This fall, Apple gave the 24-inch iMac a new coat of paint. Not literally, because the seven trendy colors that the all-in-one PC is available in have remained unchanged. After more than two years, Apple completely revamped the iMac with a switch to its own chips, it was time to upgrade the internal parts, so the processor in the device switches from the original Apple M1 to the M3 socket in one go.

As for the rest, the iMac is almost unmodified. One of the most requested modifications to the iMac, a version with a larger screen, was not implemented. Apple told reporters last month that the manufacturer isn’t working on a new 27-inch iMac at all. There are rumors of a 32-inch version, but if it comes to market, it won’t happen until 2025.

Upgrade to M3 soc and more durable

For now, we have to make do with the iMac 24″. The most important innovation is, as mentioned earlier, the M3 SoC, the standard version of which is present in this iMac. The SoC has a CPU consisting of four P cores and four E cores, which, According to Apple, it makes the processor up to 35 percent faster than the original M1 SoC of the iMac released in 2021. The 10-core GPU should be 65 percent faster than that in the previous generation, and, as usual, RAM is integrated RAM in the processor, i.e. 8, 16, or 24 GB of non-expandable shared memory.

In addition to being faster, the iMac has also become more durable. The stand is made entirely from recycled aluminum, and the gold on the printed circuit boards is now 100 percent recycled for the first time. Inside the box, the device is held in place using cardboard inserts. They are recycled or made from responsibly managed forest fibers.

Communications and prices

This brings us to the latest novelty: pricing. Compared to the iMac with the M1 processor, the new model is much more expensive. You’re now paying €1,619 for the base model with 8GB of RAM, an 8-core GPU, and a 256GB SSD. With the previous generation that was still 1449 euros. The costs of upgrading to more memory remained the same. To upgrade to 16GB of RAM you pay €230, upgrading to a 512GB SSD also costs €230, and to combine the two you pay €460. The model Apple sent us, with a 10-core GPU, 24GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a mouse and keyboard combo, costs €2,769 on the manufacturer’s website.

What hasn’t changed is that with the entry-level iMac, where two of the ten GPU cores are disabled, you also get fewer connections than models with a fully active SoC. You’ll then miss two USB-C (10Gb/s) ports on top of the two standard Thunderbolt 4 ports. You also won’t get a power adapter with a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port with this model. If you want one, you have to pay an additional 26 euros. Naturally, WiFi is standard, which is a little more modern than before with Wi-Fi 6E, as well as Bluetooth 5.3.

Standard model specifications

Potential upgrades

Standards

Since the Apple M3 SoC is the most important innovation, we are of course particularly interested in the performance of this processor. From our comparison materials, the 14-inch MacBook Pro (2023) has exactly the same CPU, so if all is well, we should still see it on par with the new iMac. In addition to various Macs, we’ve also included some AMD and Intel processors in the comparison, where possible of course.

CPU tests

In Cinebench 23, the new iMac scores identically to the 14″ MacBook Pro with the same M3 processor, as expected. This means the 24″ iMac (2023) is 34 percent faster than the 2021 version in the multi-threaded test, while its single-threaded score is 10% higher. 26 percent.

In the multi-threaded Cinebench 24 test, the iMac lags slightly behind a MacBook with the same processor, but that’s not the case in a single machine. In the x86 world, the iMac’s multi-threaded performance is comparable to that of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, a somewhat older mid-range processor. The iMac is obviously faster per core. There it scores 140 points, which is more than the 136 points obtained by the Intel Core i9-14900K processor.

For comparison with older Macs, Geekbench 5 is suitable, a cross-platform test that has been around for a while. The new single-threaded iMac scores 33 percent higher than the old one; Multithreading increases this percentage to 40 percent.

Geekbench 6.2 wasn’t there yet at the time of our 2021 iMac review, but for this test we have comparison material for individual desktop CPUs. The M3 SoC is faster than all AMD Ryzen 7000 processors and from the blue camp only the i9 14900K remains faster. Multi-threaded, the iMac is relegated to the bottom of the chart. With nearly 12,000 points, it’s faster than the Ryzen 5 5600X, but it doesn’t match the Core i5 13400 and Ryzen 5 7600X.

GPU tests

3DMark Solar Bay is a relatively new benchmark that tests the GPU via the Vulkan API, which also uses ray tracing. We only ran the test on a few devices. Of course, the M3 SoC found in the 14-inch MacBook Pro is almost as fast, while the M3 Max found in the 16-inch laptop is much faster in this regard.

The Solar Bay wasn’t there yet when we tested the 2021 iMac, but this all-in-one PC with the M1 SoC scored nearly 6,200 points on this test. The GPU in the M3 SoC is more than twice as fast.

Total War: Pharaoh has been talked about a lot and not for positive reasons, but it’s quite unique that this modern game also has a macOS version. This makes it a great game for testing Macs with Apple’s own chips. The iMac’s performance is on par with an M3-equipped MacBook, meaning you can game in Full HD with settings ranging from Medium to Ultra. At 1440p, you can’t achieve 60fps even at medium settings.

Screen tests

Apple appears to have made little to no changes to the 24-inch iMac’s display. The panel can cover almost the entire DCI-P3 color space by 97 percent. Compared to the previous generation, we reached a slightly higher brightness of 524cd/m², a slightly lower contrast of 1085:1 and a color error of just 1.16, meaning the aberration is not visible to the naked eye. The screen is still very slightly blue, but compared to the 2021 iMac this has improved. In sRGB mode, the panel works very similarly, in contrast to the limited color space.

Top: DCI-P3, bottom: sRGB

Energy use and noise production

When the iMac was turned off, our power meter still showed a standby consumption of 0.3 watts, which is slightly lower than the previous generation. We also see an improvement at idle with 21.5 watts. Under load, the new iMac draws 72 watts, just a few watts more than the 2021 model.

Because we moved, we were unable to make a true measurement of noise production. However, the cooling system has not changed and usually works inaudibly. Only when the M3’s processor is fully loaded will the fans start making a slight noise. Once the workload is complete, the iMac becomes inaudibly quiet again after a few seconds.

Conclusion

After Apple overhauled the iMac during its shift from Intel to its own chips, the all-in-one’s upgrade in 2023 is more modest. Since the M2 series has overtaken the iMac, the machine now makes a nice jump from the M1 to the M3. The processor cores are about 35 percent faster and the GPU makes an even bigger jump with double the performance.

The fact that the new SoC is almost the only change also means that Apple hasn’t done anything about the iMac’s shortcomings. The three most important of them are interconnected. This new iMac once again has an entry-level model with 8GB of RAM, as this spec celebrates its 11th (!) anniversary. 8GB already became the standard for iMacs when Apple upgraded the device to an Intel Ivy Bridge processor in 2012. Upgrading to 16GB, which is not a lot to ask for a machine that costs one and a half thousand euros, is no less than 230 euros and is also not possible yet that. After all, it’s not possible to replace the memory or even a 256GB SSD yourself. Opting for more storage also comes with ridiculous additional costs.

The new iMac 24″ is therefore faster and more expensive, but otherwise similar to its predecessor. Performance in terms of power consumption and all-in-one PC design remains impressive. However, drawbacks will mean that many tweakers leave the iMac in the shop.