Apple refreshes the iMac with Apple Intelligence and the M4

Apple’s new iMac for 2024 has arrived with refreshed internals, though its exterior remains largely unchanged aside from new colour options. The iMac continues with its iconic 24-inch 4.5K Retina display and aluminium unibody design, now enhanced with a nano-texture glass option to reduce glare and reflections. The big update is the integration of Apple’s latest M4 chip, bringing significant speed gains and supporting advanced “Apple Intelligence” features in macOS Sequoia.

Read: Apple launches a much smaller Mac Mini with M4 chip

According to Apple, the M4 chip delivers up to 1.7 times faster performance for daily productivity tasks and up to 2.1 times faster speeds for intensive activities like gaming and photo editing compared to the previous M1 iMac. The 2024 model now starts with 16GB of RAM, doubling the 8GB base of earlier models, and can be upgraded to 24GB or 32GB. Storage options remain the same, beginning with a 256GB SSD and going up to 2TB.

The new iMac comes in vibrant shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver, with bold colours on the back and muted tones on the front to reduce distractions. Apple has also upgraded the camera to a 12MP Centre Stage model, which supports Desk View, and included Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for faster connectivity.

There are some configuration differences to keep in mind. The base model includes two Thunderbolt USB-C ports, while higher-end models now feature four Thunderbolt 4 ports for the first time. Only models with a 10-core CPU and GPU, starting at 512GB of storage, can be upgraded to 32GB of RAM or opt for the nano-texture display. The base model supports one external display, whereas the top-end configurations can support two.

In line with Apple’s environmental goals, the iMac’s packaging is now fully fibre-based as part of its commitment to eliminate plastic from packaging by next year. Additionally, Apple has updated its desktop accessories, finally switching from Lightning to USB-C across the new Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse, which now come in colours matching the iMac.

The M4 iMac starts at $1,299, with pre-orders open today and availability on November 8. The base model includes an eight-core CPU, eight-core GPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and either a Magic Keyboard and Mouse or Trackpad. Higher-end options add a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.