M6 Mac mini tidbits, Apple Fitness+ future

0:00Welcome to Night 5 Mac Daily for Tuesday, September 22, 2026. I'm your host, Chance Miller. We are sponsored this week by Stuff, the clean and powerful to-do list application. Leading off today, Apple is assessing the future of Apple Fitness Plus according to a new story from Bloomberg. The company has reportedly laid off a handful of employees working on the service, a move viewed as just the beginning of bigger changes still to come. Bloomberg says the layoffs affect people working on the audio features for Apple Fitness Plus, which include things like the guided time to walk and time to run audio sessions. Bloomberg says these new releases aren't going away completely, but that they will drop in frequency. As it stands right now, however, Apple Fitness Plus as an entire service is not on the chopping block according to Bloomberg. Still, Apple is making changes to the service due to the rising cost, the higher subscriber

1:03turn rate, and the need to constantly produce new content. These layoffs are widely seen within the Fitness Plus organization as the beginning of more drastic cost-cutting measures and other major changes to the service in the months and years ahead. Subday when Apple released the M4 Mac Mini two years ago, tear downs quickly revealed a pleasant surprise. The internal SSD was not soldered to the Logic Board. This allowed for aftermarket storage upgrades. With the new M6 and M5 Pro Mac Mini updates this week, however, it appears that the storage is once again soldered to the Logic Board. This is similar to the M1 and M2 versions of the Mac Mini, and as explained by the folks at ExpandMacMini.com, this means the SSD module is no longer removable. Expand Mac Mini sells storage upgrade modules for the M4 and M4 Pro versions of the machine, and as it stands right now, they say that support for the M6 and M5 Pro versions looks unlikely.

2:10For comparison's sake, Expand Mac Mini's one-terabyte SSD expansion module for the M4 Mac Mini costs $300. Apple meanwhile charges $500 to upgrade the M6 Mac Mini from $256 to $1 terabyte. The aftermarket two terabyte module costs $420 while Apple charges $1,000 for the upgrade. As for the Mac Studio, Apple's repair guide still shows removable SSDs, but we haven't spotted any tear downs yet confirming that information. The fact that the storage in the M4 Mac Mini was user replaceable was both a surprise and a break from Apple's history. Again, the M1 and M2 versions of the Mac Mini both had soldered SSD modules. There's no reason given by Apple for the change to the M6 and M5 Pro Mac Mini internal design, but one possibility is that the margins that Apple makes on the higher end storage upgrades are more important than they were in the past, given the higher cost that Apple

3:12was paying for all components. So for example, Apple could be making a lower margin on the base model 256 Mac Mini and making up that margin with the higher priced storage upgrade options. It's not a reason that will please everyone upset by this change, but that could be at least an explanation of Apple's thinking. We are sponsored this week by Stuff, the clean and powerful to-do list app that makes organizing effortless and checking off tasks satisfying. There's a specific feeling to an app built by someone who made it for themselves. The animations are just right, the widgets are functional, it uses spotlight, the share sheet, global hotkeys on Mac, it just feels like magic, and that app is Stuff. It works on iPhone, iPad and Mac, you can create tasks by typing, talking, or with your camera. There's also support for shared lists, dependencies, drag and drop, and more. It's simple enough for your grandma and powerful enough for you.

4:14Featured by Apple, the verge, and the Hyro Report. So when this episode ends, search Stuff on the App Store. Get more stuff done with Stuff. My thanks to Stuff for sponsoring the show. In other news today, the major class action lawsuit against Apple over Apple Intelligence and Siri delays continues to progress. Apple is expected to pay $250 million to settle the lawsuit and you can now submit your claim to get a chunk of that payment. The settlement website has been set up as of this week and you can visit it at smartphone aiSettlement.com. The eligible class includes people in the United States who purchased an Apple Intelligence Capable iPhone between June 10th of 2024 and March 29th of 2025. It covers the window between when Apple announced the first Apple Intelligence features at WWDC and when it officially delayed the more personalized version of Siri. Apple is paying $250 million to settle this lawsuit while also admitting no wrongdoing.

5:20Legal fees and lawyers will take a chunk of that settlement. For iPhone users, the payout is expected to be $25 per eligible device. That number could vary. For example, if more users than expected file a claim it could be less. If fewer claims are filed, the maximum payout is $95 per eligible device. On the settlement website you'll be asked to submit your contact information as well as the serial number of the qualifying iPhone. You can find the serial number in the settings app on the iPhone if you're still using it, on the original packaging and oftentimes in the receipt for your order from Apple and carrier partners. You can then choose whether you'd like to be paid by check, PayPal, Venmo or ACH Bank transfer. The deadline to submit a claim is December 21st, 2026. While the settlement website is now live, it will still be more than a year until payouts are sent. The final approval hearing for payouts is September 29th of 2027 and payments will begin

6:23at least 60 days after that. Again, you can submit your payment by going to smartphone aiSettlement.com or by hitting the link in the show notes. That wraps up another episode of 9 to 5 Mac Daily. As always, you can find all of the latest Apple news on 9 to 5 Mac dot com, follow along with me on threads at Chance H Miller and we'll be back tomorrow for a new episode of 9 to 5 Mac Daily.