Two new Macs might skip M5 chips and go straight to M6 - 9to5Mac

What the report says

9to5Mac reports that Apple may move some upcoming desktop Macs past the standard M5 generation and directly to M6 chips, based on a broader Mac roadmap described by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The article, published July 23, 2026, focuses on the Mac mini and iMac, two desktop lines that remain on M4-class hardware while Apple’s laptops have reportedly shifted to M5.

According to 9to5Mac’s reading of Gurman’s roadmap, a Mac mini in testing uses M6 and M5 Pro chips. That would differ from earlier expectations that Apple would release Mac mini models with M5 and M5 Pro configurations, suggesting the base version could jump to M6 while the higher-end option uses M5 Pro. 9to5Mac also links the possible change to reported delays affecting Mac mini and Mac Studio plans amid a memory supply crunch, though the article frames that connection as likely rather than confirmed.

The iMac situation is less explicit. 9to5Mac notes that Gurman’s report refers to refreshed iMacs alongside an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro expected to be among the first Macs with M6. The publisher says it is possible Apple could pair an M6 MacBook Pro with an M5 iMac, but argues Apple’s past tendency to align Mac refreshes around new chip generations makes an M6 iMac plausible.

If accurate, the roadmap would matter for buyers waiting on Apple desktop updates because it could mean a longer wait but a newer base processor generation for the Mac mini and possibly the iMac. Apple has not announced these models in the supplied reporting, so the timing and chip choices remain unconfirmed.