Apple's iMac Goes From M4 to M6, With Wi-Fi 7 and Prices From $1,499

The all-in-one keeps its thin 24-inch design and seven colors. The new chip, faster storage and an optional 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port do the talking.

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Apple refreshed the iMac on Tuesday, moving its colorful all-in-one desktop from the M4 chip to the new M6. The design is the same one Apple introduced in 2024, with the 24-inch 4.5K Retina display and the same seven colors: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver. Pre-orders open on Wednesday, Oct. 28, and the computer arrives on Friday, Nov. 6, according to Apple.

There are two versions of the chip. The $1,499 model has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory, 256GB of storage and two Thunderbolt 4 ports. The $1,699 model steps up to a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU and four Thunderbolt 4 ports, MacRumors reported. Education pricing starts at $1,449 and $1,599.

The iMac with M6 in orange on a desk. Image: Apple

Because the last iMac used M4, the jump is two generations, and Apple’s numbers reflect it. The company says the new model delivers up to twice the graphics performance of M4 and up to five times faster on-device AI performance for prompt processing in LM Studio. Each GPU core now has a Neural Accelerator, and the Neural Engine is a Dual 16-core design. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 170GB/s. For owners of an Intel-based iMac, Apple claims performance up to 18 times faster than the most popular Intel model.

Connectivity gets the most practical boost. Apple’s N1 chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and the solid-state storage is up to twice as fast at reading and writing. A power adapter with a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port, which Apple says is up to 2.5 times faster than the previous wired option, is a $30 upgrade on the base model and standard on the higher one, MacRumors said. The iMac can drive two 6K external displays.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman flagged the announcement on X. Screenshot: @markgurman on X

The rest is familiar. The display is rated at 500 nits and supports the P3 wide color range. The 12-megapixel Center Stage camera supports Desk View, which shows a top-down view of the desk during a video call. Two pairs of force-cancelling woofers and two tweeters handle sound. The keyboard, mouse and trackpad come in matching colors and charge over USB-C, and Touch ID is available on the Magic Keyboard.

Desk View shows a top-down view of the desk during a FaceTime call. Image: Apple

“iMac is the world’s best all-in-one, and today it raises the bar yet again,” said Shelly Goldberg, Apple’s vice president of hardware engineering.

The iMac ships with a color-matched keyboard and mouse. Image: Apple

The iMac arrived alongside a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6, and both go on sale at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday, a few minutes after Apple’s “Pro and tell” event in Los Angeles is set to begin. Apple says the machines will be available to order in 35 countries and regions, including the United States.