Apple Updates IMac to Better Handle Artificial Intelligence
After surprising the world this spring by introducing its newest homegrown chip, the M4 chip , to the iPad instead of the Mac, Apple is finally ready to unveil its newest generation of processors for home computers. As the first announcement in what Apple is promising as an ” exciting week of announcements ,” the company confirmed this morning that it is bringing the M4 chip to the iMac .
Current iMacs use last year’s M3 chip , and while both are designed for artificial intelligence, the key difference between the M4 and its predecessor is that the former has a much more efficient neural engine, and Apple promises a sixty-fold improvement in artificial intelligence performance. This is big news for Apple Intelligence , which Apple has confirmed will also be released for iPhone, iPad and Mac today .
But the updates go beyond artificial intelligence. Apple claims the iMac M4 is also 1.7 times faster in productivity apps like Microsoft Excel and 1.5 times faster when browsing in Safari. For more demanding workflows, Apple promises 2.1x faster performance when editing photos and videos in apps like Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Trick? All of these comparisons are made with an iMac equipped with the M1 chip, not the M3 chip. More concrete numbers will have to wait until testers actually get their hands on the new device.
As for the computer itself, it looks pretty much the same, with the bezels and basic design unchanged. However, Apple promises slight changes to the current color scheme. There are also green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver versions, but the shades are slightly different than the M3.
There are a few unsightly upgrades worth considering, including a 12MP Center Stage webcam. Most models also come with two additional Thunderbolt ports (for a total of four). The Thunderbolt standard is now also called Thunderbolt 4, which should speed up file transfers a bit. If you’re not sure what Thunderbolt is, it’s basically USB-C (but better) . Your USB-C cables will work fine with it.
The accessories that come with the iMac also see slight changes, with the Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad swapping Lightning charging ports for USB-C. They still cost the same when purchased separately (as always, the iMac includes a keyboard and mouse), and replacing the included mouse with a trackpad will cost you an extra $50.
However, perhaps the biggest physical upgrade this year is the 16GB of storage that comes standard, up from the previous model’s 8GB at no extra cost. There is also an optional “nano-texture display”. While it’s not an OLED replacement, it should make the Retina 4.5K display a little less prone to glare and reflections.
The iMac M4 is available for purchase now and will begin shipping on November 8th. The model with 16 GB of memory and 256 GB of internal memory starts at $1,299. The upgrades extend up to $2,699, which will give you 32GB of memory, 2TB of storage, and an M4 chip option with a slightly higher core count.