Apple introduces a new iMac powered by M4 and Apple Intelligence

In brief: Apple has opened pre-orders for nan 2024 iMac, kicking disconnected nan first of respective Mac computers to athletics nan M4 SoC. Customers tin expect humble capacity improvements compared to nan M3 iMac, but nan institution has positioned Apple Intelligence to beryllium nan iMac's superior trading point.

The caller iMac is nan first desktop machine to athletics Apple's M4 processor, having launched nan M4 iPad Pro successful May. It marks nan first of aggregate Mac machines nan institution will present this week. It astir doubles nan capacity of nan M1 iMac, but nan hardware enhancements are comparatively insignificant compared to past year's M3 edition. Cupertino is playing up Apple Intelligence arsenic nan prima of nan M4 iMac show and its reply to nan generative AI race.

Like nan erstwhile Apple Silicon iMacs, nan caller version comes successful builds pinch 2 aliases 4 hold ports that support Thunderbolt and USB 4. The two-port M4 iMac's method specs intimately lucifer nan four-port M3 model, pinch up to 24GB of RAM, a 16-core neural engine, and an eight-core CPU. Following caller complaints concerning insufficient RAM successful Macs, Apple nary longer offers an 8GB variant.

Meanwhile, nan four-port M4 iMac is configurable pinch up to 32GB of RAM and features a 10-core CPU pinch 2 further ratio cores. All 4 of its ports support Thunderbolt 4, allowing users to link up to 2 outer 6K displays.

Both M4 iMac configurations person a 12-megapixel beforehand camera that supports Apple's Center Stage and Desk View functions, thing nan M3 iMac lacked. However, nan 24-inch 4.5K retina show remains unchanged from erstwhile models. Apple hasn't announced plans to resurrect nan 27-inch show past seen connected nan last Intel iMac 4 years ago.

The Cupertino elephantine claims nan M4 handles regular productivity tasks for illustration spreadsheets 1.7 times faster than nan M1, while image editing and gaming workloads tally up to 2.1 times faster. Apple will uncover 2 much Mac products this week that should spot akin hardware boosts from nan M4. Previous rumors indicated nan MacBook Pro and nan Mac mini are getting m4 upgrades. Meanwhile, M4 variants of nan MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro are expected to look successful 2025.

Apple rolled retired nan M4 SoC pinch a speedy turnaround from its predecessor, apt successful consequence to nan intensifying title to merchandise processors tin of moving generative AI applications locally. The M4's 38 TOPs neural capacity intimately competes pinch Intel Core Ultra 200 and AMD Ryzen AI 300 chips.

Beginning today, customers tin pre-order M4 iMacs starting astatine $1,299. Orders vessel connected November 8.