It’s almost time for Apple’s 2024 Mac event, and the iMac M4 could be one of the tech giant’s biggest product reveals at its highly anticipated (though unconfirmed) showcase later this month.
Unveiling a new iMac equipped with the latest M-series silicon would be an incredible announcement for Apple, and the iMac will be refreshed in 2024 now that the Apple M4 chip is already available in the wild. It’s hard to say if we’ll see anything at the Apple event (or even if we’ll get one in October), as the tech giant is known for its unique style of launches.
So there’s always a possibility that we won’t see an M4 iMac refresh until 2025, but the rumor mill will continue to churn out reports and leaks, so it’s best to just wait and see if Apple comes up with its own surprise in 2024 will come or if the aforementioned rumors are to feed us until next year.
Apple iMac M4: get to the point
- What is it? Apple’s rumored iMac refresh
- How much does it cost? This is not known at this time as it has not been officially announced yet
- When can I get it? Depending on when it’s announced, this could be as early as late 2024, or sometime in 2025
Apple iMac M4: Latest news
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Apple iMac: release date
There is currently no official release date for a new iMac M4 refresh. However, if one is announced at the rumored Apple event later in October, we could see a launch as early as late 2024.
And if the M4 iMac announcement doesn’t show up, there’s still a strong chance of a release sometime in 2025, as Apple is notorious for surprise announcements and stealth drops of major products.
There was a recent rumor from Mark Guman of Bloomberg that seemingly confirmed this 2024-2025 release for an iMac refresh, so it’s definitely possible. Also adding to the anticipation is that the M3 chip debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac during Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ event in late October 2023, so history could easily repeat itself in 2024.
Apple iMac: specifications
There have been no rumors about the possible specs of the iMac, other than the fact that it would be equipped with at least an M4 chip if it were to launch in 2024 or 2025.
But going by the previous Apple iMac 24-inch (M3), these specs will likely include at least 8GB of unified memory, at least 256GB of SSD storage, a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 38 TOPS NPU . . Considering that one of the main complaints about Apple’s mainstream MacBooks, Macs and iMacs is their relatively low starting specs, there is some concern that this will likely be the starting range of the iMac refresh as well.
The wildcard here is Apple Intelligence, the company’s new AI ecosystem of apps and features. These require a fair amount of dedicated memory, and 8GB of unified memory is simply not enough, so it’s possible that the M4 iMac’s memory and storage will see a bump to at least 16GB and 512GB respectively.
There were also rumors of a larger screen for the iMac for years, and Mark Gurman recently confirmed them. In his newsletter he stated: “A larger iMac remains something Apple is also exploring, but it’s unclear whether that will be an M4 product or something that comes next year or later.”
That means the 2024 iMac refresh will likely keep the same 24-inch screen as last year’s M3 iMac.
Apple iMac: What to expect
With all signs pointing to an Apple event in October 2024, there’s a good chance we’ll see a refresh of the M4 iMac very soon, powered by a more advanced chip and with improved specs for the entry-level configuration.
The problem is that Apple is also very inconsistent when it comes to new product announcements, so we could also go through the entire event with no mention of a new iMac, only to be met with a stealth reveal sometime in 2025. see what Apple does in the coming weeks.