M6 iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro land a day before the touchscreen Macs

Apple has announced two new computers, the 24-inch iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro, both built around the M6 chip. Prices start from $1499 and $1999. And still we wait for tomorrow and the official announcement of the touchscreen MacBooks.

24-inch M6 iMac

We’ll start with the new 24-inch iMac with M6. It comes with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, or up to a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, each two more cores than before. The GPU has Neural Accelerators in each core, and there is a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Memory bandwidth is up to 170 GB/s.

Apple loves its benchmarks and says that the GPU delivers up to 2x faster graphics than M4, the Neural Engine up to 2x faster AI compute than the previous generation, on-device AI up to 5x faster than M4, and SSD read and write up to 2x faster.

For Intel-based upgraders (if there are any left out there), Apple quotes up to 18x faster performance than the most popular Intel-based iMac.

The 4.5K Retina display has an actual diagonal of 23.5 inches, 500 nits of brightness, and P3 wide color covering over 1 billion colors. Apple says it has 5x more resolution and nearly 70% greater brightness than the bestselling 24-inch all-in-one PC, but that’s enough of a limited category it doesn’t feel like a particularly valid comparison. A nano-texture option is available on the more expensive 12-core models.

Connectivity is WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6, with optional 2.5 Gb Ethernet (up to 2.5x faster wired than the previous generation) and up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports on 12-core models. It supports up to two 6K external displays. There is a 12 MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, two pairs of force-cancelling woofers with two tweeters, Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos support, and a three-microphone array.

The iMac comes in seven colors: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and silver. It includes a color-matched keyboard and mouse or trackpad with USB-C ports. Touch ID is standard on 12-core models, while 10-core models can be configured with Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad.

Pricing and availability

Pre-orders open October 28 in 35 countries and regions, with availability from Friday, November 6. The 10-core model starts at $1499. The 12-core model starts at $1699. Apple Upgrade leasing starts at $28.99 per month for 36 months, excluding taxes and trade-in credit.

14-inch MacBook Pro with M6

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 also raises the bar over its predecessors to an impressive degree. The chip has a 12-core CPU, a 12-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core, and a Dual 16-core Neural Engine; the CPU and GPU each have two more cores than before. Memory is 16 GB unified as standard, configurable up to 32 GB, with bandwidth up to 170 GB/s. Apple says the GPU is up to 30% faster for graphics and up to 25% faster for AI workloads than M5, and that the Neural Engine is up to 1.9x faster than M5.

One more benchmark comparison is well worth noting: battery life is up to 24 hours, which is up to 14 hours more for Intel-based upgraders and up to four hours more for M1 users. It’s also the same as with the M5 model.

The Liquid Retina XDR display reaches up to 1600 nits peak HDR brightness with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and a nano-texture option is available. Connectivity includes WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, support for up to two external displays, HDMI, MagSafe 3, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SDXC card slot, and a headphone jack.

There is also a 12 MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, a three-mic array, and a six-speaker system with Spatial Audio.

Fast charging reaches up to 50% in 30 minutes with a compatible higher-wattage USB-C adapter such as the 96 W Power Adapter.

Pricing and availability

It comes in space black and silver. Pre-orders open October 28 in 35 countries and regions, with availability from Friday, November 6. Pricing starts at $1999. Apple Upgrade leasing starts at $38.99 per month for 36 months, excluding taxes and trade-in credit.