Day two of Apple’s “exciting week,” and it’s the Mac’s turn. Early Tuesday, a day after the OLED iPad mini, Apple announced by press release a 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 and a new iMac with M6. Both are spec bumps rather than redesigns. The headline is what didn’t happen: neither starting price went up.
These aren’t the touchscreen machines. Those are still expected at Apple’s “Pro and tell” event in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Today’s two are the base 14-inch MacBook Pro and the colorful 24-inch iMac.
14-inch MacBook Pro with M6
- More cores. M6 here has a 12-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, two more of each than the M5 model, per Apple.
- Apple’s speed claims. Up to 30 percent faster graphics and up to 25 percent faster on-device AI work (like LLM prompt processing) than M5. Apple says the Neural Engine, now a “Dual 16-core” design, is up to 1.9x faster than M5’s. In app tests it cites roughly 1.2x to 1.3x gains over M5 in Blender, Affinity and Xcode.
- Battery. Up to 24 hours, which Apple calls the longest ever in a Mac.
- Memory and storage. 16GB of unified memory standard, configurable to 32GB, with up to 170GB/s of bandwidth. MacRumors reports the base model ships with 1TB of storage, configurable to 4TB.
- Wireless. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
- What carries over. The Liquid Retina XDR display (up to 1,600 nits HDR, with a nano-texture option), the 12MP Center Stage camera, six speakers, HDMI, MagSafe 3, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SDXC slot and a headphone jack. Space black or silver.
Price: from $1,999, or $1,899 with education pricing.
iMac with M6
- Skips M5 entirely. The last iMac had M4, and this is the first iMac update in two years, as The Verge and MacRumors both point out. So the jump is bigger here than on the laptop.
- Apple’s speed claims. Up to 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, both two more cores than before. Apple says up to 2x faster graphics and up to 5x faster on-device AI performance versus the M4 iMac, and up to 18x faster than the most popular Intel-based iMac.
- Connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and The Verge notes these are now on the base model too. Gigabit Ethernet becomes 2.5 Gigabit on 12-core models, and Apple says the SSD is up to 2x faster.
- Same look. Same 24-inch 4.5K Retina display and the same seven colors: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver.
Price: $1,499 for the 10-core CPU/10-core GPU model with two Thunderbolt ports, or $1,699 for the 12-core version with four. Education pricing is $1,449 and $1,599. MacRumors says both start with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage.
Check the build page carefully. The Verge spotted some new charges. Swapping the Magic Mouse for a Magic Trackpad is now a $50 upgrade where it used to be free, and the faster Ethernet is a $30 option. It also says you can’t get a Touch ID keyboard without a numeric keypad.
Dates
Pre-orders for both open Wednesday, October 28, at 10:10 a.m. Pacific, in 35 countries and regions including the U.S. Deliveries and in-store availability start Friday, November 6. That’s the store-reset date Gurman flagged earlier this month.
”No price hike” needs context
TechRadar’s headline calls it good news that there are no price hikes, and that’s true compared with what Apple charged yesterday. But the 14-inch MacBook Pro already cost $1,999 before today, and MacRumors notes that the 1TB base storage only looks generous because Apple dropped the 512GB option in March. So $1,999 isn’t a bargain. It just isn’t a fresh increase. Getting two more CPU and GPU cores, and Wi-Fi 7 for the same money is real progress, but the base 14-inch Pro is still a $2,000 laptop.
Should you buy one?
iMac owners on M1 or Intel: This is the one to buy. Skipping M5 means a real jump, and the design, colors and display you already like haven’t changed.
M4 iMac owners: Unless you run local AI models or edit a lot of photos and video, Apple’s own numbers don’t make a strong case for upgrading after two years.
Anyone buying a 14-inch MacBook Pro: Wait one day. Apple is expected to show its touchscreen MacBook Pro on Wednesday, and pre-orders don’t open until 10:10 a.m. that day anyway. Earlier reporting summarized by 9to5Mac says that machine sticks with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. So the real decision may be a cheaper M6 laptop with a classic screen versus a pricier M5 Pro/Max laptop with an OLED touchscreen. You’ll know the trade-off by lunchtime tomorrow.
Sources: Apple Newsroom: 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 (Oct. 27), Apple Newsroom: iMac with M6 (Oct. 27), MacRumors on the MacBook Pro (Oct. 27), MacRumors on the iMac (Oct. 27), The Verge (Oct. 27), TechRadar (Oct. 27).
Reporting reference: Apple Newsroom ↗