Apple refreshes the iMac with M6, promising up to 5x faster on-device AI than its predecessor

Apple unveiled a refreshed 24-inch iMac on Tuesday, carrying over the all-in-one’s five-year-old design and color lineup while swapping in the new M6 chip. The update arrived alongside the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6, as part of Apple’s October hardware refresh. Pre-orders open today, October 28, with units shipping November 6, 2026.

Two Configurations, Bigger Performance Claims

The new iMac ships in two tiers: a 10-core CPU/10-core GPU model starting at $1,499, and a 12-core CPU/12-core GPU model starting at $1,699. Both use the M6 chip, which Apple says delivers the world’s fastest single-threaded CPU performance, along with Neural Accelerators built into every GPU core and a dual 16-core Neural Engine.

Apple’s own benchmarks claim the new iMac is up to 2.5x faster than the original M1 iMac in Microsoft Excel, and up to 1.5x faster than the previous M4 generation. In Affinity photo editing, Apple claims up to 3.3x faster performance than M1 and 2x faster than M4. The most aggressive claim is on-device AI: Apple says prompt processing in LM Studio is up to 12x faster than on the M1 iMac, and up to 5x faster than the M4 model it replaces.

For anyone still running an Intel-based iMac, Apple claims the new M6 model is up to 18x faster overall — a reminder of how far Apple Silicon has pulled ahead since the 2020 transition away from Intel chips.

What's the Same, What's Different

The 24-inch 4.5K Retina display is unchanged, with 500 nits of brightness and P3 wide color support. The color lineup — blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and silver — is identical to the 2024 M4 model, a detail several outlets noted as a missed opportunity given rumors of new shades ahead of launch.

The 12-core model gains some exclusive features: a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID comes standard, 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet is built into the power adapter, and all four Thunderbolt 4 ports support full Thunderbolt 4 speeds (the 10-core model's ports are more limited). Memory bandwidth across the lineup reaches up to 170GB/s, and SSD read/write speeds are rated up to twice as fast as the previous generation.

Both configurations support Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and can drive up to two external 6K displays — more than 50 million combined pixels. The 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, a studio-quality three-microphone array, and a four-speaker system with Dolby Atmos support all carry over from the previous model.

Pricing, Availability, and Sustainability Claims

The 10-core iMac starts at $1,499 ($1,449 with education pricing), while the 12-core model starts at $1,699 ($1,599 for education). Both ship with macOS 27 (Golden Gate), which introduces a new slider for adjusting the transparency of the system’s Liquid Glass interface elements.

Apple also highlighted environmental claims for the new model, including 100% recycled aluminum in the stand, 100% recycled rare earth elements in its magnets, and fully fiber-based packaging.

Pre-orders are live now at apple.com and in the Apple Store app across 35 countries and regions. The new iMac arrives in Apple Stores and at authorized resellers on November 6, 2026, the same day as the new MacBook Pro with M6.