Apple is planning to refresh the 24-inch iMac as soon as 2024, so we could see a new model with an M4 chip before the end of the year. Apple is working to overhaul the entire Mac line with AI-focused M4 chips, iMac included.
This guide includes everything we know about Apple's plans for an M4 iMac.
M4 Chip
The next-generation 24-inch iMac is expected to get the M4 chip, which is the same chip that Apple used for the latest iPad Pro models. iMacs right now have the M3 chip, so the M4 will be a direct update.
The M4 is built on the same 3-nanometer technology as the M3, but it is a second-generation chip with some speed and efficiency improvements. In a Geekbench benchmark test, the M4 proved to be up to 25 percent faster than the M3 chip, which is a notable jump in performance.
The M3 had a single-core score of 3,087 and a multi-core score of 11,702, while the M4 had a single-core score of 3,695 and a multi-core score of 14,550.
Apple's M4 chip has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, featuring six efficiency cores and four performance cores. There is a variant of the M4 with a 9-core CPU that Apple has used in the iPad Pro, but it is unlikely that this chip would be offered in the iMac.
Other Macs will get upgraded M4 Pro, M4 Max, and M4 Ultra chips, but the 24-inch iMac is an entry-level product on par with devices like the MacBook Air, so it will only be offered with the M4 chip.
RAM
The M4 iMac could start with 16GB RAM instead of 8GB, perhaps to better support Apple Intelligence features. All of the M4 Macs that have been spotted in developer logs have either 16GB or 32GB RAM.
Design
Apple last redesigned the iMac in 2021, and there are no signs that a new look is on the horizon. It's likely that the 2024 refresh of the iMac will focus on the internals rather than any outward-facing design changes.
The iMac is an all-in-one machine that combines a computer and a display. It measures in at just 11.5mm thick, and has a slim profile that fits easily on a desktop. It comes in a range of bright colors, with a matching chin in a pastel color.
So far, we don't know of any updates coming to the iMac except for the M4 chip.
Larger iMac?
There have been persistent rumors of a larger-screened iMac that has a display that's around 30 inches in size, but that device was still in the early stages of development in mid-2023, and there is no word on when a larger iMac might come out.
There is a possibility that we could see it sometime in 2025, but it won't be coming in 2024. Apple this year will stick to the 24-inch iMac, as it has done since discontinuing the 27-inch model in 2022.
Release Date
Back in April, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the 24-inch iMac would likely see an M4 chip update "around the end of the year." Apple sometimes holds events in October or November when new Macs are expected, so we could see the iMac around that timeframe.
Apple is also expected to update the MacBook Pro models and the Mac mini before the end of the year. The iMac was last updated in October 2023, so an October 2024 launch would come right at the year mark.
