If you still enjoy using a desktop computer with monitor, keyboard and mouse rather than a laptop then you could well be interested in buying Apple’s latest iMac. The tech giant has just announced an update to its iconic computer, giving it more power, updated cameras, better connectivity and new screen options – and it costs £100 less than the old version.
The iMac was redesigned back in 2021 when Apple gave its desk machine the powerful M1 chip. Now, the iMac has been upgraded and has Apple’s M4 chip inside, the same zippy silicon that debuted in the latest iPad Pro earlier this year.
Though that new iPad coincided with a hardware redesign, the iMac looks almost identical to the one that came out three years ago but that’s no bad thing. The 24-inch 4.5K Retina monitor is still incredibly sleek with an excellent build that, importantly, holds the guts of the entire computer as well as the display, so you don’t need a tower unit like you might for a Windows desktop PC.
Apple says the M4 iMac is up to 1.7x faster than the original M1 iMac. That model was replaced by an M3 version that is not even one year old but has now been replaced by the new model, which is ready to use Apple Intelligence, Apple’s first foray into AI.
Features will include system-wide rewriting, proofreading and summarising of things such as word documents and emails, as well as what Apple claims is a “new redesigned Siri”. But a select number of early Apple Intelligence features are currently only available if you’re running macOS Sequoia 15.1 and have your iMac set to US English language. Apple is rolling out Apple Intelligence very slowly to compatible iPhones, iPads and Macs despite drip feeding information to the public, press and developers since its WWDC event in June.
“New Apple Intelligence features will be available in December, with additional capabilities rolling out in the coming months,” the firm said today.
The iMac is available in seven bold colours, which Apple says are new shades, but they look very similar to the old model’s selections. You can get it in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver. We’d pick that orange every time.
Other upgrades include a 12MP FaceTime camera with Centre Stage, Apple’s tech that keeps you nicely positioned in frame even as you move around. We’ve used it on other Apple gadgets and it proves an excellent upgrade you didn’t know you needed. You can also opt for an optional nano-texture coating for the iMac’s display that we first saw as an option for the iPad Pro. Apple says this coating “drastically reduces reflections and glare, while maintaining outstanding image quality”, so is a good option if your iMac is going to be positioned where you might get a lot of sun.
You’ll pay at least £1,299 for the M4 iMac with an 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16GB RAM and 256GB storage. This is £100 less than the M3 version started at, but offers double the amount of RAM.
That said, the £1,299 M4 version only has two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports as opposed to the four Thunderbolt 4 ports on the pricier models. Apple also stingily does not ship the cheapest iMac with the Magic Keyboard with a Touch ID button integrated into it (pictured above) – you only get a regular Magic Keyboard, which is at least colour matched to your iMac’s colour along with the Magic Mouse 2.
We reckon these perks, as well as gigabit Ethernet, should be standard across the line up rather than reserved for the £1,499 and £1,699 models, but Apple needs a reason to upsell you. If you get the cheapest iMac, Apple lets you pay £30 and £80 at point of sale for gigabit Ethernet and the Touch ID keyboard respectively, but you can only get the fancy nano-textured glass (£200 extra) on the other two versions.
If you don’t care about those upgrades though, the base M4 iMac will be more than enough computer for you. It’s available to pre-order now and goes on full sale on 8 November.
