With the M4 chip making its debut in the iPad Pro, it’s not long before it makes its way into the Mac. The M3 iMac was released nearly a year ago in October 2023, so it’s quite possible Apple will upgrade it with an M4. The rumors will likely pick up as the fall of 2024 approaches, and whatever is reported now can change before the new iMac is released. We’ll keep track of what’s being said in this article so stay tuned.
M4 iMac: Release date
The M1 iMac–the first iMac to feature Apple’s M-series chip–made its debut in May 2021. This was followed by the M3 iMac in November 2023. The 30 months between upgrades is not typical but not unusual for Apple. In this case, Apple’s chip production process was still recovering from the effects of the Covid pandemic.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in August that Apple is planning to release the M4 Macs in the fall of this year, including an iMac. When Apple does fall Mac releases, it usually does it in October or November, after the iPhone/Apple Watch event in September.
M4 iMac: Price
No reports on the price for the M4 iMac have been made. Here are the standard configuration prices of the current M3 iMac lineup for reference.
- $1,299/£1,399: M3 with an 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 an 8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB unified memory, 256GB SSD, 2 Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, 2 USB 3 ports, gigabit ethernet port, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
- $1,699/ £1,799: M3 with an 8-core CPU/10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB unified memory, 512GB SSD, 2 Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, 2 USB 3 ports, gigabit ethernet port, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID
The prices did not change when Apple upgraded from the M1 to the M3 chips, and prices will likely stay the same with an M4 upgrade. However, if Apple adds an M4 Pro option as rumored, there could be a new higher tier.
M4 iMac: Design
We haven’t heard anything about changes to the iMac. The current design is going on its fourth year and third revision, so Apple may introduce some new colors and other design tweaks, but it’s unlikely to see any major changes.
The higher-priced M4 iMac will likely be available with two USB 3 ports and two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports.
Foundry
M4 iMac: Specs and features
The main change that will happen with the upcoming iMac is with its chip. The iMac should continue to have the base M chip–in this case, it’ll be a base M4 like the one that is in the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro’s M4 has a 9-core CPU with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores; Apple could add another performance core to make it a 10-core M4.
The base M4 in the iPad Pro has 8GB of unified memory. Apple insists that 8GB is an adequate baseline amount of RAM and will likely not change this with the M4 iMac, especially since 8GB is enough to run Apple Intelligence. This also helps keep the prices down for the 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 other features of the iMac should remain basically the same. That means few if any changes to the ports, connectivity, speakers, SSD sizes, and display.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.