M4 vs. M6 iMac Buyer's Guide: Should You Upgrade?

‌iMac‌ (M4, 2024) ‌iMac‌ (M6, 2026) M4 chip made using TSMC's second-generation 3nm process (N3E) M6 chip made using TSMC's first-generation 2nm process (N2) FinFET transistors Gate-all-around nanosheet transistors Two-port model: 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores Four-port model: 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores Two-port model: 10-core CPU with 2 super cores, 3 performance cores, and 5 efficiency cores Four-port model: 12-core CPU with 2 super cores, 4 performance cores, and 6 efficiency cores Two CPU core types: performance and efficiency Three CPU core types: super, performance, and efficiency Two-port model: 8-core GPU Four-port model: 10-core GPU Two-port model: 10-core GPU Four-port model: 12-core GPU Integrated Neural Accelerator in every GPU core GPU shader cores without dedicated Neural Accelerators GPU shader cores with a dedicated Neural Accelerator in every core First-generation Dynamic Caching Updated Dynamic Caching Second-generation hardware-accelerated ray tracing Hardware-accelerated ray tracing with up to 2x higher gaming performance compared with M4, according to Apple One 16-core Neural Engine Two 16-core Neural Engines, totaling 32 cores, which system frameworks can use simultaneously 120GB/s unified memory bandwidth Up to 170GB/s unified memory bandwidth SSD storage SSD storage with PCIe 5.0 support and up to 2x faster read and write performance Broadcom wireless networking chip Apple N1 wireless networking chip Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) Bluetooth 5.3 Bluetooth 6 Thread networking technology Two-port model: Optional Gigabit Ethernet Four-port model: Gigabit Ethernet as standard Two-port model: Optional 2.5Gb Ethernet Four-port model: 2.5Gb Ethernet as standard Two-port model: One external display up to 6K at 60Hz Two-port model: One external display up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 165Hz Four-port model: Two external displays up to 6K at 60Hz, or one external display up to 8K at 60Hz Four-port model: Two external displays up to 6K at 60Hz or 4K at 165Hz, or one external display up to 8K at 60Hz, 5K at 120Hz, or 4K at 240Hz Four-port model: Support for two external displays over a single Thunderbolt port 100% recycled gold plating and tin solder in multiple printed circuit boards 100% recycled gold plating and tin solder in all Apple-designed printed circuit boards Over 20% of manufacturing electricity sourced from low-carbon electricity 40% of manufacturing electricity sourced from renewable electricity Up to 1.5x faster performance in Microsoft Excel.

Up to 2x faster graphics performance for photo editing in Affinity. Up to 5x faster prompt processing in LM Studio. Up to 2x higher gaming performance with ray tracing.

Is It Worth Upgrading From the M4 to M6 iMac? Should You Buy the M4 or M6 iMac?