M4 iMac: Everything you need to know

Macworld

With the M4 chip making its debut in the iPad Pro earlier in 2024, it’s won’t be long before it makes its way into the Mac. The M3 iMac was released nearly a year ago in October 2023, and there are rumors indicating that Apple will soon upgrade it with an M4.

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 a new iMac. Gurman has indicated again, in numerous weekend newsletters, that there will be M4 Macs coming soon. In early October Gurman claimed that an announcement will be made at the end of October, with “at least some” new Macs shipping on November 1.

It is thought that the new Macs will include the M4 (Pro/Max) MacBook Pro, M4 (Pro) Mac mini, and M4 iMac. We would love to see an M4 Pro iMac, but this still seems some way off. Back in August 2024, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claimed that a large-screen iMac “remains something Apple is exploring.” Adding that it’s “unclear” whether the model will have an M4 chip or “something that comes the following year or later.”

When Apple does fall Mac releases, it usually does it in October or November. Apple is expected to hold an event in October, but new Apple products launch throughout the year – see when is the next Apple event to learn more about the company’s product launch plans.

M4 iMac: Price

It is likely that outside the U.S. the price for the M4 iMac will drop, but we expect to see the same price in the U.S.

This is based on the fact that Apple has, in recent years, adjusted pricing following fluctuations in exchange rates. Over the past couple of years, prices of nearly all Apple products have come into line using Apple’s calculation that sees, for example, the M3 MacBook Air cost $1,099/£1,099. We therefore anticipate that the U.K. price will follow the U.S. price, with a £100 drop. 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 (Expected: £1,299)
$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 (Expected: £1,499)
$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 (Expected: £1,699)

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

Processor

M4: Up to 10 cores CPU and 10-core GPU using “next generation GPU architecture” and “fastest Neural Engine ever”, according to Apple.

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 M4 ismade using the 3-nanometer process introduced with the M3. The 3nm process allows more transistors to fit on a chip, which should provide a performance boost.

We also expect AI enhancements with a larger Neural Engine.

RAM

8GB as standard expected, but there is a rumor that Apple could boost RAM at the entry-level.

We hope to see more unified memory to help with the AI features, but we may still be waiting for the base M4 to offer more unified memory than the standard 8GB. 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.

However, Boomberg’s Mark Gurman has suggested that the M4 Macs could feature 16GB as standard, rather than the 8GB option that’s been the baseline for years.