Mac mini M6 vs M5 Pro for Developers: Is 32GB Enough?
My Mac mini M6 with 32GB got near 30GB of memory use with AI coding agents and Docker. If your dev work fits in 32GB, get the M6. Past that, the M5 Pro.
What I check before buying a dev machine, GPU or phone is what it does with my actual work: local LLMs, Docker and a backend build. When I haven’t owned a device, the post says so and reports what Korean owners posted.
My Mac mini M6 with 32GB got near 30GB of memory use with AI coding agents and Docker. If your dev work fits in 32GB, get the M6. Past that, the M5 Pro.