iMac M6: Specs, Release Date, What Changed

The iMac M6 was announced on 27 October 2026, with delivery set to begin 6 November 2026, in 10-core and 12-core versions, per Apple.

This page covers only what Apple has published; we re-read the newsroom and specs pages on 8 November 2026 and the wording we cite was unchanged. We have not handled the machine and ran no tests, and the last time we looked for an independent benchmark was 3 November 2026, when we found none. Every performance multiplier below is Apple's own.

What Apple announced

Apple's newsroom post of 27 October 2026 presents the new iMac with the M6 chip, a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, seven colors and macOS 27. Pre-orders opened on 28 October 2026 through apple.com/store and the Apple Store app. Apple's post said units would begin arriving from Friday, 6 November 2026, at customers, Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers; that date has now passed and we have not confirmed deliveries ourselves. Apple says pre-orders covered 35 countries and regions, including the U.S.; the page does not list the others.

Apple sells two M6 configurations. Pricing is on Apple's iMac page; we do not reproduce it here because it changes by region and configuration.

Item	10-core model	12-core model	Source
CPU	10 cores: 2 super, 3 performance, 5 efficiency	12 cores: 2 super, 4 performance, 6 efficiency	Apple specs
GPU	10 cores	12 cores	Apple specs, newsroom
Unified memory	16 GB base; configurable to 24 GB	16 GB base; configurable to 24 GB or 32 GB	Apple specs
SSD	256 GB base; configurable to 512 GB or 1 TB	256 GB base; configurable to 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB	Apple specs
Ports	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4; Ethernet: 2.5Gb configurable per the specs page; newsroom footnote 5 says the option is on the 12-core model only (see below)	Four Thunderbolt 4; 2.5Gb Ethernet	Apple specs
Wireless	Wi-Fi 7, availability varies by country, per Apple; Bluetooth 6	Same	Apple specs
Display option	No nano-texture glass option listed	Nano-texture glass option	Apple specs, newsroom
Weight	9.7 lb (4.42 kg)	9.8 lb (4.44 kg)	Apple specs

Shared by both: a 4480 x 2520 display at 218 ppi with 500 nits brightness (actual diagonal 23.5 in); Wi-Fi 7 (availability varies by country, per Apple) and Bluetooth 6; a 12 MP Center Stage camera with Desk View; a Dual 16-core Neural Engine; memory bandwidth up to 170 GB/s; and a color-matched keyboard and mouse or trackpad with USB-C. Apple lists the colors as blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver. Touch ID: per newsroom footnote 8, the 12-core model comes standard with Touch ID, while the 10-core model can be configured with a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad.

Apple's performance claims, with their bases

Apple's footnotes say testing was conducted in September 2026 (footnote 1) and October 2026 (footnote 4). Footnote 3 states one M4 baseline: previous-generation iMac systems with Apple M4, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 32 GB of unified memory and 2 TB SSD; the newsroom text attaches it to the Excel, graphics, gaming, Neural Engine and SSD claims. The newsroom text attaches footnote 1 to the 5x AI and 18x Intel figures, and that footnote gives only the test month and a pointer to apple.com/imac, not a configuration. The Ethernet claim cites only footnote 5, which is about availability, not a baseline. All are "according to Apple"; none is independently verified.

Up to 5x faster on-device AI than M4, measured as prompt processing in LM Studio (footnote 1; no configuration stated).
Up to 2x faster graphics than M4, in photo editing in Affinity (footnote 3 baseline above).
Up to 1.5x faster than M4 in apps like Microsoft Excel (footnote 3 baseline above).
Dual Neural Engine: up to 2x faster AI compute than the previous generation (footnote 3 baseline above).
SSD: up to 2x faster read and write (footnote 3 baseline above).
2.5Gb Ethernet: up to 2.5x faster wired connectivity than the previous generation.
Up to 18x faster than the most popular Intel-based iMac (footnote 1).
"The world's fastest single-threaded CPU performance", Apple's wording; see footnote 4 on Apple's page.

iMac M6 vs iMac M4: our side-by-side

This table is ours, built only from Apple pages: the M6 figures above and the M4 figures from Apple's support pages for the previous iMac. "P" is performance cores, "E" efficiency cores.

Spec	iMac M4	iMac M6	Source
Top CPU	10 cores (4P + 6E)	12 cores (2 super + 4P + 6E)	M4 specs, M6 specs
Entry two-port CPU / GPU	8 cores / 8 cores	10 cores / 10 cores	M4 two-port specs, M6 specs
Neural Engine	16-core	Dual 16-core	M4 specs, newsroom
Memory bandwidth	120 GB/s	Up to 170 GB/s	M4 specs, newsroom
Wi-Fi / Bluetooth	Wi-Fi 6E / Bluetooth 5.3	Wi-Fi 7 (availability varies by country, per Apple) / Bluetooth 6	M4 specs, M6 specs
Ethernet (four-port model)	Gigabit	2.5Gb	M4 specs, M6 specs
Ethernet (two-port model)	Gigabit, configurable	2.5Gb, configurable per the specs page; newsroom footnote 5 says 12-core only	M4 two-port specs, M6 specs
Display brightness	500 nits	500 nits	M4 specs, M6 specs
Pre-order countries and regions at launch	28	35	M4 newsroom, 2024, M6 newsroom

What changed. Our reading of two Apple pages: the entry model went from 8 CPU and 8 GPU cores to 10 and 10. Apple does not state this comparison itself. Apple's own sentence is that the M6 has "up to a 12-core CPU, two more cores than before"; it does not name the baseline, and we read it as the M4 10-core top model. Beyond the chip, the table shows newer wireless standards and faster Ethernet on the four-port model; on the two-port model Apple's pages disagree about 2.5Gb Ethernet (see below). The display brightness figure is unchanged on Apple's pages.

How we chose

What weighed: only figures that Apple publishes on its own pages, each tied to a named page in the Source column. What did not weigh: price, because it varies by region and configuration, and any ranking; this page has no score and no winner. What we did not measure: everything. We ran no benchmark and handled no unit, and each judgment is marked "our reading". General rules are on the methodology page; more hardware is under compute.

Who it is for

All of this is our reading of the spec sheets, not a recommendation from testing.

10-core model. Fits buyers who want the M6 generation with two ports and are comfortable with 24 GB of memory at most and 1 TB of storage at most. Less suited to anyone who needs four Thunderbolt 4 ports, 32 GB of memory, 2 TB of storage or the nano-texture glass option, which only the 12-core model lists. Apple's pages contradict each other on whether this model can have 2.5Gb Ethernet (see below), so check before ordering if wired speed matters.
12-core model. Fits buyers who need the larger memory and storage ceilings, the four-port layout or nano-texture glass. The trade-off is a slightly higher listed weight (9.8 lb against 9.7 lb), which is minor on paper.
Keeping the iMac M4. Our reading: M4 owners who do not depend on on-device AI, graphics editing or faster wireless and wired transfers have less to gain on paper, since the 500 nits display is unchanged and Apple's multipliers are untested by others. Owners of the 8-core entry M4 are the group where the core-count step (8 to 10) is largest on Apple's pages. This depends on data we do not yet have.

Our catalogue has a sheet for the Apple MacBook Air (M5). We do not compare it with the iMac here; we have not built that comparison. We link no Mac mini sheet: Apple's iMac page shows a Mac mini card, but we have not confirmed the release status of the Mac mini M6 from an Apple source. There is no catalogue sheet for the iMac M6 yet; see the radar for follow-ups and the glossary for terms.

What Apple hasn't said yet

Which 35 countries and regions. The newsroom page says "including the U.S." and lists no others.
How the iMac M6 compares with the Mac mini or a MacBook Air. Apple's iMac page shows a Mac mini card listing "Apple M6 or M5 Pro chip", and links to a "Compare all Mac models" page, which we have not reviewed.
Whether the 10-core (two-port) model can have 2.5Gb Ethernet. Apple's specs page lists it as configurable for that model, while newsroom footnote 5 says the option is available on models with the 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU. We found no page that resolves this; it affects the two-port model only, since the 12-core model lists 2.5Gb Ethernet on both pages.
Baseline for "two more cores". The sentence does not name its comparison.
Independent benchmarks. None found when we last looked, on 3 November 2026, three days before Apple's stated arrival date. We have not re-searched since.

FAQ

What is the iMac M6 release date?

Apple opened pre-orders on 28 October 2026 and said units would begin arriving from Friday, 6 November 2026 at customers, Apple Store locations and Apple Authorized Resellers; that date has passed, and we have not confirmed deliveries. Pre-orders covered 35 countries and regions, including the U.S.

iMac M6 vs M4: which should I buy?

Apple's pages show a 12-core top CPU against 10 cores, Wi-Fi 7 (availability varies by country, per Apple) against Wi-Fi 6E, and Apple claims up to 5x faster on-device AI than M4 in its own tests. Our reading: the choice depends on whether you use the AI, graphics or connectivity features, since the display brightness is the same and we found no independent benchmark when we last looked on 3 November 2026.

What is new in the iMac 2026 lineup?

The 2026 iMac moves to the M6 chip with a 10-core or 12-core CPU, Neural Accelerators in each GPU core, Wi-Fi 7 (availability varies by country, per Apple), Bluetooth 6 and seven colors. It keeps the 24-inch 4.5K display, per Apple.

Which M6 Mac is the iMac, and what are the iMac M6 specs?

The iMac is Apple's all-in-one desktop with the M6 chip. The 10-core model has a 10-core CPU (2 super, 3 performance, 5 efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU. The 12-core model has a 12-core CPU (2 super, 4 performance, 6 efficiency cores) and a 12-core GPU.

How much memory and storage does the iMac M6 have?

Both start at 16 GB of memory and a 256 GB SSD. The 12-core model is configurable to 32 GB and 2 TB; the 10-core model to 24 GB and 1 TB.

What is the new iMac price?

We do not quote it: it varies by region and configuration. Apple lists the current figures on its iMac page.

Does the iMac M6 come in more than one color?

Yes. Apple lists seven: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver.

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-11-08

Update trigger: independent benchmarks or reviews after Apple's stated 6 November 2026 arrival date, Apple naming the pre-order countries or publishing a comparison with the Mac mini or MacBook Air, or any change to Apple's iMac specifications page.