First Look: Apple’s 24-Inch iMac Gets a Mighty M3 Upgrade

31.10.2023 - 01:43 / pcmag.com

Skipping the second generation of Apple silicon entirely, the 24-inch iMac has arrived with M3 processing to drastically elevate Apple's all-in-one computer. With little else changed, the new iMac focuses on what more power can do to increase its versatility and ability to serve the unique needs of each family member in your home.

Apple has often positioned the iMac as a family computer, but the M3 breaks down some hurdles that prevented previous models from being of particular use to folks like gamers and content creators. Thanks to the M3, this might be the first iMac to successfully handle intense tasks, like gaming, that might have prevented you from investing in the AIO before.

We were invited to see (but not touch or photograph) the new 24-inch iMac ahead of its unveiling, complete with a demonstration of how a family might use the new computer. Here’s what to expect from the new iMac when it launches on November 7.

While Apple hasn’t changed anything about the iMac hardware design since its last revision in 2021, it didn't really have to. The iMac can use another unique port or two (or even an SD card slot), but that clearly hasn't been a deal breaker for buyers, with Apple claiming it's the best-selling 24-inch AIO around.

Just like the previous model, the iMac starts at $1,299, which gets you the base-level M3 processor, 8GB of unified memory, a 256GB SSD, and the Magic Keyboard and Mouse. (All iMac models now feature Wi-Fi 6E, too.) The M3 processor in this model runs on an eight-core CPU (with four performance and four efficiency cores) as well as an eight-core GPU. This base model comes in green, pink, blue, and silver.

If you want more graphics punch, you can pick up an iMac with a 10-core M3 GPU for $1,499, which adds two more USB-C ports (USB 3) and a Gigabit Ethernet jack. We're sad to report that Apple is withholding its more enticing color options—orange, purple, and yellow—to this more expensive version.

At any rate, the M3 processor uplifts the iMac experience considerably, with support for up to 24GB of Apple’s unified memory and up to 35% faster performance than the M1, according to Apple. The M3 GPU, meanwhile, is said to be 65% faster than the M1.

To put it into perspective, Apple shared some specific performance gains that the M3 iMac achieves over the M1 model. Safari and Excel reportedly perform 30% faster, while games run at 50% faster frame rates. The M3 iMac can also handle editing up to 12 streams of 4K video at once, which is three times more than the previous version; meanwhile, Photoshop performance is said to be twice as fast.

Of course, the performance improvements over Apple’s last Intel-based iMac are even more pronounced. Overall, expect to see roughly four times