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 iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021) in orange | |
| Developer | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Type | All-in-one |
| Release date | May 21, 2021 (M1) [1] November 7, 2023 (M3) |
| Operating system | macOS |
| System on a chip | Apple M-series |
| Predecessor | iMac (Intel-based) |
| Related | Mac Mini, Mac Pro |
| Website | apple |
The Apple silicon iMac is a line of all-in-one desktop Macs made by Apple Inc. The first Apple silicon iMac, with a 24-inch screen and an Apple M1 chip, was released on May 21, 2021, replacing the 21-inch and 27-inch Intel iMacs.
On June 22, 2020, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the Mac would shift from Intel processors to Apple's own in-house designed processors that use the ARM64 architecture, branded as Apple silicon. On April 20, 2021, Apple announced a 24-inch iMac based on the Apple M1 system on a chip. [2]
The iMac with M1 features a 4480-by-2520 (4.5K) built-in display, 1080p FaceTime camera with an improved image signal processor and three-microphone array, and a six-driver stereo speaker system with a pair of force-canceling woofers and a tweeter per side, that supports Dolby Atmos and spatial audio. It also adds support for Wi-Fi 6, USB4/Thunderbolt 3, and 6K output to run the Pro Display XDR. External display support is reduced to one display over USB-C/Thunderbolt; the previous 21.5-inch Intel-based model could drive two 4K displays over USB-C/Thunderbolt. [3] The models also include a magnetic power plug and external power supply that can be configured with a Gigabit Ethernet port. [4] On previous iMac models, the power brick was internal to the iMac. The M1 iMac's power cable is braided, and color-matched with the iMac. [5]
The iMac with M1 ships with a Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2 with a color-matching aluminum underside. It can be configured with one of three updated Magic Keyboards with rounded corners: a standard version, a version with a Touch ID sensor, and an extended layout version with a numeric keypad and Touch ID. The Magic Keyboards with Touch ID are compatible with other Mac computers with Apple silicon but only ship with the iMac. [6]
On October 30, 2023, Apple announced updated iMac models with the Apple M3 chip, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. [7]
The iMac with M1 is the first iMac with a major redesign since 2012, with slimmer bezels, a flat back and seven color options, including silver and the same six colors used in Apple's first official logo. [8] It is the first iMac available in multiple colors since the iMac G3. [9] Jony Ive contributed to its design. [10]
Katie Collins from CNET said the design was a statement piece that served as a "symbol of hope" while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic; and also considered this to be part of an anti-minimalism trend, an end to "austerity" in product design. [8] Technology blogger John Gruber called it elegant and cheerful, and complimented its display, speaker quality, performance, and the addition of Touch ID to the keyboard. [11] Monica Chin from The Verge called the M1 iMac "simple, attractive, and very functional", concluding that it has "arguably the most widespread consumer appeal of any iMac"; she also found that the machine achieved higher single-core Geekbench performance scores "than any Mac we've ever seen before — even the iMac Pro". [12]
The M1 iMac has a repairability score of 2 out of 10. [13]
| Discontinued | Current |
| Model | 24-inch, M1, 2021 | 24-inch, 2023 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timetable | Announced | April 20, 2021 | October 30, 2023 | ||||||||
| Released | May 21, 2021 | November 7, 2023 | |||||||||
| Discontinued | October 30, 2023 | In production | |||||||||
| Unsupported | Supported | ||||||||||
| Model | Model identifier | iMac21,2 [14] | iMac21,1 | Mac15,4 | Mac15,5 | ||||||
| Model number | A2439 [15] | A2438 [16] | A2874 | A2873 | |||||||
| EMC no. | 3664 [15] | 3663 [17] | 8207 | 8206 | |||||||
| Part number | MGTF3 (Silver), MJV83 (Green), MJV93 (Blue), MJVA3 (Pink) | MGPC3 (Silver), MGPM3 (Green), MGPK3 (Blue), MGPH3 (Pink) | MGPD3 (Silver), MGPJ3 (Green), MGPL3 (Blue), MGPN3 (Pink) | MGPF3 (Yellow), MGPR3 (Orange), MGPP3 (Purple) | MGPG3, MGPQ3, MGPT3 (Yellow, Orange, or Purple build-to-order) [14] | MQR93 (Silver), MQRA3 (Green), MQRC3 (Blue), MQRD3 (Pink) | MQRJ3 (Silver), MQRN3 (Green), MQRQ3 (Blue), MQRT3 (Pink) | MQRK3 (Silver), MQRP3 (Green), MQRR3 (Blue), MQRU3 (Pink) | MQRL3 (Yellow), MQRX3 (Orange), MQRV3 (Purple) | MQRM3, MQRW3, MQRY3 (Yellow, Orange, or Purple build-to-order) | |
| Colors | |||||||||||
| Display | Size | 23.5 in (600 mm) | |||||||||
| Dimensions and details | 4480×2520 500 nits brightness Wide color (P3) True Tone technology | ||||||||||
| Performance | System on a chip | Apple M1 | Apple M3 | ||||||||
| Processor | 5 nm, 3.2 GHz 8-core ARMv8-A 4x "Firestorm" performance cores + 4x "Icestorm" efficiency cores (big.LITTLE) | 3 nm, 4.0 GHz 8-core ARMv8-A 4x performance cores + 4x efficiency cores (big.LITTLE) | |||||||||
| Memory | 8 GB unified in-package LPDDR4X-4266 memory Optional: 16 GB at time of purchase only | 8 GB unified in-package LPDDR5-6400 memory Optional: 16 GB or 24 GB at time of purchase only | |||||||||
| Graphics | 7-core GPU | 8-core GPU | 8-core GPU | 10-core GPU | |||||||
| Storage (SSD) | Standard | 256 GB | 512 GB | 256 GB | 512 GB | 256 GB | 512 GB | 256 GB | 512 GB | ||
| Optional | 512 GB or 1 TB at time of purchase only | 1 TB or 2 TB at time of purchase only | 512 GB or 1 TB at time of purchase only | 1 TB or 2 TB at time of purchase only | |||||||
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | |||||||||
| Bluetooth 5 | Bluetooth 5.3 | ||||||||||
| Gigabit Ethernet (integrated into external power supply, build-to-order) | Gigabit Ethernet (integrated into external power supply, standard) | Gigabit Ethernet (integrated into external power supply, build-to-order) | Gigabit Ethernet (integrated into external power supply, standard) | ||||||||
| Camera | 1080p FaceTime HD camera | ||||||||||
| Video out | Supports one display up to 6K resolution at 60 Hz | ||||||||||
| Audio | Six speakers and two force-cancelling woofers audio system with Dolby Atmos compatibility. 3.5mm headphone jack | ||||||||||
| Peripherals | 2× Thunderbolt 3/USB-C 4.0 ports up to 40 Gb/s (no support for eGPU) | 2× Thunderbolt 3/USB-C 4.0 ports up to 40 Gb/s (no support for eGPU) Additional 2× USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 ports up to 10 Gb/s | 2× Thunderbolt 3/USB-C 4.0 ports up to 40 Gb/s (no support for eGPU) | 2× Thunderbolt 3/USB-C 4.0 ports up to 40 Gb/s (no support for eGPU) Additional 2× USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 ports up to 10 Gb/s | |||||||
| Operating system | Initial Release | macOS 11 Big Sur | macOS 13.5 Ventura | ||||||||
| Latest Release | macOS 14 Sonoma | ||||||||||
| Timeline of iMac and eMac models (sorted by screen sizes) |
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