The new 24-inch iMac with the M6 chip was announced in Japan. The lower-end model costs ¥249,800 and the higher-end model ¥289,800. Both are available in the same 7 colors, but specifications differ in areas including CPU/GPU cores, port count and external-display support. The Japanese launch is scheduled for 6 November, with pre-orders beginning on 29 October.
The new 24-inch iMac with the M6 chip was announced in Japan, with 2 configurations priced at ¥249,800 for the lower-end model and ¥289,800 for the higher-end model. The new model features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, along with enhancements enabled by the N1 chip, while the 7 color options retain the same names used in the M4 era.
The lower-end model has 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, supports up to 1 external display, and has 2 Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. Wired LAN is an optional add-on. The higher-end model has 12 CPU cores and 12 GPU cores, supports up to 2 external displays, includes 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports, and comes with 2.5Gb wired LAN as standard.
A notable aspect of the announcement is that, despite being in the same price range, the lower-end model has fewer cores than the higher-end model, while the number of supported external displays and ports also differs significantly. Improvements over the M4 include not only higher CPU/GPU performance but also references to SSD capacity options and AI-related performance.
Overseas reactions include discussion of support for 2 external displays at the lower-end model's price, comparisons of actual speeds for the 256GB SSD, and differences in AI processing. Overall, readers will need to assess how substantially the specifications have changed despite the same price points.