Apple recently dropped a massive hint that new Macs are going to debut next week, starting from October 28, and the iMac M4 is expected to be among the tech giant’s incoming major product reveals.
Unveiling a new iMac outfitted with the latest M-series silicon would be an incredible announcement for Apple, and the iMac is due for a 2024 refresh now that the Apple M4 chip is already out in the wild. And while this seems likely to happen balancing up all the speculation out there, there’s always a possibility that we won’t see an M4 iMac refresh until 2025.
Time will tell, but for now, you can keep yourself busy by reading up on all the latest rumors and leaks around the next-gen iMac with M4 SoC.
Apple iMac M4: Cut to the chase
- What is it? Apple’s rumored iMac refresh
- How much does it cost? Unknown at this time as it hasn’t been officially announced
- When can I get it? Depending on when it’s announced, it could be late 2024, or sometime in 2025
Apple iMac M4: Latest news
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Apple iMac: Release date
There’s no official release date for an iMac M4 refresh as of now. However, as mentioned, Apple is apparently planning a week of Mac-related revelations from October 28 onwards, so we’re pretty hopeful we will see the next-gen iMac.
However, if the M4 iMac announcement is a no-show, there’s still a possibility of a release sometime in 2025, since Apple is notorious for surprise announcements and stealth drops of major products.
All recent rumors point towards a 2024 launch, though, and also adding to the anticipation is that the M3 chip debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac during Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ event at the end of October 2023. So history could easily repeat itself in 2024, and we should note that stock of the current iMac models is apparently running low – a possible sign that new models are in the wings.
Apple iMac: Specs
There have been no rumors concerning the possible iMac’s specs, except for the fact that it would be outfitted with at least an M4 chip if it is released either in 2024 or 2025.
But going by the previous Apple iMac 24-inch (M3) unit, those specs will likely include at least 8GB of unified memory, at least 256GB SSD storage, a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 38 TOPS NPU. Considering that one of the major complaints about Apple’s mainstream MacBooks, Macs, and iMacs’ are their relatively low starting specs, there’s some concern that this will likely be the iMac refresh’s starting range as well.
The wildcard here is Apple Intelligence, the company’s new AI ecosystem of apps and features. These require a decent amount of dedicated memory, and 8GB of unified memory simply isn’t going to cut it, so it’s possible that the M4 iMac’s memory and storage get a bump up to at least 16GB and 512GB, respectively.
For years there were also rumors of a larger-sized screen for the iMac, and Mark Gurman recently affirmed them. In his newsletter, he stated: “A larger iMac remains something Apple is exploring as well, but it’s unclear if that will be an M4 product or something that comes the following year or later.”
That means that the 2024 iMac refresh will likely retain the same 24-inch display as last year’s M3 iMac.
Apple iMac: What to expect
With all signs pointing to a launch in the final week of October, there’s an excellent chance that we could see a refresh of the M4 iMac very soon, powered by a more sophisticated chip and with upgraded specs on the entry-level configuration.
The problem is that Apple is also very inconsistent when it comes to new product announcements, so we could go through the entire week of Mac revelations with no mention of a new iMac, just to be hit with a stealth reveal sometime in 2025. At least we won’t have to wait long to find out if an October 2024 launch is really happening.