Macs for Local AI: Mac mini, Studio and MacBook Pro
Apple Mac Studio (M5 Ultra) leads this page with an AIPC Score of 57.7, giving a local model about 72GB of usable AI memory at $5,499 for the 96GB / 1TB configuration. The cheapest tracked option here is Apple Mac mini (M6) at $779. 9 systems on this page, 9 with a verified price.
Updated
| # | System | Type | AI Memory | GPU/NPU | AI Score | Price | Verified | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Apple Mac Studio (M5 Ultra) | Desktop | 72GB | Apple M5 Ultra 80-core GPU | 57.7 | Price awaiting re-verification | Check Price at Apple → | |
| 2 |  Apple Mac Studio (M5 Max) | Desktop | 27GB | Apple M5 Max 40-core GPU | 35.6 | $2,299 | View Deal on Amazon → | |
| 3 |  Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5 Max) | Laptop | 27GB | Apple M5 Max 32-core GPU | 35.2 | Price awaiting re-verification | Check Price at Apple → | |
| 4 |  Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M5 Max) | Laptop | 27GB | Apple M5 Max 40-core GPU | 35.2 | Price awaiting re-verification | Check Price at Apple → | |
| 5 |  Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro) | Mini PC | 18GB | Apple M5 Pro 20-core GPU | 26.4 | $1,549 | View Deal on Amazon → | |
| 6 | Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M5 Pro) | Laptop | 18GB | Apple M5 Pro 20-core GPU | 26.1 | Price awaiting re-verification | Check Price at Apple → | |
| 7 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M5 Pro) | Laptop | 18GB | Apple M5 Pro 20-core GPU | 26 | Price awaiting re-verification | Check Price at Apple → | |
| 8 | Apple Mac mini (M6) | Mini PC | 12GB | Apple M6 GPU | 19.4 | $779 | View Deal on Amazon → | |
| 9 |  Apple MacBook Air 15 (M5) | Laptop | 12GB | Apple M5 10-core GPU | 18.8 | $1,299 | View Deal on Amazon → |
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
The 512GB argument
A Mac Studio with 512GB of unified memory gives a model about 384GB, more than anything else sold as a desktop. For the largest open models that is the difference between running them and not.
The 75% default
macOS reserves roughly a quarter of unified memory, so a 128GB Mac offers a model about 96GB out of the box. That ceiling can be raised with a system setting and people running large models routinely do, but we score the default because that is what a buyer gets without intervention.
Usable AI memory decides what a machine can load at all, and memory bandwidth decides how fast it answers once loaded. Those two numbers matter more than the processor name on the box. A machine with a large unified pool and modest bandwidth will run a very large model slowly; a machine with a fast narrow pool will run a small model quickly and refuse a large one outright.
Software
MLX and Metal are well supported and improving quickly, but the broader ecosystem still assumes CUDA first. Expect occasional friction with tools that have not been ported, and expect it to be less friction than it was a year ago.