With the launch of the new Mac Studio that replaces the higher-end 27-inch Intel iMac, Apple has just two Intel Macs left in its lineup - the Mac Pro and the Mac mini.
Though the Mac Studio appears to be something of a Mac mini and Mac Pro hybrid, Apple has not discontinued the high-end Intel Mac mini and it remains in the lineup. This suggests a new version of the high-end Mac mini is likely to be coming at some point, despite multiple rumors that Apple would refresh it this event. Apple already sells an M1 Mac mini, but the Intel version remains as the more expensive option.
Rather than a new Mac mini, Apple instead introduced the Mac Studio, which is priced starting at $1,999. The Mac Studio can be ordered with either the M1 Max chip or the new higher-end 20-core M1 Ultra chip.
Apple is still selling the 6-core Intel Mac mini with UHD Graphics 630 for $1,099, and the Mac Pro is available with its Xeon W chips that go up to 28-cores. At today's event, Apple said that the M1 Ultra Mac Studios are faster than the 28-core Mac Pro models in terms of CPU and GPU performance.
Apple also said that it does plan to introduce a refreshed version of the Mac Pro, but that the machine was an announcement "for another day."
It's likely we'll see a new version of the Mac mini when Apple introduces the M2 chip later this year, and that could be when the Intel models will be phased out. We're also expecting the refreshed Mac Pro at some point in 2022.
