M4 iMac vs. M3 iMac: What’s New?

A streak of incremental Apple upgrades continues with the 2024 iMac. This time, Apple’s all-in-one features the latest M4 chip and a couple of other upgrades that are worth your consideration. Here’s what’s new with the M4 iMac and how it compares with the previous-generation M3 iMac.

A Similar Design With Slightly Different Colors

Like the M3 iMac, the M4 iMac is also available in seven colors: blue, purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, and silver. However, Apple has used slightly lighter hues for all the shades, giving them a different appearance. Beyond the colors, the overall dimensions and weight of the iMacs remain similar (except the M4 iMac is 1.28oz lighter).

The M4 iMac Offers an Optional Display Upgrade

The M4 iMac features the exact display setup we’ve seen on the M3 iMac. It uses a 23.5-inch Retina display with 4,480 x 2,520 resolution (at a pixel density of 218 PPI), 500 nits of peak brightness, and P3 wide color. Like other devices, Apple has also equipped the M4 iMac with its True Tone display technology. So, what’s different?

The M4 iMac is configurable with nano-texture glass for an additional $200. For those catching up, the Cupertino team unveiled nano-texture glass with the M4 iPad Pro that came out earlier this year. Etched at a nanometer scale, the glass scatters ambient light, making distractions like glares or reflections significantly less visible “while maintaining outstanding image quality.”

Although not a huge upgrade, nano-texture glass could provide buyers with the flexibility of placing their iMac anywhere in a room without looking for the glares and reflections due to the ambient lights, windows, or skylights.

Both iMacs come equipped with a high-fidelity six-speaker system for wide stereo sound (with support for Spatial Audio) and a three-microphone setup for studio-quality audio.

M4 vs. M3: Incremental Speed Upgrades

Under the vibrant exterior, the 2024 iMac runs on M4 silicon. In fact, the device features two variants of the M4 chip: one with an eight-core CPU (four performance and four efficiency cores) and an eight-core GPU, and another with a 10-core CPU (two additional efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU. Fun fact: there’s a third M4 variant that powers the 2024 iPad Pro; it features a nine-core CPU.

Compared to the M4 iMac, 2023’s iMac had an M3 chip with an eight-core CPU and an eight or 10-core GPU. Further, the new iMac features 16GB of unified memory (configurable up to 32GB), twice the 8GB memory available on the previous generation iMac (configurable up to 24GB). The base storage, however, remains the same on both models: 256GB (configurable up to 2TB).

The M4 iMac also features a 16-core Neural Engine, which is up to 2x faster than the one on the M3 chip. It will help the CPU handle all the Apple Intelligence features (as and when they arrive) well. Last but not least, the memory bandwidth on the M4 is upgraded to 120GB/s (from 100GB/s on the M3). The M4 iMac features the same media engine as the old one.

Due to more CPU cores, a better GPU (with a 2x faster ray-tracing engine), and more RAM, the M4 chip on the latest iMac should provide appreciably better performance. But is it enough to upgrade? In my opinion, you should only upgrade if there’s an aspect of the M3 iMac that’s holding you back. Otherwise, the 2023 iMac is still a performance beast.

I/O, External Displays, and Camera

The higher-specced M4 iMac (with 10 CPU and 10 GPU cores) offers four Thunderbolt 4 ports (up to 40Gbps), USB 4, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10 Gbps) connections. The all-in-one PC is also configurable with a Gigabit Ethernet port. In contrast, the M3 iMac had two Thunderbolt 4 and two USB 3 ports, even on the higher-specced version.

Nonetheless, a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones is found on both models. Wireless connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v5.3 on both. Further, both computers ship with Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse in the box, with an option to upgrade to the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and numeric keypad and Magic Trackpad (all upgraded to USB-C).

While the M3 iMac supports one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz, the baseline M4 iMac also does the same. However, the souped-up M4 iMac can handle up to two external displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz or one external display with 8K resolution at 60Hz. This could be a worthy upgrade, especially for users who need to work with multiple monitors.

The 1080p FaceTime HD camera on the M3 iMac has been swapped out for a 12MP Center Stage camera on the M4 iMac. For the uninitiated, Center Stage is a feature that keeps your face in the center of the screen by making frame adjustments in real time. In addition, the new camera supports Desk View, a feature that allows users to record an overhead view of their desk.

Both iMacs Support Apple Intelligence

With macOS Sequoia 15.1, Apple has rolled out the first batch of its artificial intelligence features, dubbed Apple Intelligence. From the outset these include system-wide Writing Tools, improved Siri, notification and mail summary, and a couple of other additions.

While the M4 iMac will ship with macOS 15.1 out of the box, the M3 iMac can install the update over the air. In theory, both iMacs support Apple Intelligence, but given the improved Neural Engine in the M4, the GenAI features should be a tad quicker on the new machine.

M4 iMac Costs the Same as the M3 iMac

The baseline M4 iMac, with an eight-core CPU and eight-core GPU, costs $1,299. While the iMac is up for pre-orders on the company’s official website, it will be available on sale from November 8, 2024.

Last year, the M3 iMac also debuted with the same launch price for the baseline variant with an eight-core CPU and an eight-core GPU.

Apple has been on a roll since September. First, it released the iPhone 16 series with the A18 processor and a new Camera Control button. The September release was followed by the new iPad mini, M4 iMac, the new Mac mini, and now some new MacBook Pro models.