• Best for: Creators and small business marketers who want a compact, quiet desktop for creative projects in the home, office, or studio.
• Why it matters: The Apple Mac mini has long been our top mini PC pick for content creators who want excellent performance in a compact chassis. The M6 model kicks things up a notch with a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 7, and support for up to three external displays for working on creative tasks.
This is the base configuration of the Mac mini. It measures 5 x 5 inches, weighs about 1.5 pounds and has HDMI and 2.5Gb Ethernet on the back, plus two USB-C ports on the front.
The Mac mini has long been a favorite desktop of ours, hailing the M4 edition as possibly the best Mac ever. So, while we haven't had a chance to review the newest model yet, we're expecting even better performance here.
Our sister site Tom's Guide scored it 4.5 stars, and came away impressed with its video editing prowess, saying: "If you plan on using the Mac mini M6 for video editing, you're in for a welcome surprise. In our Handbrake test — which transcodes a 25GB 4K video file down to 1080p — the M6 finished in just 2 minutes and 45 seconds, shaving nearly two full minutes off the M4's time."
Ultimately, they found, "the Mac mini M6 handles everything from local AI workloads to video editing and even gaming with ease."
At $779.99, this is $119 (13%) off Apple's $899 price and one of the first discounts this Mac mini has seen. Apple rarely discounts its desktops this soon after launch - but it helps bridge the gap between the excellent value-driven M4 model and this new machine. The deal applies only to the 16GB and 256GB model, so check the price of the configuration you need.
You want the best budget 4K video editing and photo editing machine. it's stylish, performance-driven, and compact.
