Apple’s new 24-inch iMac with M6 starts at $1,499 in the United States, while a faster 12-core configuration starts at $1,699. Both models share the same compact all-in-one idea, but the extra $200 is not automatically worthwhile. The right choice depends on whether your work can use the additional CPU and GPU cores, not on which color looks best.
What changed with the M6 iMac?
Apple announced the M6 iMac on October 27, opened preorders on October 28, and set U.S. availability for Friday, November 6. The design still centers on a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 500 nits of brightness, P3 wide color, a 12MP Center Stage camera, and color-matched accessories.
The important changes are inside. Apple says the M6 brings a faster CPU and GPU, Neural Accelerators in every GPU core, a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, and memory bandwidth of up to 170GB/s. Connectivity also moves forward with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, available 2.5Gb Ethernet, and up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports. Apple also says the new SSD can be up to twice as fast as the previous generation.
Those claims come from Apple’s official M6 iMac announcement. As usual, the quoted performance gains depend on the tested app and configuration, so they should not be treated as universal speed increases.
$1,499 model: the sensible choice for most homes
The entry model combines a 10-core CPU with a 10-core GPU. It is the better value for web work, school assignments, office apps, video calls, photo organization, streaming, and occasional creative projects. Those jobs rarely keep every CPU and GPU core busy long enough to justify paying more.
It also makes sense for families replacing an aging Intel iMac. Apple claims gains of up to 18 times over its comparison Intel model, but the practical upgrade is broader than a benchmark: current macOS support, faster storage, modern wireless networking, quieter operation, and a much better camera are likely to be felt every day.
The limitation is that an iMac is not modular. You cannot later replace its internal processor, memory, or storage as you would in a desktop PC. Before ordering, prioritize enough memory and storage for the years you expect to keep it. Spending the entire budget on two extra CPU and GPU cores while choosing too little storage is usually the wrong trade.
$1,699 model: pay for sustained creative work
The higher configuration uses a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU. That is a 20 percent increase in core count over the base configuration, although real-world performance will not rise by exactly 20 percent in every task.
The extra cores are most useful for repeated video exports, large photo batches, code builds, 3D work, local AI tools, and other workloads that can keep the chip busy. Apple says M6 can deliver up to twice the graphics performance of M4 in selected tests and up to five times the on-device AI performance, but buyers should focus on their actual software rather than the largest marketing number.
If your work already points toward a laptop, compare this desktop with the M6 MacBook Pro and PROLED XDR models. The iMac bundles an excellent display and desktop setup for less money, while the MacBook adds portability and a battery.
What about the display and external monitors?
Both starting configurations use the same 24-inch 4.5K panel, so paying $200 more does not improve brightness, size, or resolution. The screen remains a major reason to buy an iMac, especially for users who do not want to shop separately for a monitor, webcam, speakers, keyboard, and mouse.
Apple says the system can drive up to two external 6K displays and offers up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports. Check the exact port count and external-display support of the configuration shown in your cart, since Apple uses “up to” language for the product family.
Which M6 iMac should you buy?
Choose the $1,499 model for general home use, school, office work, light photo editing, and occasional video projects. Choose the $1,699 model when you regularly export, render, compile, or run local AI workloads and can explain how the extra cores will save time.
Owners of an Intel iMac have the clearest reason to upgrade. M1 owners gain faster connectivity, storage, graphics, and AI hardware, but the improvement may not justify replacing a computer that still handles their work. M4 owners should usually keep what they have unless a specific M6 feature or sustained workload solves a real problem.