igamesnews
With the M4 chip having debuted in the iPad Pro, it won’t be long before it makes its way to the Mac. The M3 iMac was released nearly a year ago, in October 2023, so it’s entirely possible that Apple will upgrade it with an M4 chip. Rumors will likely intensify as we approach fall 2024, and anything reported now could change before the new iMac is released. We’ll be keeping a close eye on what’s being said in this article, so stay tuned.
iMac M4: release date
The M1 iMac, the first iMac to feature Apple’s M-series chip, debuted in May 2021. It was followed by the M3 iMac in November 2023. The 30-month lag between upgrades is unusual, but not uncommon for Apple. In this case, Apple’s chip production process was still recovering from the effects of the Covid pandemic.
In August, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that Apple plans to release M4 Macs in the fall of this year, including an iMac. When Apple releases Macs in the fall, it typically does so in October or November, after the iPhone/Apple Watch event in September.
iMac M4: price
There is no report on the pricing of the iMac M4. Here are the prices of the standard configurations of the current iMac M3 lineup for reference.
- $1,299/£1,399:M3 with 8-core CPU/8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB Unified Memory, 256GB SSD, 2 Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, Magic Keyboard
- $1,499 / £1,599:M3 with 8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB unified memory, 256GB SSD, 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, 2x USB 3 ports, Gigabit Ethernet port, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
- $1,699 / £1,799:M3 with 8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, 2x Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, 2x USB 3 ports, Gigabit Ethernet port, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
Pricing didn’t change when Apple switched from the M1 to the M3 chips, and pricing will likely remain the same with an upgrade to the M4. However, if Apple adds an M4 Pro option as rumored, there could be a new top tier.
iMac M4: Design
We haven’t heard of any changes to the iMac. The current design is in its fourth year and third revision, so Apple could introduce new colors and other design changes, but major changes are unlikely.
The more expensive iMac M4 will likely be available with two USB 3 ports and two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports.
Foundry
iMac M4: Specs and Features
The biggest change coming with the next iMac is its chip. The iMac is expected to continue to have the base M chip — in this case, it will be a base M4 like the one in the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro’s M4 has a 9-core processor with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores; Apple could add another performance core to make it a 10-core M4.
The base M4 chip in the iPad Pro has 8GB of unified memory. Apple insists that 8GB is an adequate base amount of RAM and likely won’t change that with the M4 iMac, especially since 8GB is enough to run Apple Intelligence. It also helps keep prices low for standard configurations. Customers have the option to upgrade to 16GB or 24GB of memory when ordering. The M3 model also gained Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and support for high-impedance headphones.
The rest of the iMac’s features are expected to remain basically the same. That means little to no changes to ports, connectivity, speakers, SSD sizes, and display.
Table of Contents
