Apple
Apple upgrades 24-inch iMac with new M3 chip at the October event
The M3 iMac refresh is finally here, but the changes are all under the hood.
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2023 Apple iMac with M3 chip
The 2023 Apple iMac is the second generation of the redesigned iMac which first launched in 2021. It now gets the M3 chip, skipping the M2 altogether, but keeps the same design and seven fun colorways.
- The 2023 iMac get improved M3 chips, bringing in sizeable performance gains over the M1 version.
- You get the same design which was overhauled back in 2021.
- The starting price stays at $1,299, making for a great value computer for the home.
- It will be available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver.
Apple announced the new generation of its 24-inch iMac, the M3 iMac, at the October event. Apple launched the last iMac back in 2021 with radical redesign and with the M1 chip.
The newly announced iMac, however, doesn’t feature any design change. In fact, it has the same design as the M1 iMac, but under the hood, you will find the M3 chip, which was also announced at the same event.
The M3 iMac
In terms of design, the M3 iMac looks similar with the same 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a six-speaker sound system, and Touch ID.
The only new addition is the new M3 chip under the hood, which is a significant inclusion, considering the iMac hasn’t been updated for the last three years. It was a good decision to skip the M2 chip and go directly for the M3.
Now, the new M3 chip has its advantages. It is developed using TSMC’s 3nm fabrication process – the same one used to develop the latest A17 Pro chip on the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max.
The new chip also sports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and all its CPU cores are 30% faster than the M1 chip.
The chip’s efficiency also received a 50% boost compared to the M1. Even the 10-core GPU is 65% faster than the M1 chip.
Overall, the new M3 iMac is 2x faster than its predecessor, the M1 iMac, and even greater 2.5x faster than the 27.5-inch Intel models.
Indeed, Apple didn’t provide a facelift to the new iMac, but no matter how you look at it, the upgrade is significant. The M3 iMac also supports Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, up to 24GB of Unified memory, and up to 2TB of storage.
M3 iMac: price and availability
The new M3 iMac has a starting price of $1,299 in the United States for the variant with an 8-core CPU. Meanwhile, you have to pay $1,499 for the model with a 10-core CPU.
Both versions sport 8GB of Unified Memory or RAM, 256GB SSD, two Thunderbolt ports, two USB 3 ports, a Magic Keyboard, a Magic Mouse, and Gigabit Ethernet. The pre-orders have already opened on Apple’s website, with the release slated for November 7.
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