Apple Unveils M6 iMac: Smarter Silicon, Faster I/O, and Modern Connectivity

Apple has officially pulled the curtain back on the refreshed 24-inch iMac, dropping in its next-generation M6 silicon alongside updated connectivity and on-device AI muscle.

Having covered every iteration of the iMac since Apple gave the lineup its bold, ultra-thin M-series redesign, it's always interesting to see where this hardware heads next.

Unboxing the M1 iMac (also my first ever YouTube video).

While the sleek silhouette and seven vibrant colours remain a core part of thr iMac experience, the all-in-one continues to hold down its reputation as one of the most versatile, reliable computers you can park in a busy family kitchen, a creative studio desk, or a front-office workstation.

What's New Under the Hood: M6 Silicon

Apple naturally loves to roll out comparisons to ancient hardware, but looking strictly at modern Apple silicon, the jump from M4 to M6 brings noticeable architectural gains.

The baseline model now starts with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, while the higher-tier configuration scales up to a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, delivering two additional cores across both processing units.

According to Apple, this translates to up to 1.5x faster daily productivity performance and up to 2x faster graphics rendering for editing workflows in apps like Affinity, alongside a doubling of ray-tracing gaming performance over M4. Memory bandwidth also climbs up to 170GB/s.

Apple Imac With M6 Color Matched Accessories — You can only get these cool colours of mouse and keyboard when hou order a new iMac you cant buy them for standard hardware.

Where the M6 really stands out from the M4 version is local compute. The chip introduces Neural Accelerators directly inside each GPU core, paired with a Dual 16-core Neural Engine.

For anyone experimenting with local LLMs via tools like LM Studio, Apple claims up to a 5x leap in on-device AI processing compared to the M4 generation, keeping heavy queries processing locally on the hardware rather than in the cloud.

Even if you dont think you're an "AI" person, chances are more and more everyday apps will lean into on device AI capabilities to stay speedy so this is a nice featuree for future proofing.

Faster I/O and Wireless Plumbing

Beyond raw silicon compute, Apple addressed some key data bottlenecks:

Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6: Wireless standards get an upgrade to the latest protocols for lower latency and better local network throughput.
2.5Gb Ethernet: Available on the 12-core models, the wired port jumps from standard gigabit to 2.5 Gigabit speeds.
Speedier Storage: Internal SSD read and write speeds are rated up to 2x faster, cutting down project loading times.
Display Expansion: The machine retains up to four rear Thunderbolt 4 ports on higher configurations, now capable of driving up to two external 6K displays alongside the built-in 4.5K Retina panel.

The hardware package still includes the 12MP Center Stage webcam with Desk View support, studio-grade triple mics, force-cancelling six-speaker audio, and colour-matched USB-C Magic peripherals.

Apple Imac With M6 Center Stage Desk View — The built in camera allows for a unique demonstration like view which has been the case for recent iMacs with the center stage camera.

Canadian Pricing and Availability

The new iMac runs macOS 27 out of the box, featuring deeper Siri AI integrations and interface adjustments to Liquid Glass window rendering.

Pre-orders open on October 28, through Apple's online storefront, with units hitting retail shelves on Friday, November 6. In Canada, the base 10-core CPU / 10-core GPU configuration starts at $2,099 CAD ($2,029 CAD for education), while the 12-core CPU / 12-core GPU variant starts at $2,299 CAD ($2,159 CAD for education).