Apple unveils iMac with M6 chip, promising up to 5x faster on-device AI than M4

Faster CPU, GPU and Neural Engine

According to Apple, the M6 iMac has up to a 12-core CPU, two more cores than before, and the company calls it the world's fastest single-threaded CPU performance. The GPU also offers up to 12 cores, again two more than before, and now includes Neural Accelerators in each core. Apple says this gives up to 2x faster graphics than M4 for tasks such as photo editing, along with better gaming performance.

The new Dual 16-core Neural Engine delivers up to 2x faster AI compute than the previous generation, according to Apple. Memory bandwidth rises to up to 170GB/s. Apple says the combination lets the iMac handle tasks like running large language models on the device.

The company also published comparisons against older machines. These are Apple's own figures:

• Up to 2.5x faster in apps like Microsoft Excel than iMac with M1, and up to 1.5x faster than M4.
• Up to 3.3x faster graphics in tasks like photo editing in Affinity than iMac with M1, and up to 2x faster than M4.
• Up to 12x faster on-device AI prompt processing in LM Studio than iMac with M1, and up to 5x faster than M4.
• Up to 2x higher gaming performance with ray tracing compared to M4.
• Up to 18x faster performance than the most popular Intel-based iMac.

Siri AI and macOS 27

Software is a central part of the pitch. With macOS 27, Apple Intelligence powers Siri AI, which Apple describes as a version of Siri that is "profoundly more capable, conversational, and personal." On the iMac, users can ask questions, search across messages, emails and photos, and take action across apps. Siri AI is built into Spotlight, where users can ask follow-up questions.

Visual Intelligence gets a dedicated keyboard shortcut, so users can ask Siri about content on the screen, such as a chart in a spreadsheet or a photo in a browser tab. Siri can also help write and edit text almost anywhere users type, and in Mail and Messages it can reflect a user's typical style and tone.

Apple Intelligence also reaches into other apps. In Safari it organizes tabs into topics, notifies users of website changes such as product restocks or price drops, and lets them create custom extensions from a description. Shortcuts automations can be created by describing them, and the Photos app gains intelligent editing tools. Apple says the iMac works with AI apps such as Pixelmator Pro and Claude, and with apps optimized for Apple silicon including LM Studio Bionic and Topaz Studio. The company stresses privacy throughout, including when running local models.

Connectivity, display and design

The iMac adds Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Available 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet is up to 2.5x faster for wired connections than the previous generation, according to Apple, and SSD read and write performance is up to 2x faster. The machine keeps its 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, offers up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports, and includes color-matched accessories.

It comes in blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver.

Pricing and availability

Customers can pre-order from October 28, with availability starting Friday, November 6. The source text does not include pricing.

Apple positions the iMac for families, students, aspiring creators and small businesses. "iMac is the world's best all-in-one, and today it raises the bar yet again," said Shelly Goldberg, Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering. For owners of Intel-based or M1 iMacs, Apple's comparisons suggest the largest gains, while the focus on local AI and Siri AI shows how central on-device intelligence has become to the Mac lineup.