Today Apple announced the new iMac with an M6 chip, which offers minor improvements over its predecessor, the 2024 iMac with an M4 chip.
Along with this new desktop, we also got the refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, which I have compared to its M5 version in another post.
With these refreshers announced via Newsroom posts, Apple’s October 28th media event will likely focus solely on new touch-screen MacBooks with cellular connectivity.
2026 iMac (M6) vs. 2024 iMac (M4)
Before we begin, note that all Apple silicon iMacs come in two versions: a base model with two Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports and another with four ports. This year’s M6 iMac continues that trend. In this guide, we focus mainly on the four-port version.
Apple says the 2026 M6 iMac (four-port version) has a 12-core CPU with 2 super cores, 4 performance cores, and 6 efficiency cores. The 2024 M4 iMac had a 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. It also has a 12-core GPU, compared to 10 before.
If you opt for the two-port version, it has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, which is 2 more than the two-port M4 version, but the same as the four-port M4 model.
In addition to a couple of extra cores, the new 2026 iMac has a significantly faster memory bandwidth of up to 170GB/s. The M4 one was capped at 120GB/s.
- The new iMac delivers up to 5x faster on-device AI performance than M4.
- The two more cores include Neural Accelerators, delivering up to 2x faster graphics for more intensive tasks like photo editing, plus better gaming performance than M4.
- The new 2026 version also delivers up to 1.5x faster performance in apps like Microsoft Excel compared to the M4 iMac.
- The M6 iMac offers up to 2x faster graphics performance for tasks like photo editing in Affinity, compared to its M4 predecessor.
- On-device AI performance for prompt processing in LM Studio is up to 5x faster than the M4 iMac. This lets users run powerful AI models, all while keeping their data private.
- Apple also claims up to 2x higher gaming performance with ray tracing compared to the 2024 iMac.
Again, these are upper-limit (“up to”) numbers, so treat them with a pinch of salt. Mrwhosetheboss and MKBHD did a great collab video on this “up to” thing, embedded below.
Along with the new chip, the refreshed 2026 iMac now lets you upgrade to faster 2.5Gb Ethernet instead of Gigabit Ethernet on the M4 model. This upgrade costs $30 extra.
On top of that, the M6 iMac also has faster wireless connectivity thanks to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 compared to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 in the 2024 M4 model.
Differences aside, both models come in the same 7 colors (Blue, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Silver) and have the same display (24-inch 4.5K resolution), dimensions, weight, storage options, Siri features, memory, storage, video calling camera, speakers, etc.
But compared with the previous M4 iMac, the new one costs $200 more across all models:
- M6 (two ports): Starts at $1,499
- M6 (four ports): Starts at $1,699
- M4 (two ports): Started at $1,299
- M4 (four ports): Started at $1,499
You still get the same $50 off for the two-port model and $100 off for the four-port model with the education discount.
Upgrading from the included Magic Mouse to the Magic Trackpad, choosing the Ethernet power brick, and adding the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID cost extra; you can check prices on Apple’s website.
If you’re planning to upgrade from your current iMac to this new model, pre-orders start at 10:10 a.m. PT on 28th October. It will start delivering and reach first customers on 6th November.
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