Apple is preparing to refresh the 24-inch iMac with its new M6 chip before the end of the year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writing in his Power On newsletter. The update would replace the current M4 model. The iMac previously jumped straight from M1 to M3, skipping M2 entirely, and now appears set to skip M5 as well.
Gurman says not to expect a major redesign alongside the new chip. Instead, the iMac should keep its current overall look and 24-inch display, marking the fifth year of a design that debuted alongside the M1 model back in 2021. The most visible change will likely come from new colour options, though Gurman hasn't specified which ones.
The current lineup includes seven colours: green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver. Apple made similarly subtle tweaks to the shades when it moved to the M4 generation in 2024, without changing the actual colour count.
Under the hood, the M6 chip is expected to be Apple's first Mac processor built on a 2-nanometer process, bringing improved memory bandwidth of up to 200 gigabytes per second, a new memory architecture, and a 12-core GPU. Notably, Apple reportedly won't release Pro, Max, or Ultra versions of the M6, sticking to the base chip only.
That's because the M6 generation is expected to be unusually short-lived, potentially lasting just six months before Apple moves on to M7, a jump driven largely by major upcoming improvements to AI processing. The M7 Pro and M7 Max are expected in the second half of 2027, with an M7 Ultra following in 2028.
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The iMac refresh is expected this fall, alongside a new base 14-inch MacBook Pro built around the M6 chip. Higher-end MacBook Pro models with touchscreen OLED displays and M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow between the end of this year and early 2027. Apple is also said to be developing an OLED version of the iMac, though that upgrade remains several years out. Apple has not officially confirmed any of these plans.
