Apple's 2026 iMac looks exactly like the one it replaces. Same 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, same 0.45-inch profile, same seven colors with matching accessories in the box. What's changed is buried inside: a new M6 chip built on a 2-nanometer process, announced at Apple's "Pro and Tell" event in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Pricing hasn't moved either. The iMac still starts at $1,499 in the US, with preorders open now and general sales beginning next week, according to PCMag's review of Apple's store materials and press release.
The base configuration ships with a pared-down M6: a 10-core CPU split across two super cores, three performance cores and five efficiency cores, paired with a 10-core GPU. That's a notch below the M6 Apple put in the Mac mini, which starts at a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU. Buyers who want that fuller chip in the iMac can step up for an extra $200.
Both versions carry Apple's new Dual Neural Engine coprocessor, which doubles the AI processing core count from 16 to 32 compared with the outgoing M4 iMac. Apple says that translates to roughly double the photo-editing speed in Affinity and up to five times faster prompt processing in LM Studio, the local AI app. Those are Apple's own figures from its announcement, not independently verified numbers.
Memory and storage haven't budged at the low end. The iMac still starts with 16GB of unified memory, configurable to 32GB, and a 256GB SSD that tops out at 1TB. Apple says SSD read and write speeds have doubled over the previous generation, even at matching capacities.
What else moved, and what didn't
The new N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 support, a meaningful jump over the M4 model's networking hardware. Port counts stay at two or four Thunderbolt 4 connections depending on the chip you pick, alongside the usual 3.5mm headphone jack and 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View and 1080p recording.
The display itself is unchanged: 500 nits of brightness, P3 wide color gamut, True Tone, and tilt-only adjustment with no height control. There's still no 27-inch or larger option, something Apple hasn't offered since it discontinued the Intel-based 27-inch iMac years ago.
Accessory prices crept up this cycle. The Magic Trackpad upgrade now costs $50 and the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID runs $80, both increases from the previous generation, per PCMag's pricing breakdown.
For anyone who bought an M4 iMac in the past couple of years, the case for upgrading looks thin. Faster storage and a doubled Neural Engine are nice, but the core experience, screen and chassis are identical to what shipped in 2024. Owners of older Intel-based iMacs, or anyone skipping two or three generations, will feel the M6 jump far more.
Apple hasn't said whether Indian pricing or availability dates will match the US rollout. The company's own full specifications and ordering details are live on its website now, with the first units due to ship next week.
CDFiled by The Computing Desk
Laptops, desktops, processors, graphics cards and the operating systems that run on them.
More from this desk →
Be the first to comment
Join the argument. No password, just your email or a passkey.