Apple today announced an M6 update to its iMac desktop line, heralding “a major boost in performance and AI capabilities.” But other than the upgrade from an M4 to an M6 chip there’s little change from the previous model.
Admittedly that chip upgrade, leaping two generations in a single refresh, is a significant one. Apple claims the M6 will deliver up to 1.5x faster performance than M4 in apps such as Excel, up to 2x faster graphics performance, and up to 2x higher gaming performance with ray tracing. AI, inevitably, is foregrounded too, with Apple claiming the M6 is capable of up to 5x faster on-device AI prompt processing in LM Studio. This could be a worthwhile upgrade if performance in these categories is a bottleneck for you.
There are also some connectivity improvements. Wi-Fi has been bumped from version 6E (802.11ax) to 7 (802.11be), and Bluetooth from 5.3 to 6. Gigabit Ethernet on the M4 model has been upgraded to 2.5Gb Ethernet here. And Apple claims the new iMac offers up to 2x faster SSD read and write, which means “apps launch quickly, and large files like photo libraries and video projects load in an instant.” Macworld will put all this to the test when we get hold of a review sample, of course, but we’ve seen what Apple’s done with SSD speeds this year and are inclined to believe the claims.
The new iMac has an M6 chip and little else that’s new.
Apple
Beyond that, however, there’s not much to say. The opening section of the press release promises “blazing-fast performance, enhanced connectivity, Siri AI, and macOS 27, all in a stunning design in seven vibrant colors.” The first two I’ve already discussed. And the rest–Siri AI, macOS 27, the attractive design, and the seven colors–are available on the previous models. It’s not a good sign when a company has to fall back on old features that early in a new product’s announcement.
As far as we can tell the M6 iMac is physically identical to the M4 model. It has the same dimensions and comes in the same colors. Its screen is the same size and has the same specs. Even the camera and speaker setups are unchanged, and you get the same number of ports: either two or four USB 4, depending on which model you pick, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack.
We loved the iMac M4, which our reviewer said “might be the best iMac ever.” And there’s a lot to like about the M6 chip refresh. So this is unlikely to be a bad product. It’s just not very different from the last one. And the best part might be that there isn’t another price hike. You can pre-order the new iMac beginning tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. PT, with deliveries beginning next Friday.
For exhaustive details of and expert reaction to all the Apple products getting unveiled this week, check out our ongoing live blog. Most of them are more interesting than this one.
