How to preorder the new M3 Apple iMac
As of Oct. 31, the new 24-inch Apple iMac (Apple M3) is available for preorder at Amazon, the Apple Store, and Best Buy ahead of its Nov. 7 release. It starts at $1,299 for 256GB of storage, 8GB RAM, and an 8-core GPU.
Apple lightly refreshed its all-in-one desktop computer for the first time in more than two years at its primetime "Scary Fast" October event Monday — and you can preorder it now before it launches in early November.
The latest 24-inch iMac features the company's all-new M3 chip with an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU, which it's hyping as "up to 2x faster" than the 2021 model's M1 chip. (The standard, non-Pro/Max M3 chip is the same silicone powering Apple's new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, for the record.) It also comes with support for WiFi 6E and up to a chunky 24GB of RAM.
That's the extent of the new iMac's upgrades over its predecessor, which sported the same 4.5K Retina display, 1080p webcam, six-speaker setup, slim profile, and rainbow of color options: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and silver (though they look a little punchier and less pastel). It even had the same starting price of $1,299, which got you an identical base configuration with an 8-core GPU, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of storage.
It's a very subtle update, but that may not be a bad thing: The 2021 24-inch iMac won a Mashable Choice Award for its sleek form factor and peppy performance, with former Mashable tech reporter Brenda Stolyar deeming it "the ideal at-home iMac." This is basically the same computer, but even peppier.
That said, the M3 model will probably appeal most to users who are still clinging to older PCs like the Intel-based iMacs: It doesn't seem like a big enough jump from the M1 version to warrant an immediate next-gen upgrade.
The new iMac is available for preorder via Amazon, the Apple Store, and Best Buy at the time of writing and formally arrives on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Topics Apple
Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons.
