Apple gives iMac its first upgrade in two years with M6

Apple has updated the iMac for the first time in two years, bringing its M6 processor, faster storage and new wireless connectivity to the desktop.

The new model replaces the M4 generation but keeps the familiar slim design, seven colors and 24-inch 4.5K Retina display. The main changes are inside, with Apple focusing on performance for creative work, gaming and AI models running directly on the computer.

In Apple’s tests, the M6 iMac processed prompts in LM Studio up to five times faster than the M4 model. The company also claims up to twice the graphics performance in tasks such as photo editing in Affinity and up to 50% faster performance in productivity apps such as Excel.

M6 first appeared in the Mac mini in August. Built using a 2-nanometer process, it adds dedicated AI accelerators to its graphics cores and features two 16-core Neural Engines for machine-learning workloads.

The entry-level iMac starts at $1,499 in the US with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage. A version with a 12-core CPU and GPU starts at $1,699 and can be configured with up to 32GB of memory and a 2TB SSD.

Connectivity upgrades include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and available 2.5Gb Ethernet. The higher-end configuration has four Thunderbolt 4 ports and supports two external 6K displays, compared with two ports and one external display on the base model. Apple also says SSD read and write speeds are up to twice as fast as on the M4 generation.

Preorders open October 28, with deliveries and store availability beginning November 6.