Apple announces 24-inch iMac with new design, M1 chip and more

Apple has announced a major update to the iMac, with a new 24-inch model that comes with thinner bezels, an M1 chip and new finishes. It will be available to order from April 30, starting at $1299.

The new iMac has a 24-inch 4.5K display, with thinner bezels and 11.3 million pixels, 500 nits of brightness, TrueTone, a new antireflective coating and P3 wide color support. A 50 percent more compact body, that’s only 11.5mm thin, also comes in seven colors, including blue, yellow, green, orange, pink, purple and silver.

Apple says the new iMac has up to 85 percent faster CPU performance than the previous 21.5-inch model, due to the move to its own M1 chip, which is also available in the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac mini, introduced last year. It’s got up to 2x faster GPU performance in apps like Affinity Photo and Photoshop, which are optimised for Apple Silicon.

It features a 1080p webcam with improved image quality, greater dynamic range, enhanced auto exposure and better white balance. A new, three studio microphone array are positioned to reduce audible feedback and is the “best ever in a Mac”, while the sound system, which uses two pairs of force-cancelling woofers, produces strong bass and clear mids and highs.

The base, 7-core model, with 256GB storage, has two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, which support DisplayPort, USB 3, HDMI and other formats. The 8-core version also includes two USB 3 ports.

Both models ship with a redesigned, magnetic power adapter, that is longer and implements Gigabit Ethernet. The new iMac also has Wi-Fi 6, support for external displays at up to 6K resolution and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the side. Up to 2TB storage can also be configured at purchase.

The 7-core iMac will start at $1,299 and is available in blue, silver, green and pink. The 8-core iMac, with additional yellow, orange and purple finishes, starts at $1499. Pre-order both from Friday, April 30.

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Ben Ward

Senior Editor, discussing everything Apple and supporting other writers and members of Apple TLD's team of volunteers.

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