Apple has announced refreshes for the iMac and the entry-level, 14-inch MacBook Pro. Both machines are getting the M6 chip, which was introduced in the Mac mini several weeks ago.
iMac
The M6 comes in two variants for the iMac. Choosing the “M6 chip with two Thunderbolt ports” option gets you a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, whereas the “M6 chip with four Thunderbolt ports” option delivers 12 cores for each. The two-port variant maxes out at 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, while the four-port model tops out at 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.
MacBook Pro
There is only one M6 chip option for the MacBook Pro — the configuration with a 12-core CPU and GPU. It caps out at 32GB of RAM but supports up to 4TB of storage.
Performance
This is a more substantial refresh for the iMac, as its previous update introduced the M4 — Apple skipped the M5 entirely and moved straight to the M6. In terms of performance gains moving from M4 to M6, Apple has stated that users can expect up to 40 percent faster CPU performance, up to double the graphics performance, and nearly five times faster on-device AI. Those figures largely align with what Ars Technica observed when testing the M6 Mac mini last month, and owners of the new iMac and MacBook Pro should expect similar results.
