Apple announced the new iMac with M6 today, and if you have been waiting for a reason to replace an aging all-in-one, this is the one. The design is the same strikingly thin slab in seven colors, but nearly everything inside is new: a 12-core M6 chip, faster storage, Wi-Fi 7, and a much more capable AI story with macOS 27. Pre-orders open tomorrow, October 28, with availability starting Friday, November 6, from $1,499.
M6 does the heavy lifting
The headline is the chip. M6 brings up to a 12-core CPU, two more cores than before, which Apple calls the world’s fastest single-threaded CPU, plus an up-to-12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators in each core and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 170GB/s. In Apple’s numbers, that works out to up to 1.5x faster performance than M4, up to 2x faster graphics than M4, and up to 2x faster gaming with ray tracing. For anyone still on an Intel-based iMac, Apple claims the leap is up to 18x faster, and against M1 it cites up to 2.5x faster performance in Excel and up to 3.3x faster graphics in Affinity. Those are Apple’s figures, not mine, and real-world testing will tell the fuller story, but the direction is clear: this is a generational jump, not a spec bump.
The AI Mac, with Siri AI front and center
The more interesting story is AI. Apple says the new iMac delivers up to 5x faster on-device AI performance than M4, and up to 12x faster prompt processing in LM Studio than M1, thanks to the Neural Accelerators and the Dual Neural Engine. That matters because macOS 27 brings the next generation of Apple Intelligence, headlined by Siri AI, a version of Siri Apple describes as profoundly more capable, conversational, and personal. Siri AI lives in Spotlight, answers questions across messages, emails, and photos, and takes action across apps, all processed on device to preserve privacy. With the big 24-inch canvas, Visual Intelligence gets a dedicated keyboard shortcut, so you can ask Siri about anything on screen, from a chart in a spreadsheet to a photo in a browser tab. If you run local AI models or live in AI-powered apps like Pixelmator Pro and Claude, this is the iMac built for that workflow.
Everything else got faster too
Around the chip, Apple upgraded nearly every connection. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 join available 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, storage runs up to 2x faster, and up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports can drive up to two 6K external displays. The 24-inch 4.5K Retina display stays, with 500 nits of brightness and P3 wide color, and the 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, the force-cancelling woofers, and the studio-quality three-microphone array all carry over. You still get seven colors (blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and silver) with color-matched accessories, and Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. Apple also notes the build: 100 percent recycled aluminum in the stand, recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and manufacturing with 40 percent renewable electricity.
Price and availability
The new iMac with M6 featuring a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU starts at $1,499, or $1,449 with education pricing. The 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU version starts at $1,699, or $1,599 with education pricing. Pre-orders open October 28, and it arrives November 6. For families, small businesses, and creators who want one machine that does everything without a tower under the desk, this is the most compelling iMac Apple has made in years, and the AI headroom means it should age better than the M4 model it replaces.
