MacRumors: ‘M1 vs. M3 vs. M4 iMac Buyer’s Guide’

Hartley Charlton, MacRumors:

The 2021 and 2023 iMacs have now been discontinued by Apple and prices at third-party resellers are falling. As such, some customers may be weighing up whether to pick up a 2021 or 2023 iMac instead of the latest model, while some existing iMac users may be wondering if it’s now time to upgrade to the M4 model.

The three Apple silicon iMac models share the overwhelming majority of their features, so should you consider buying or sticking with the first- or second-generation models to save money? This breakdown also serves as a way to see all the differences that the 2024 iMac brings to the table.

Super-useful comparison table of what changed between the M1, M3, and now M4 revisions.

Apple’s own ever-handy “Compare” tool on the iMac website is useful too. Here’s a comparison between the new M4 2-port and 4-port models, alongside last year’s 4-port M3 model. One difference: the entry-priced $1,300 2-port model, which has an 8-core CPU (rather than 10-core), ships with a Magic Keyboard that doesn’t have a Touch ID button; all of the 4-port/10-core configurations ship with a Touch-ID–equipped keyboard. Apple charges $150 for the Magic Keyboard With Touch ID and $100 for the one with a “lock button” instead; the bigger one with a numeric keypad is $180. Also, the new USB-C keyboards, mice, and trackpads are only available in white or black — the only way to get the color-matching models is to buy an iMac.

★ Tuesday, 29 October 2024