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    Apple unveils new M6 iMac, delivering a major boost in performance and AI capabilities


    Powered by M6, the new iMac delivers a massive leap in performance and AI capabilities — all in its strikingly thin all-in-one design, available in seven vibrant colors.

    Apple today announced the new iMac featuring the superfast M6, delivering even more performance and powerful AI capabilities in its strikingly thin all-in-one design. From families and aspiring creators to small businesses, users will experience the speed and power of M6 in everything they do. Featuring a faster CPU and GPU with Neural Accelerators in each core, it blazes through everyday apps and multitasking while delivering powerful performance for creative workflows like photo and video editing. For Intel-based upgraders, the leap is even greater, with up to 18x faster performance than the most popular Intel-based iMac. And together with the Dual 16-core Neural Engine, the new iMac delivers up to 5x faster on-device AI performance than M4.1 Whether users are taking advantage of Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features across apps and macOS, running local AI models, or vibe coding, iMac is a powerful platform for AI while preserving user privacy. Connectivity gets even better with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, along with available 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet and storage that is up to 2x faster, so apps and large projects launch in an instant. Completing the iMac experience is an expansive 24-inch 4.5K Retina display; an industry-leading camera, speakers, and mics; up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports; color-matched accessories; and the power of macOS 27. Available in a spectrum of seven colors — blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and silver — the new iMac is a tremendous upgrade for existing users and an incredible gateway into everything the Mac can do for new users. Customers can pre-order starting tomorrow, October 28, with availability beginning Friday, November 6.

    “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. “With the blazing performance and AI capabilities of M6 supercharging every workflow and the next generation of Apple Intelligence with Siri AI — combined with its stunning 24-inch Retina display, its gorgeous design in seven vibrant colors, and macOS 27 — the new iMac has everything users need to run their businesses, manage their lives, and bring their ideas to life.”

    From families and creative professionals to small business owners, users can take advantage of a major boost in performance and powerful AI capabilities for everyday workflows with built-in privacy. iMac also delivers a pop of color that brightens any space.

    With M6, iMac brings even more performance, for everything from everyday productivity to creative workloads and AI tasks. iMac with M6 features up to a 12-core CPU — two more cores than before — delivering the world’s fastest single-threaded CPU performance. Everything feels extra snappy and responsive for families managing busy calendars, students putting the finishing touches on a project, and small business owners running their companies. An up-to-12-core GPU, also with two more cores than before, now features Neural Accelerators in each core, delivering up to 2x faster graphics for more intensive tasks like photo editing, along with fantastic gaming performance compared to M4. Students and creators can now fly through tasks like editing and sharing their latest videos or designing a project for class, all while multitasking with their favorite messaging or entertainment apps. The new Dual 16-core Neural Engine delivers up to 2x faster AI compute than the previous generation, and combined with the advanced GPU and faster memory bandwidth and with higher memory bandwidth up to 170GB/s, iMac rips through AI tasks like running LLMs on device. With all this performance packed into its stunning design, iMac is the perfect all-in-one for a wide range of users and workflows.

    With the new iMac with M6, small business owners can work across apps like Bigin by Zoho to effortlessly manage customer relationships, track sales, and streamline everyday workflows, all on its stunning 24-inch 4.5K Retina display.
    With the new iMac with M6, students can bring their ideas to life with a spacious canvas to explore, create, and innovate.
    With the new iMac with M6, families can effortlessly multitask between everyday apps, from managing calendars and finances to helping with homework, planning vacations, and more.

    • Up to 2.5x faster performance in apps like Microsoft Excel, compared to iMac with M1, and up to 1.5x faster performance than M4, so families, aspiring creators, and small businesses can fly through daily productivity tasks.

    • Up to 3.3x faster graphics performance for tasks including photo editing in Affinity, compared to iMac with M1, and up to 2x faster performance than M4, so content creators can edit like never before.

    • Up to 12x faster on-device AI performance for prompt processing in LM Studio, compared to iMac with M1, and up to 5x faster performance than M4, so users can run powerful AI models, all while keeping their data private

    • Up to 2x higher gaming performance with ray tracing compared to M4.

    With the powerful performance of M6, iMac lets creators and 3D artists work faster in apps like Blender, from modeling intricate 3D scenes to rendering detailed animations and realizing their creative visions.
    The new iMac with M6 makes video editing faster and more seamless in apps like Final Cut Pro, empowering creators to edit high-resolution footage, add stunning effects, and more.
    With the new iMac with M6, photographers and creative enthusiasts can perfect their images in apps like Affinity, editing high-resolution photos, retouching fine details, and creating stunning compositions with speed and ease.

    Beyond delivering exceptional performance for everyday productivity and creative workflows, iMac is also a powerful platform for AI, enabling users to take advantage of advanced AI capabilities while protecting their privacy. With macOS 27, the next generation of Apple Intelligence is deeply personal, seamlessly integrated across apps, and built with privacy from the ground up. Apple Intelligence powers Siri AI, a new version of Siri that is profoundly more capable, conversational, and personal, helping users get more done than ever before. On iMac, users can tap into Siri AI to ask questions; find what they need across their messages, emails, photos, and more; and take action across apps. Siri AI is built right into Spotlight, making it easy to search for answers on virtually any topic and ask follow-up questions. With the expansive 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, users can leverage Visual Intelligence with a dedicated keyboard shortcut to ask Siri about anything on their screen, from a chart in a spreadsheet to a photo in a browser tab. Users can also write and edit with Siri almost anywhere they type, and in Mail and Messages, Siri can reflect their typical style and tone.

    Siri AI — powered by the next generation of Apple Intelligence — allows users to ask questions; find what they need across messages, photos, and more; and take action across apps.
    With the powerful AI capabilities of M6, the new iMac lets users do even more with AI-powered apps like Pixelmator Pro and Claude, from enhancing photos and removing unwanted objects to brainstorming ideas, writing, and tackling everyday tasks with speed and ease.

    Apple Intelligence also makes apps smarter and more useful. In Safari, it powers new tools that automatically organize a user’s tabs into topics; notifies them of website changes, like product restocks or price drops; and enables the creation of custom extensions based on a description. In addition, users can easily create an automation in Shortcuts by simply describing it or tap into intelligent photo editing tools in the Photos app. iMac also supports a growing ecosystem of AI apps optimized for Apple silicon, including LM Studio Bionic and Topaz Studio, helping users learn faster, think in new ways, and get more done.

    The new iMac features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, along with 2.5Gb Ethernet that delivers up to 2.5x faster wired connectivity than the previous generation. This means faster transfers of large files, smoother streaming of high-resolution content, and even better performance for gaming and demanding business workflows. And with up to 2x faster SSD read and write performance, apps launch quickly, and large files like photo libraries and video projects load in an instant.

    Up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports enable superfast data transfers and make it easy to connect a wide range of accessories, including external storage and docks. Users can also connect up to two 6K external displays, creating a vast workspace with more than 50 million pixels to spread out their work.


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    Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/10/27/apple-unveils-new-m6-imac-delivering-a-major-boost-in-performance-and-ai-capabilities/

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    New 2026 iMac (M6) vs. the previous 2024 iMac (M4)

    Today Apple announced the new iMac with an M6 chip, which offers minor improvements over its predecessor, the 2024 iMac with an M4 chip.

    Along with this new desktop, we also got the refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, which I have compared to its M5 version in another post.

    new 2026 iMac with M6 chip

    With these refreshers announced via Newsroom posts, Apple’s October 28th media event will likely focus solely on new touch-screen MacBooks with cellular connectivity.

    2026 iMac (M6) vs. 2024 iMac (M4)

    4 ports on iMac M6

    Before we begin, note that all Apple silicon iMacs come in two versions: a base model with two Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports and another with four ports. This year’s M6 iMac continues that trend. In this guide, we focus mainly on the four-port version.

    Apple says the 2026 M6 iMac (four-port version) has a 12-core CPU with 2 super cores, 4 performance cores, and 6 efficiency cores. The 2024 M4 iMac had a 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. It also has a 12-core GPU, compared to 10 before.

    If you opt for the two-port version, it has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, which is 2 more than the two-port M4 version, but the same as the four-port M4 model.

    In addition to a couple of extra cores, the new 2026 iMac has a significantly faster memory bandwidth of up to 170GB/s. The M4 one was capped at 120GB/s.

    Apple says:

    • The new iMac delivers up to 5x faster on-device AI performance than M4.
    • The two more cores include Neural Accelerators, delivering up to 2x faster graphics for more intensive tasks like photo editing, plus better gaming performance than M4.
    • The new 2026 version also delivers up to 1.5x faster performance in apps like Microsoft Excel compared to the M4 iMac.
    • The M6 iMac offers up to 2x faster graphics performance for tasks like photo editing in Affinity, compared to its M4 predecessor.
    • On-device AI performance for prompt processing in LM Studio is up to 5x faster than the M4 iMac. This lets users run powerful AI models, all while keeping their data private.
    • Apple also claims up to 2x higher gaming performance with ray tracing compared to the 2024 iMac.

    Again, these are upper-limit (“up to”) numbers, so treat them with a pinch of salt. Mrwhosetheboss and MKBHD did a great collab video on this “up to” thing, embedded below.

    Along with the new chip, the refreshed 2026 iMac now lets you upgrade to faster 2.5Gb Ethernet instead of Gigabit Ethernet on the M4 model. This upgrade costs $30 extra.

    On top of that, the M6 iMac also has faster wireless connectivity thanks to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 compared to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 in the 2024 M4 model.

    7 colors of 2026 iMac with M6 chip

    Differences aside, both models come in the same 7 colors (Blue, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Silver) and have the same display (24-inch 4.5K resolution), dimensions, weight, storage options, Siri features, memory, storage, video calling camera, speakers, etc.

    But compared with the previous M4 iMac, the new one costs $200 more across all models:

    • M6 (two ports): Starts at $1,499
    • M6 (four ports): Starts at $1,699
    • M4 (two ports): Started at $1,299
    • M4 (four ports): Started at $1,499

    You still get the same $50 off for the two-port model and $100 off for the four-port model with the education discount.

    Upgrading from the included Magic Mouse to the Magic Trackpad, choosing the Ethernet power brick, and adding the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID cost extra; you can check prices on Apple’s website.

    If you’re planning to upgrade from your current iMac to this new model, pre-orders start at 10:10 a.m. PT on 28th October. It will start delivering and reach first customers on 6th November.

    Also, check out:

    Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/10/27/imac-m6-vs-m4/