Apple released its M4 processor earlier this year, but in a curious turn, the new silicon first showed up in an iPad Pro instead of a Mac. Today, Mac computers have caught up to their tablet counterpart, with Apple bringing M4 updates to the iMac. If you've been waiting for the arrival of an M4 MacBook, you won't have to wait much longer. We expect to to see an M4 update to the MacBook Pro later this week along with the Mac Mini.
The M4 processor ups the CPU core count from the previous M3 part and promises better AI performance with a new neural engine. The M4 chip features three or four performance cores and six efficiency cores, which is two more than the M3. The number of GPU cores stays the same at 10. The M4's neural engine also has the same 16 cores as that of the M3, but it's capable of 38 trillion operations per second (TOPS), which is more than double the 18 TOPS of the M3. The capabilities of the neural engine will become increasingly important as Apple continues to roll out Apple Intelligence features to iOS, iPadOS and MacOS.
New M4 iMac
With today's update, the iMac moves from M3 to M4 while keeping the same design and starting price of $1,299. The baseline model has an M4 chip with eight CPU cores (four performance and four efficiency cores), and the higher-end configs start at $1,499 and have an M4 processor with 10 cores (four performance and six efficiency).
In addition to the new M4 CPU, the iMac now comes with 16GB of RAM at minimum, presumably to help the machine locally process the various AI tasks from Apple Intelligence. The maximum memory allotment you can choose has also gone up, from a previous max of 24GB to 32GB.
The display has the same 4.5K (4,480x2,520-pixel) resolution, but Apple now gives you the option for the nano-textured glass you can get with the M4 iPad Pro. The matte finish helps combat glare and reflections.
The iMac's webcam gets a bump in resolution to 12 megapixels and introduces a feature Apple is calling Desk View that should help with presentations, showing a top-down view of your workspace while also keeping your face on the screen.
Apple also improved the Mac's external connections by outfitting the M4 model with up to four USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports. Sadly, the baseline $1,299 model only has a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, with the higher-end models doubling the number to four.
The M4 iMac uses the same wireless networking as the previous model: Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. If you just bought a Wi-Fi 7 router and were hoping to be able to add an iMac with the latest Wi-Fi to your network, you're out of luck.
Apple claims the color options are more vibrant but the colors themselves remain the same for the M4 iMac -- green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver.
Wait till next year
Not every Mac desktop is getting the M4 treatment this week. We expect to get a Mac Mini update soon, but Apple isn't expected to bring the M4 chip to its Mac Studio and Mac Pro lines until sometime in 2025.