Tuesday, September 22, is the day Mac mini and Mac Studio go on general sale, after pre-orders that opened August 25. Thursday, October 1, is the day Apple’s new European Union business terms take effect, replacing the Core Technology Fee with a flat commission. Neither date involves an iPhone, and this week’s iPhone-heavy calendars have mostly skipped both.
Both dates come straight from Apple’s own newsroom and developer pages, and both land inside the same six weeks as iPhone 18 Pro’s launch and iPhone Duo’s pre-orders.
Key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Mac mini general sale | Tuesday, September 22, 2026 |
| Mac mini pricing | M6 from $899; M5 Pro from $1,699 (US) |
| Mac Studio general sale | Tuesday, September 22, 2026 |
| Mac Studio pricing | M5 Max from $2,499; M5 Ultra from $5,499 (US) |
| Mac Studio 512GB configuration | Delayed to “late October,” no specific date |
| EU business terms take effect | Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
| Core Technology Fee | Eliminated, replaced by a 5 percent Core Technology Commission |
What actually goes on sale September 22
Apple announced Mac mini and Mac Studio in August, ahead of the event that introduced iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo. Mac mini ships with a 12-core M6 chip in its base model at $899, or an 18-core M5 Pro at $1,699, both with 16GB of memory as standard. Mac Studio starts at $2,499 with an M5 Max chip, up to 128GB of memory, or $5,499 with an M5 Ultra chip, up to 512GB of memory, though Apple’s own release states the 512GB tier itself does not ship until “late October,” a separate and later date than the September 22 launch. Apple’s own naming puts its newest chip generation, M6, in the cheapest machine on the list rather than the most expensive one.
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What changes for developers October 1
Apple announced its new EU business terms on August 18, following discussions with the European Commission, with the changes taking effect October 1. The Core Technology Fee, the per-install charge that drove much of the 2024 to 2025 developer dispute, is eliminated entirely. In its place is a flat Core Technology Commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store, and the separate Initial Acquisition Fee and Store Services Fee are eliminated too.
| Route to the customer | Standard rate | Reduced rate |
|---|---|---|
| App Store app, Apple in-app purchase | 26% | 15% |
| App Store app, alternative payment processing | 20% | 10% |
| App Store app, link out to the web | 15% | 10% |
| Alternative marketplace or developer’s own website | 5% (Core Technology Commission) | Not applicable |
From October 1, developers distributing in the EU choose a payment approach, Apple’s in-app purchase, an alternative processor, a link to the web, or a mix, and must keep that choice in place for 12 months. For link-outs, only sales completed within seven days of the link tap count toward the Store Services Commission. Apple’s release also states that Apple in-app purchase can now sit alongside alternative payment options in the same app, something previously not allowed in the EU. Apple’s next hard developer deadline after that is further out: from April 2027, apps submitted to App Store Connect must be built with the iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 SDK or later.
Why these belong on the same calendar as the iPhone
Apple’s own iOS 27 update ships September 14, four days after this article publishes and eight days before Mac mini and Mac Studio go on sale. The EU rate card takes effect two and a half weeks after that, and three weeks before iPhone Duo pre-orders open. All four dates sit inside the same autumn, and only two of them involve a phone.
What Apple has not said
- No exact date for Mac Studio’s 512GB configuration beyond “late October.”
- No published per-device AppleCare or Apple Upgrade lease terms for every Mac mini and Mac Studio configuration.
- No confirmation of how the EU rate card interacts with the Digital Markets Act’s ongoing interoperability requirements, a separate regulatory track.
- No statement tying the September 22 Mac dates to the September 9 keynote at all.
The next date on this shorter list is Tuesday, September 22, when Mac mini and Mac Studio become available to buy without a pre-order. Our event recap covers what Apple announced on stage; the Mac and EU dates above were both set before that stage was built.
