It’s nearly time for Apple’s 2024 Mac event, and the iMac M4 could be among the tech giant’s major product reveals at the highly-anticipated (though unconfirmed) showcase later this month.
Revealing a new iMac outfitted with the latest M-series silicon would be an incredible announcement for Apple, and the iMac is due for a 2024 refresh now that the Apple M4 chip is already out in the wild. It’s hard to say if we’ll see anything at the Apple event (or even if we’ll get one in October), as the tech giant is well known for its unique style of launches.
So, there’s always a possibility that we won’t see an M4 iMac refresh until 2025, but the rumor mill will keep churning out reports and leaks, so it’s best to sit tight and see whether Apple will cook up its own surprise in 2024 or if said rumors need to keep us fed until next year.
What is it? Apple’s rumored iMac refreshHow much does it cost? Unknown at this time as it hasn’t been officially announcedWhen can I get it? Depending on when it’s announced, it could be as early as late 2024, or sometime in 2025
M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac are reportedly on track for 2024 launchWaiting for an iMac with a bigger screen? It’s en route according to rumorsThe dream is over: Apple will not release a 27-inch iMac
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There’s no official release date for a new iMac M4 refresh as of now. However, if one is announced during the rumored Apple event later in October, we could see a launch as early as late 2024.
And if the M4 iMac announcement is a no-show, there’s still a strong possibility of a release sometime in 2025, since Apple is notorious for surprise announcements and stealth drops of major products.
There was a recent rumor from Bloomberg’s Mark Guman that seemingly confirmed this 2024-2025 release for an iMac refresh, so it’s definitely possible. Also adding to the anticipation is that the M3 chip debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac during Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ event at the end of October 2023, so history could easily repeat itself in 2024.
There have been no rumors concerning the possible iMac’s specs, except for the fact that it would be outfitted with at least an M4 chip if it is released either in 2024 or 2025.
But going by the previous Apple iMac 24-inch (M3) unit, those specs will likely include at least 8GB of unified memory, at least 256GB SSD storage, a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, and a 38 TOPS NPU. Considering that one of the major complaints about Apple’s mainstream MacBooks, Macs, and iMacs’ are their relatively low starting specs, there’s some concern that this will likely be the iMac refresh’s starting range as well.
The wildcard here is Apple Intelligence, the company’s new AI ecosystem of apps and features. These require a decent amount of dedicated memory, and 8GB of unified memory simply isn’t going to cut it, so it’s possible that the M4 iMac’s memory and storage get a bump up to at least 16GB and 512GB, respectively.
For years there were also rumors of a larger-sized screen for the iMac, and Mark Gurman recently affirmed them. In his newsletter, he stated: “A larger iMac remains something Apple is exploring as well, but it’s unclear if that will be an M4 product or something that comes the following year or later.”
That means that the 2024 iMac refresh will likely retain the same 24-inch display as last year’s M3 iMac.
With all signs pointing to an October 2024 Apple event, there’s an excellent chance that we could see a refresh of the M4 iMac very soon, powered by a more sophisticated chip and with upgraded specs on the entry-level configuration.
The problem is that Apple is also very inconsistent when it comes to new product announcements, so we could also go through the entire event with no mention of a new iMac just to be hit with a stealth reveal sometime in 2025. We’ll have to see what Apple does in the weeks ahead.