Should You Upgrade to the M6 iMac? Who Should Buy, Who Should Wait

The family iMac in the kitchen still turns on every morning. It just takes its time opening anything, the fan kicks in during video calls, and Apple put a new one on sale this week. So, is it time?

That depends on which iMac is sitting on your desk. Apple's new 24-inch iMac with the M6 chip starts at $1,499 (price as of Oct 28, 2026; official source (opens in a new tab)), the same price as the M4 model it replaces, and it looks the same, down to the seven colors. Pre-orders open today, Wednesday, October 28, at 1:10 p.m. ET, and the first ones arrive Friday, November 6. Our M6 iMac and MacBook Pro news story has every price and date.

The M6 iMac keeps the thin design and color-matched keyboard and mouse. Image: Apple

What this means for you

• On an Intel iMac or an M1 iMac: buy. This is the upgrade Apple built the new model for, and the gap is huge.
• On an M3: worth a look if it feels slow for what you do. Otherwise there's no rush.
• On last year's M4: skip it. Same screen, same body, and the gains won't show up in email and web browsing.
• Not sure what you have? Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose About This Mac. The chip, or "Intel" for older models, is listed there.
• Thinking of ordering today? Watch Apple's 1 p.m. ET "Pro and tell" launch first. Pre-orders open ten minutes later, so waiting costs you nothing. Our live coverage is updating through the day.

Spreadsheets and everyday apps on the 24-inch screen. Apple rates Excel at up to 2.5 times faster than on an M1 iMac. Image: Apple

What actually changed

The outside is the same. It's the same 24-inch 4.5K Retina screen at 500 nits of brightness, the same 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, and the same blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver.

The chip is where the money goes. The M6 brings up to 12 processor cores and up to 12 graphics cores, two more of each than before. Storage is up to twice as fast. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 are new, and so is faster 2.5 gigabit wired Ethernet, standard on the 12-core model and an add-on for the 10-core one.

There are two versions. Here's how they compare with the old M1 iMac many families still use. The speed numbers are Apple's own lab results, so think of them as a best case.

If you have an M1 or an Intel iMac

This is you. Apple rates the M6 iMac at up to 2.5 times faster than an M1 iMac in Excel, up to 3.3 times faster for photo editing in Affinity, and up to 12 times faster at running AI models on the machine itself. You also get Wi-Fi 7, faster storage and the same 24-inch screen size as the M1 model.

Intel iMac owners get the biggest jump of anyone. Apple puts it at up to 18 times faster than the most popular Intel iMac. Real life won't hit that number every day, but a computer that old should feel brand new.

Video editing in Final Cut Pro. Coming from an M1 or Intel iMac, Apple's numbers point to much faster editing. Image: Apple

If you have an M3 or M4

Coming from an M4, Apple's numbers are up to 1.5 times faster in everyday apps like Excel and up to twice as fast for graphics and storage. That's a real gain on paper, but on a family computer that mostly runs a browser, email and video calls, you'd struggle to notice it. Our read: keep the M4. M3 owners are in between. If you edit photos or video a lot, the extra cores will save you time, and if you don't, wait another year.

Which model to get

For most homes, the $1,499 10-core model is plenty. It handles homework, photos, bills and video calls without breaking a sweat.

The extra $200 for the 12-core model gets you two more cores of each kind, four Thunderbolt ports instead of two, faster wired internet and a Touch ID keyboard in the box. It's also the only model that offers the glare-cutting nano-texture glass. Pick it if you plug in a lot of drives and accessories, sit near a bright window or want Touch ID without paying for it separately.

One thing worth checking either way is storage. Both start at 256GB, which fills up fast if the whole family keeps photos on one computer. If that's you, budget for 512GB or more when you configure it.

Center Stage keeps you framed on calls, and Desk View shows what's on the desk in front of you. Image: Apple

How to pay less

Students and teachers pay $1,449 for the 10-core model and $1,599 for the 12-core one. You can trade in your current computer at apple.com/shop/trade-in, and the credit comes off the price. In the U.S., Apple also leases the iMac through Apple Upgrade from $28.99 (price as of Oct 28, 2026; official source (opens in a new tab)) a month for 36 months, before tax and any trade-in credit. That's a lease, not a purchase.

If you add memory, storage or the Touch ID keyboard, check the delivery date at the end of checkout. Custom builds can arrive after November 6.

Before you trade in or sell your old iMac, back it up with Time Machine. Then go to System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. That signs you out of iCloud, turns off Find My and wipes the computer for the next owner. It works on Apple silicon Macs and on Intel Macs with Apple's T2 security chip running macOS Monterey or later. Older Intel iMacs need the longer steps on Apple's support page linked below.

References

• Source: Apple Newsroom: Apple unveils new iMac with M6
• Source: Apple: iMac tech specs
• Source: Apple Store: iMac
• Source: Apple: Trade In
• Source: Apple Support: What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac
• Source: Apple Support: Erase your Mac
• Source: Tech Cheat Codes: Apple's M6 iMac and 14-Inch MacBook Pro Keep Their Prices
• Source: Tech Cheat Codes: Should You Upgrade to the M6 MacBook Pro?
• Source: Tech Cheat Codes: Apple Pro and Tell live coverage