Apple Unveils New M4-Powered iMacs with Front Camera Improvements and More RAM

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Apple kicked off its week of Mac announcements today by unveiling its first desktop Mac powered by its new M4 chip: the 24-inch iMac.
While this is likely only the first of many M4-powered Macs to arrive this week, the 24-inch iMac does come with a few interesting twists over its predecessor. Apple first debuted a new and redesigned silicon-powered iMac in early 2021, featuring its then-new M1 chip and an ultra-slim and colorful design.
While the iMac never saw the M2 chip, Apple followed that original 2021 model up last year with a new M3 version, shown off during its October Scary Fast event. That version was a modest upgrade from its 2.5-year-old predecessor; in fact, the chip was the only thing that changed between the two versions.
Fortunately, Apple isn’t skipping the M4 chip for the iMac this year. Plus, it’s offering some minor yet useful enhancements in the 2024 model, such as a nano-texture display option, a substantially higher-resolution front camera with Center Stage, increased base RAM, and Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.
iMac is beloved by millions of users, from families at home to entrepreneurs hard at work. With the incredible features of Apple Intelligence and the powerful performance of Apple silicon, the new iMac changes the game once again. With M4 and Apple Intelligence, gorgeous new colors that pop in any space, an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, and a new nano-texture glass display option, it’s a whole new era for iMac.John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering
What’s New in the M4 iMac?

Naturally, Apple is touting this year’s iMac as “built for Apple Intelligence,” although its two predecessors should be just as capable of running the new AI features in macOS Sequoia 15.1 (which is also coming out this week) and those slated for the rest of the Sequoia release cycle. The M4 chip will undoubtedly make the new iMac a bit faster at processing AI tasks, but Apple Intelligence is fully supported on all M-series chips.
More significantly, this year’s iMac boasts a 12-megapixel (MP) Center Stage camera, a healthy improvement over the 1080p FaceTime HD camera found in previous models. While it still records video in 1080p HD, the new Desk View feature will be particularly useful for individuals who engage in frequent video conferencing.
While the new iMac comes in the same two-port and four-port versions as before, there’s no longer an 8 GB configuration available in either; the base RAM on both has been stepped up to 16 GB. Although the maximum memory remains at 24 GB on the two-port model, the four-port version can now be configured with up to 32 GB RAM, as long as you’re willing to opt for at least 512 GB of storage. Likewise, the same 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB SSD storage configurations are available in both versions, while the four-port model can be configured with a 2 TB SSD.
Even though they appear to use the same M4 chips, the two-port and four-port models also differ in the number of CPU and GPU cores. The lower-end version has eight of each, while the four-port iMac boasts a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.
The two-port model also only includes the Magic Keyboard with Lock Key; the more expensive Touch ID-enabled version is only included by default with the more expensive four-port iMac, although it will work fine with the entry-level iMac if you’re willing to pay extra for it.
On the upside, Apple is skimping on colors this year. Both M4 iMacs are available in the same blue, green, purple, pink, orange, yellow, and silver finishes, which, despite sharing the same names, get fresher and bolder shades that set them apart from the earlier models.
Other than offering a new nano-texture glass option, which is a $200 upgrade that’s only available on the higher four-port model, the screen is the same 24-inch 4.5K Retina display as before, with a 4480 x 2520-pixel resolution and 500 nits of brightness. There aren’t any audio upgrades here either (not that any are needed) — it’s still a six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers, expansive stereo sound, and Spatial Audio support, plus a studio-quality three-mic beamforming array. The dimensions are also unchanged.
However, the ports have been upgraded across the board. Last year’s models only had two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, with the four-port model adding a pair of USB 3 ports to those; this year’s iMacs both feature Thunderbolt 4 ports across the board. As before, only the four-port model has a wired Gigabit Ethernet port included; it’s a $30 upgrade if you want to add it to the two-port model.
The new M4 iMac is available for preorder starting today from Apple and is expected to arrive in stores and customers’ hands next Friday, November 8. The base two-port model starts at $1,299 with 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD, while the four-port model with the Touch ID keyboard and more powerful M4 chip starts at $1,499 for the same memory and storage configurations. A maxed-out four-port M4 iMac with nano-texture glass, 32 GB of unified memory, and a 2 TB SSD will set you back $2,899, assuming you don’t also want to upgrade to a Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard with a Numeric Keypad.