Apple announces M6 as its first 2 nm chip and M5 Ultra as its first quad-die M-series part, with up to 512GB of unified memory in the new Mac Studio

Sources: primary, Mac Studio, Mac mini, discussion
Summary: Apple Newsroom announces M6, which it describes as its first chip built on a 2 nm process, and M5 Ultra, which it describes as its first quad-die M-series part. A second release pairs M5 Max and M5 Ultra in a new Mac Studio configurable to 512GB of unified memory at 1.2TB/s of memory bandwidth. A third release puts M6 and M5 Pro in a new Mac mini. The Mac Studio release states that pre-orders open on 2026-08-25, that machines begin arriving on 2026-09-22, and that the 512GB configuration comes in late October. Every comparative performance multiple in the three releases is Apple's own testing conducted in August 2026, and no independent reproduction exists.
Why it matters: 512GB of unified memory at 1.2TB/s on a desk machine is the constraint that decides which open-weight models run locally rather than against a hosted API.
Follow-up: Whether the stated 2026-09-22 ship date and the late-October availability of the 512GB Mac Studio configuration hold, and whether independent benchmarks reproduce Apple's performance multiples.