Apologies to those who bought an iMac last year. The new M4 iMac features an upgraded chipset, a minimum 16GB of RAM, and USB-C accessories.
Early benchmarks show that the M4, which debuted in the iPad Pro, is an incremental upgrade over last year’s M3 platform. The M4 is two-times faster than M1, but it’s a fairly minor improvement over last year’s chipset. Apple’s new minimum RAM spec is arguably a more important upgrade—all M4 iMacs come with at least 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB in previous models. Extra memory will extend the lifespan of the iMac and provide far better performance for AI applications like Apple Intelligence, which tend to consume a lot of memory.
Plus, this is the first iMac to include a USB-C Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse (or Magic Trackpad if you spend an extra $50). These computer accessories were the last holdout of Apple’s outdated Lightning connector. The switch to USB-C makes charging far more convenient.
The base M4 iMac features an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports. It can be configured with up to 24GB of memory and 1TB of storage, if necessary, and its Magic Keyboard does not have a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
For $200 extra, you get a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory, 256GB of storage, four Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a Touch ID keyboard. This 10-core model can be boosted to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage if you’re willing to spend an additional $1,200
And, like the M4 iPad Pro, the M4 iMac can be configured with a nano-texture screen panel. Nano-texture glass originally debuted in the pricey Pro Display XDR and dramatically reduces screen glare and reflectivity. There are just two downsides to the nano-texture glass upgrade: it costs $200, and it’s only available for the 10-core version of the new iMac.
We’re sad to see that Apple is still holding out on a 27-inch iMac, although the current 24-inch screen size is perfect for most people. The computer’s somewhat limited port selection is also a point of frustration, though a cheap USB hub or specialized Satechi Clamp Hub can resolve this shortcoming.
Pricing for the M4 iMac starts at $1,299. That’s the same price you’d pay for a base model M3 iMac last year. Pre-orders are open today, and Apple will begin shipping the M4 iMac on November 8th. Those in need of a bargain should keep an eye out for M3 iMacs, which are expected to go on deep discount over the coming months, as they’ve been discontinued by Apple and use outdated Lightning accessories.
Source: Apple
