The M6 iMac claims 5x faster on-device AI than M4, from $1,499

Apple has introduced a new iMac built around the M6 chip, and the company says it runs on-device AI up to 5x faster than the M4 model. Pre-orders open October 28 from $1,499, with deliveries from November 6.

Two configurations, 35 countries, November 6

The 24-inch iMac keeps its thin all-in-one design and its seven colors: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver. Apple offers two starting configurations in the U.S.:

• A 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU model at $1,499, or $1,449 with education pricing.
• A 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU model at $1,699, or $1,599 with education pricing.

Pre-orders run through apple.com/store and the Apple Store app in 35 countries and regions, including the U.S. Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers get stock from Friday, November 6. In the U.S., Apple Upgrade leasing starts at $28.99 a month for 36 months, before taxes and any trade-in credit.

The top chip has two more CPU cores and two more GPU cores than before. Each GPU core now includes a Neural Accelerator, and the chip pairs that with a Dual 16-core Neural Engine and memory bandwidth of up to 170GB/s. Apple also lists Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports, optional 2.5Gb Ethernet and SSDs it says are up to twice as fast. The 4.5K display, 12MP Center Stage camera and Touch ID keyboard carry over, according to the release. Apple does not say in the text we read whether the base model includes the four-port and Ethernet options, so buyers should check the configuration page.

The speed claims, and who they are measured against

Apple’s headline AI figure is up to 5x faster prompt processing in LM Studio than the M4 iMac, and up to 12x against the M1 iMac. It also cites up to 1.5x faster Microsoft Excel performance than M4, up to 2x faster graphics in Affinity, and up to 2x higher ray-traced gaming performance. For owners of the most popular Intel-based iMac, Apple claims up to 18x.

These are Apple’s own figures, and the release does not give the test configurations here. Prompt processing is also only half of running a local model: how fast it generates text depends largely on memory bandwidth, which Apple puts at up to 170GB/s. The release does not state how much memory the machines ship with, so how large a model they can hold is not established.

For the reader, the practical change is that a mainstream, $1,499 desktop is now pitched at running language models locally, something that used to push buyers toward pricier Mac or PC workstations. Apple names LM Studio, Pixelmator Pro and Claude among the apps that benefit.

Siri AI on the desktop, with limits attached

The iMac ships with macOS 27, which brings Siri AI, Apple’s rebuilt assistant. Apple says it works inside Spotlight, can search across messages, emails and photos, and can act across apps. It adds a keyboard shortcut for Visual Intelligence, so users can ask about anything on screen.

Apple stresses privacy, saying the AI is built with privacy from the start and that local models keep data on the machine. The release does not say which requests stay on the device and which go to the cloud. Our coverage of the Apple TV 4K launch noted that Apple describes Siri requests as using on-device processing or Private Cloud Compute, and that server-side usage limits suggest some requests leave the device. That claim remains unverified by outside parties.

Availability is the bigger question for buyers outside the U.S. According to our report on the 27.2 updates, Apple says Siri AI is currently unavailable in the EU on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and that it is working with the EU on a way forward without giving a timeline. That report did not say whether the Mac is affected, and the iMac release is silent on it. The same report said Siri AI covers only a subset of Apple Intelligence’s 16 language settings: six languages now, with four more promised by year end. A European or non-English buyer who is paying partly for Siri AI should confirm support for their country and language before ordering.

The iMac release also leaves out several details a buyer would want: the memory options, battery-free thermal behavior under sustained AI loads, and independent benchmark results. None of that can be checked until reviewers receive units. Pre-orders open the day after the announcement, so the first outside testing is likely to arrive around the November 6 delivery date.

Apple has also tied the machine to its sustainability goals, saying the stand is made of 100 percent recycled aluminum and that 40 percent of the electricity used in manufacturing is renewable. In the release, Shelly Goldberg, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Engineering, said the iMac “raises the bar yet again” for all-in-one computers.