Apple’s M6 chip has arrived, and its first two homes are the iMac and the entry 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple announced both machines on Tuesday, a day before its “Pro and Tell” event on Wednesday, according to TechCrunch. The good news for buyers, as TechRadar points out, is that starting prices are the same as the previous generation.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pro uses a 12-core CPU that Apple says includes the world’s fastest CPU core, and a 12-core GPU. Apple claims up to 30% faster graphics and up to 25% faster AI workloads compared with M5. If you’re still on an M1 machine, it quotes up to 11x faster graphics and up to 13x faster AI performance.
Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours, and Apple says performance is the same plugged in or on battery. Connectivity moves up to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The Liquid Retina XDR display with an optional nano-texture finish, a 12MP Center Stage camera and a six-speaker sound system carry over. It comes in space black and silver and starts at $1,999.
The iMac
The 24-inch iMac keeps its thin all-in-one design and seven colours: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver. Apple says it delivers up to 5x faster on-device AI performance than the M4 model, and up to 18x faster performance than the most popular Intel-based iMac, which is clearly aimed at people still holding on to older machines.
It also gets Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, optional 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, storage that Apple says is up to 2x faster, a 4.5K Retina display and up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports. The 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU model starts at $1,499, and the 12-core version at $1,699.
Built for local AI
Both machines pair Neural Accelerators in the GPU with what Apple calls a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple is pitching them for Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features, running local AI models and “vibe coding”, while keeping data private on the device.
Pre-orders open on October 28 in 35 countries and regions, including the US, with deliveries and in-store availability from Friday, November 6. Indian pricing wasn’t part of the announcements.
Why it matters
For small businesses and creative teams due for a hardware refresh, flat pricing plus a big jump over Intel and M1 machines makes this an easy upgrade to justify. The stronger push on on-device AI also matters: running AI tools locally can keep client data off third-party servers. If your office still runs older Intel iMacs, this is the generation Apple is clearly targeting.
Sources: Apple Newsroom (iMac), Apple Newsroom (MacBook Pro), TechCrunch, TechRadar. Written by the xRapid Media LLP team.