Apple has finally updated its desktop 24-inch iMac — packing the slim all-in-one desktop with the powerful M3 chipset. This system was announced at the company’s ‘Scary Fast’ event, with pre-orders open now and a launch date set for Tuesday, November 7.
So, what’s new about it? On the face of it, it may not seem like a lot, as the design has remained the same. But under the hood, it’s received a serious turbo-boost that will make it up to 2x faster than the previous generation M1 iMac.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything we know about this new desktop machine.
iMac M3 2023 release date and price
The M3 iMac is launching on Tuesday, November 7, with pre-orders opening today. Here’s where you can buy it.
As for pricing, it remains the same as the previous M1 iMac. For $1,299 / AU$2,199, you can pick up the base model with 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. Add another $200 / AU$300 on there, and the model with a 10-core GPU is yours.
iMac M3 2023 design and display
- Design remains identical to the M1 iMac
- So does the display too — 24-inch 4.5K LCD panel with 500-nits brightness
The 2021 iMac brought in an all-new design for the all-in-one desktop, with a slim chassis and a bouquet of pastel colors. However, it wasn’t perfect, with a large chin and somewhat chunky bezels around the display. Unfortunately, the rumors seem to suggest Apple will continue with this design.
Rather than tweak the aesthetic, this new iMac is all about a new chipset. The display has remained a 24-inch 4.5K Retina panel with 500-nits of brightness. The 1080p FaceTime camera remains the same up top, and port selection remains the same with four USB-C (including two Thunderbolt ports). More ports would have been appreciated, say an SD card reader and HDMI input/output.
Plus, the same attention to colors that pop apply with iMacs available in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver — complete with color-matched accessories with Touch ID.
iMac 2023 specs
- M3 chip developed using 3nm process — up to 60% faster than M1
- Faster at day-to-day tasks, and supports hardware accelerated ray tracing for games
The rumors were true — the new iMac uses an M3 chip, and it brings a whole lot of performance boosts with it. We could talk about the 3nm process to build these chips (just like the A17 Pro in iPhone 15 Pro), but let’s put this 8-core CPU, up to 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine into some real-world context.
Apps like Safari and Microsoft Excel load 30% faster, games load faster with up to 50% faster frame rates, you can edit and playback up to 12 streams of 4K video (3x more than the M1 iMac), photo processing in Photoshop is 2x faster, and its those graphical capabilities that really drive home the special part of what M3 brings to the table.
You see, much like A17 Pro, it too supports hardware accelerated ray tracing, so you can expect AAA titles to be looking great on here — provided developers make the most of that new game porting toolkit.
Alongside this, some of the additional upgrades include efficiency cores that are 15% faster, the capability of running multi-threaded tasks using half the power (thank you, 3nm, for that), and a faster and more efficient neural engine.
As for RAM and storage, configurations remain the same — starting with 8GB of unified memory and a 256GB SSD.
iMac 2023 outlook
And that’s it! The next iMac is more of a big spec bump than any significant redesign. Some design nips and tucks, as well as more display options would have been great — alongside a 27-inch model option.
But on paper, this is a tasty upgrade with a big boost in performance for a great all-in-one desktop that is capable of doing a whole lot from your standard productivity, to more prosumer-focused tasks and even gaming.
As to whether this all adds up to a must-buy in real-world use, you’ll have to wait for our full review to find out.
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