model’s internal storage, but slower than the larger M6 models’ internal drives.

Presenter’s configuration

The presenter is testing a Mac mini with 24GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. He chose extra memory because using three monitors sometimes pushed his M4’s RAM limits, and he plans to rely on external storage. He expects 256GB alone to be insufficient for his needs.

External-storage approaches

The presenter describes two options:

• Use an external drive as ordinary storage.
• Configure it as a “home drive” for documents, apps, and downloads, while keeping macOS and boot files on the Mac mini.

He advises against booting from an external drive, citing potential problems.

Buying advice

The M6 starts at about $899, compared with the M4’s $600 starting price. This makes the base model harder to recommend if SSD speed matters.

The presenter says M4 owners whose machines still meet their needs probably do not need to upgrade. The M6 may make sense for people experiencing performance problems with an M4, or for those upgrading from Intel or M1 Macs. He also notes that higher-memory and 512GB configurations may be harder to obtain.

Planned follow-up testing

The presenter plans to test longer-term use, video editing, camera footage, and whether fast external NVMe storage is a practical solution. He also intends to demonstrate the home-drive approach and other external-drive setups.

Main speaker/source

Geoff Fagien — presenter and source of the benchmarks, first impressions, and buying advice.