Monday, October 28th 2024

Apple Unveils the New iMac With M4 and Thunderbolt 4 Connectivity

Apple today announced the new iMac, featuring the powerful M4 chip and Apple Intelligence, in its stunning, ultra-thin design. With M4, iMac is up to 1.7x faster for daily productivity, and up to 2.1x faster for demanding workflows like photo editing and gaming, compared to iMac with M1. With the Neural Engine in M4, iMac is the world's best all-in-one for AI and is built for Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that transforms how users work, communicate, and express themselves, while protecting their privacy. The new iMac is available in an array of beautiful new colors, and the 24-inch 4.5K Retina display offers a new nano-texture glass option. iMac features a new 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports, and color-matched accessories that include USB-C. Starting at just $1,299, now with 16 GB of unified memory, the new iMac is available to pre-order today, with availability beginning Friday, November 8.

"iMac is beloved by millions of users, from families at home to entrepreneurs hard at work. With the incredible features of Apple Intelligence and the powerful performance of Apple silicon, the new iMac changes the game once again," said John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. "With M4 and Apple Intelligence, gorgeous new colors that pop in any space, an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, and a new nano-texture glass display option, it's a whole new era for iMac."
Supercharged by M4
The M4 chip brings a boost in performance to iMac. Featuring a more capable CPU with the world's fastest CPU core, the new iMac is up to 1.7x faster than iMac with M1. Users will feel this performance across everyday activities like multitasking between their favorite apps and browsing webpages in Safari. And with an immensely powerful GPU featuring Apple's most advanced graphics architecture, iMac with M4 handles more intense workloads like photo editing and gaming up to 2.1x faster than iMac with M1. This also enables a smoother gameplay experience in titles like the upcoming Civilization VII. The new iMac comes standard with 16 GB of faster unified memory—configurable up to 32 GB. The Neural Engine in M4 is now over 3x faster than on iMac with M1, making it the world's best all-in-one for AI, and accelerating the pace at which users can get things done.

M4 takes iMac performance even further:
  • Families, small businesses, and entrepreneurs can fly through daily productivity tasks with up to 1.7x faster performance in apps like Microsoft Excel, and up to 1.5x faster browsing performance in Safari compared to iMac with M1.
  • Gamers can enjoy incredibly smooth gameplay, with up to 2x higher frame rates than on iMac with M1.
  • Content creators can edit like never before, with up to 2.1x faster photo and video editing performance when applying complex filters and effects in apps like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro compared to iMac with M1.
  • Compared to the most popular 24-inch all-in-one PC with the latest Intel Core 7 processor, the new iMac is up to 4.5x faster.
  • Compared to the most popular Intel-based iMac model, the new iMac is up to 6x faster.
A New Era with Apple Intelligence on the Mac
Apple Intelligence ushers in a new era for the Mac, bringing personal intelligence to the personal computer. Combining powerful generative models with industry-first privacy protections, Apple Intelligence harnesses the power of Apple silicon and the Neural Engine to unlock new ways for users to work, communicate, and express themselves on Mac. It is available in U.S. English with macOS Sequoia 15.1. With systemwide Writing Tools, users can refine their words by rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text nearly everywhere they write. With the newly redesigned Siri, users can move fluidly between spoken and typed requests to accelerate tasks throughout their day, and Siri can answer thousands of questions about Mac and other Apple products. New Apple Intelligence features will be available in December, with additional capabilities rolling out in the coming months. Image Playground gives users a new way to create fun original images, and Genmoji allows them to create custom emoji in seconds. Siri will become even more capable, with the ability to take actions across the system and draw on a user's personal context to deliver intelligence that is tailored to them. In December, ChatGPT will be integrated into Siri and Writing Tools, allowing users to access its expertise without needing to jump between tools.

Apple Intelligence does all this while protecting users' privacy at every step. At its core is on-device processing, and for more complex tasks, Private Cloud Compute gives users access to Apple's even larger, server-based models and offers groundbreaking protections for personal information. In addition, users can access ChatGPT for free without creating an account, and privacy protections are built in—their IP addresses are obscured and OpenAI won't store requests. For those who choose to connect their account, OpenAI's data-use policies apply.
Array of Gorgeous New Colors
The new iMac comes in seven vibrant colors, bringing fresh shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, and blue, alongside silver. The back of iMac features bold colors designed to stand out, while the front expresses subtle shades of the new palette so users can focus on doing their best work. Every iMac comes with a color-matched Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse or optional Magic Trackpad, all of which now feature a USB-C port, so users can charge their favorite devices with a single cable.

New Nano-Texture Display Option
The expansive 24-inch 4.5K Retina display on iMac is its highest-rated feature, and for the first time, it's available with a nano-texture glass option that drastically reduces reflections and glare, while maintaining outstanding image quality. With nano-texture glass, users can place iMac in even more spaces, such as a sun-drenched living room or bright storefront.

Enhanced Video Calls with 12MP Center Stage Camera
A new 12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View makes video calls even more engaging. Center Stage keeps everyone perfectly centered on a video call—great for families gathered on FaceTime. Desk View makes use of the wide-angle lens to simultaneously show the user and a top-down view of their desk, which is useful for educators presenting a lesson to students, or creators showing off their latest DIY project. Rounding out the unrivaled audio and video experience is the beloved studio-quality three-microphone array with beamforming and an immersive six-speaker sound system.

Advanced Connectivity
On the new iMac, all four USB-C ports support Thunderbolt 4 for superfast data transfers, so users can connect even more accessories like external storage, docks, and up to two 6K external displays, creating a massive canvas with more than 50M pixels for users to spread out their work. iMac also supports both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. And with the advanced security of Touch ID, users can easily and securely unlock their computer, make online purchases with Apple Pay, and download apps. Additionally, Touch ID works with Fast User Switching, so customers can switch between different user profiles with just the press of a finger.

An Unrivaled Experience with macOS Sequoia
macOS Sequoia completes the new iMac experience with a host of exciting features, including iPhone Mirroring, allowing users to wirelessly interact with their iPhone, its apps, and its notifications directly from their Mac. Safari, the world's fastest browser, now offers Highlights, which quickly pulls up relevant information from a site; a smarter, redesigned Reader with a table of contents and high-level summary; and a new Video Viewer to watch videos without distractions. With Distraction Control, users can hide items on a webpage that they may find disruptive to their browsing. Gaming gets even more immersive with features like Personalized Spatial Audio and improvements to Game Mode, along with a breadth of exciting titles, including the upcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows. Easier window tiling means users can stay organized with a windows layout that works best for them. The all-new Passwords app gives convenient access to passwords, passkeys, and other credentials, all stored in one place. And users can apply beautiful new built-in backgrounds for video calls, including a variety of color gradients and system wallpapers, or upload their own photos.
Better for the Environment
The new iMac with M4 is designed with the environment in mind, with 100 percent recycled aluminium in the stand, and 100 percent recycled gold plating, tin soldering, and copper in multiple printed circuit boards. iMac meets Apple's high standards for energy efficiency, and is free of mercury, brominated flame retardants, and PVC. New this year, the packaging of iMac is entirely fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal to remove plastic from its packaging by 2025.

Today, Apple is carbon-neutral for global corporate operations and, as part of its ambitious Apple 2030 goal, plans to be carbon-neutral across its entire carbon footprint by the end of this decade.

Pricing and Availability
  • Customers can pre-order the new iMac with M4 starting today, October 28, on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in 28 countries and regions, including the U.S. It will begin arriving to customers, and will be in Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers, beginning Friday, November 8.
  • iMac starts at $1,299 (U.S.) and $1,249 (U.S.) for education, and is available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver. It features an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, 16 GB of unified memory configurable up to 24 GB, 256 GB SSD configurable up to 1 TB, two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.
  • iMac with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU starts at $1,499 (U.S.) and $1,399 (U.S.) for education, and is available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver. It features 16 GB of unified memory configurable up to 32 GB, 256 GB SSD configurable up to 2 TB, four Thunderbolt 4 ports, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.
  • Additional technical specifications—including the nano-texture display option, configure-to-order options, and accessories—are available at apple.com/mac.
  • With Apple Trade In, customers can trade in their current computer and get credit toward a new Mac. Customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in to see what their device is worth.
  • Apple Intelligence is available now as a free software update for Mac with M1 and later, and can be accessed in most regions around the world when the device and Siri language are set to U.S. English. The first set of features is in beta and available with macOS Sequoia 15.1, with more features rolling out in the months to come.
  • Apple Intelligence is quickly adding support for more languages. In December, Apple Intelligence will add support for localized English in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K., and in April, a software update will deliver expanded language support, with more coming throughout the year. Chinese, English (India), English (Singapore), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages will be supported.
  • AppleCare+ for Mac provides unparalleled service and support. This includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage, battery service coverage, and 24/7 support from the people who know Mac best.
  • Every customer who buys directly from Apple Retail gets access to Personal Setup. In these guided online sessions, a Specialist can walk them through setup, or focus on features that help them make the most of their new device. Customers can also learn more about getting started with their new device with a Today at Apple session at their nearest Apple Store.
Source: Apple
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22 Comments on Apple Unveils the New iMac With M4 and Thunderbolt 4 Connectivity

#1
kondamin
Oh my the basic version isn't e-waste.
Did the sun go up in the west?
Posted on Reply
#2
SOAREVERSOR
kondaminOh my the basic version isn't e-waste.
Did the sun go up in the west?
The Macbook Airs and Mac Mini target the very low end for education. Schools generally use Chromebooks for most things but creative/STEM courses push Mac. Tablets are also common but the low end. Windows is mostly being removed in non poor schools in various parts of the US.
Posted on Reply
#3
TheinsanegamerN
So still no pro M chip on the imac. And the price is silly. The mac mini costs less at the high end, with more memory, 10 gig ethernet, and a amped up m pro chip.
SOAREVERSORThe Macbook Airs and Mac Mini target the very low end for education. Schools generally use Chromebooks for most things but creative/STEM courses push Mac. Tablets are also common but the low end. Windows is mostly being removed in non poor schools in various parts of the US.
What does any of this have to do with the imac?
Posted on Reply
#4
_roman_
kondaminisn't e-waste
That's up to the person in question.

I consider apple devices e-waste. I ripped off a power on cable because a similar looking older apple device is designed like that. Opening a device by removing the front screen is nuts for a desktop device which looks similar as this device above. The old hdd had reading errors with apple in name when you use smartctl command. I also made a smaller service for a apple laptop. Both devices it took much longer to install a newer operating system. one or both devices got new SATA SSDs before. My amd64 laptops were easier to keep active when a part was failing at that time. (strike through - read if you want )

--

I like the purple color. Apple has good aesthetics.
Posted on Reply
#5
GoldenX
TheinsanegamerNSo still no pro M chip on the imac. And the price is silly. The mac mini costs less at the high end, with more memory, 10 gig ethernet, and a amped up m pro chip.
I'm a certified Apple hater, but you do get a very nice 4.5K display for that money, and finally, usable RAM amounts.

Now if only instead of just adding an USB C port to the magic mouse, someone at Apple used half a neuron to realice that port needs to be moved already...
Posted on Reply
#6
TheLostSwede
News Editor
_roman_That's up to the person in question.

I consider apple devices e-waste. I ripped off a power on cable because a similar looking older apple device is designed like that. Opening a device by removing the front screen is nuts for a desktop device which looks similar as this device above. The old hdd had reading errors with apple in name when you use smartctl command. I also made a smaller service for a apple laptop. Both devices it took much longer to install a newer operating system. one or both devices got new SATA SSDs before. My amd64 laptops were easier to keep active when a part was failing at that time. (strike through - read if you want )

--

I like the purple color. Apple has good aesthetics.
Next time, try using the
spoiler option
in the forums.
Posted on Reply
#7
KellyNyanbinary
M4 fixes most, if not all, of M3's connectivity woes despite not having a big boost in GPU performance, which no one would notice anyway. Driving three displays will be great for future MacBook Air customers. Hopefully, the MacBook Air 13" will also get 16 GB of base memory for the same MSRP.
Posted on Reply
#8
bonehead123
NICE: colors, connectivity, base specs & prices are reasonable...

NOT so nice: limited drive & ram upgrades, no mention of how many arms, legs, kidneys & 1st bornes said upgrades will cost... probably a LOT, which would be par for the course for the fruity bois...

Also not cool are the puny discounts for edu buyers...this won't help them make easy inroads into our schools to replace windboxes or chroma-screenerz :)
Posted on Reply
#9
Darmok N Jalad
I’m still hopeful for the Mini, which should get dropped this week too. 16GB should do it for me, and finally Apple makes that base. I get that there even soldered 8GB windows laptops still being sold today, but just the OS today sucks up most of that now. No need to hammer the NVME when a couple more bucks in the BOM can offer a proper solution.
Posted on Reply
#10
bonehead123
Darmok N JaladI’m still hopeful for the Mini, which should get dropped this week too. 16GB should do it for me, and finally Apple makes that base. I get that there even soldered 8GB windows laptops still being sold today, but just the OS today sucks up most of that now. No need to hammer the NVME when a couple more bucks in the BOM can offer a proper solution.
Darmok & Apple...............at Tanagra...

“Temba, his arms wide”, hahahahah :)
Posted on Reply
#11
Nhonho
The M4 doesn't do AV1 video encoding via hardware yet, right? Why is Apple so reluctant about this?

The lack of AV1 encode is precisely the reason I wouldn't buy a MAC.
Posted on Reply
#12
Synthwave
GoldenXI'm a certified Apple hater, but you do get a very nice 4.5K display for that money, and finally, usable RAM amounts.

Now if only instead of just adding an USB C port to the magic mouse, someone at Apple used half a neuron to realice that port needs to be moved already...
And still a display with two-digit refresh rate, which is laughable in 2024, especially for this price. I mean I guess it is, because I can't see Hz mentioned anywhere.

But I'm thankful, because this way, it can never be an option for me. I mean an iMac, which is the only possible Apple machine I could imagine buying someday. The complete garbage input devices doesn't even worth a mention, wouldn't use those anyway.
Posted on Reply
#13
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
SynthwaveAnd still a display with two-digit refresh rate, which is laughable in 2024, especially for this price. I mean I guess it is, because I can't see Hz mentioned anywhere.

But I'm thankful, because this way, it can never be an option for me. I mean an iMac, which is the only possible Apple machine I could imagine buying someday. The complete garbage input devices doesn't even worth a mention, wouldn't use those anyway.
Most users would never see the benefit of a 27 inch hidpi screen running over 60hz. Most use it for simple home office work and some media consumption/creation. I do find it odd though that Apple refuses to invest in their keyboard/mouse. I guess they figure if you want something better you can easily find something and hook it up using bluetooth.
Posted on Reply
#14
GoldenX
SynthwaveAnd still a display with two-digit refresh rate, which is laughable in 2024, especially for this price. I mean I guess it is, because I can't see Hz mentioned anywhere.

But I'm thankful, because this way, it can never be an option for me. I mean an iMac, which is the only possible Apple machine I could imagine buying someday. The complete garbage input devices doesn't even worth a mention, wouldn't use those anyway.
Colour accurate displays intended for professional work don't usually run at high refresh rates either.

Just buy a Mini and slap some sick oled, may even be cheaper. You won't get the pixel density though.
Posted on Reply
#15
katzi
Groundbreaking innovation.

They even kept the charging port on the bottom of the mouse, so brave.
Posted on Reply
#16
watzupken
While it is good that Apple increased the base amount of RAM, they should also increase the base storage to be honest. How much does extra 256GB cost nowadays? The apps on MacOS are not as small as what you find on iOS, so they can't just assume that 256GB is sufficient. Maybe Tim Cook himself should use a Mac with 256GB of storage for a year and see if it makes sense. A lot of those Macs or Macbook with base 8GB RAM and 256GB storage tend to bite the dust faster because when there is insufficient memory, it hits your SSD to store and swap data. So your SSD lifespan will actually drop very quickly when its only got 256GB of non-expandable NAND.
Posted on Reply
#17
GoldenX
They need to start allowing at least their Mac Pro removable proprietary storage. But that would be too consumer friendly already.
Posted on Reply
#18
Scrizz
watzupkenWhile it is good that Apple increased the base amount of RAM, they should also increase the base storage to be honest. How much does extra 256GB cost nowadays? The apps on MacOS are not as small as what you find on iOS, so they can't just assume that 256GB is sufficient. Maybe Tim Cook himself should use a Mac with 256GB of storage for a year and see if it makes sense. A lot of those Macs or Macbook with base 8GB RAM and 256GB storage tend to bite the dust faster because when there is insufficient memory, it hits your SSD to store and swap data. So your SSD lifespan will actually drop very quickly when its only got 256GB of non-expandable NAND.
They want people to store things on the cloud. They want that sweet subscription money.
Posted on Reply
#19
kondamin
ScrizzThey want people to store things on the cloud. They want that sweet subscription money.
They want the tiny drive to swap it self in to oblivion so people need to buy a new device.
Posted on Reply
#20
GoldenX
kondaminThey want the tiny drive to swap it self in to oblivion so people need to buy a new device.
Considering the firmware is stored there, and the battery is wired to it on the laptops... That's most likely the cause.

Only vendor that uses storage as a structural component.
Posted on Reply
#21
igormp
watzupkenit hits your SSD to store and swap data.
I don't think this is exclusive to the 8GB models :p

Having only 36GB is a bit of a pain for me, ngl. I hate when the system starts popping up that "close application" window all the time because it thinks it's running out of RAM.

Aside from that, most casual users can live fine with 8gb. Ofc this does not apply to users of this forum.
Posted on Reply
#22
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
Apple laughs at their critics as it surpasses $3.5 trillion in valuation.
Posted on Reply
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