Apple's New iMac Gets M4 For Apple Intelligence But There's An Even Bigger Improvement
Apple has just refreshed the iMac less than a year after the M3 version was announced, arming its successor with some remarkable upgrades. Starting with the design, the aesthetic format is identical, but the M4 iMac adds three new colors — yellow, orange, and purple — joining the existing roster of pink, green, blue, and silver. Notably, the shades have changed across all color options, save for silver.
The biggest change, however, is the silicon inside. The M4 processor inside the M4 iMac features up to 10 CPU cores and an equal number of GPU cores, compared to the octa-core CPU and GPU cluster on the M1 variant. Apple claims the M4 is 1.7X faster, and offers a 2.1X at creative editing tasks. The memory bandwidth has also increased by 20% compared to the M3, while the 16-core Neural Engine is said to be six times speedier.
Notably, there's also support for hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, which should improve the visual fidelity in games. Apple's efforts with the Metal architecture have managed to bring franchises like "Resident Evil" and "Death Stranding" to the Mac platform, so it would be interesting to see how far those efforts go riding atop the M4 shoulders.
On the software side, Apple Intelligence is the big draw. macOS Sequoia brings an all-new Siri experience supercharged with ChatGPT integration, support for AI-assisted writing tools across the system, and tools to create custom emojis and images. Apple says it has also improved the Game Mode and serves Spatial Audio support on the updated desktop.
The memory situation is finally normal
A key change with the M4 iMac is that Apple is finally sunsetting the 8GB entry-point model. The base model now starts at 16GB, but there are also more powerful trims with 24GB and 32GB RAM on the table. That extra RAM will definitely come in handy, as AI is increasingly becoming a part of the macOS experience, and 8GB RAM regularly brings macOS to a halt at creative tasks.
Unfortunately, the minimum storage capacity is still limited to 256GB, but you can spend your way and go up to 2TB capacity. The port situation has also improved slightly. All four USB-C ports on the iMac are now Thunderbolt 4 type.
Over at the front, the display size and resolution figures remain unchanged at 24-inch and 4,480 x 2,520 pixels respectively, but buyers can pay extra and get a nano-texture layer on it to reduce glare effects, similar to the M4 iPad Pro. Color-matched Magic Mouse, keyboard, and trackpad are also on the table, fully embracing USB-C ports for charging.
Apple has also juiced up the camera kit. The M4 iMac's 12MP camera also brings support for Center Stage, which keeps users in the frame, and also enables support for the desk mode, as well. The new iMac starts at $1,299 and goes on pre-orders today, with shipments set to commence starting November 8 in the U.S. and other countries.