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M3 iMac vs Intel iMac: Here are all the upgrades and a few downsides

Thinking of upgrading from an Intel iMac? Or curious how much Apple’s all-in-one desktop has changed now that it’s powered by the third generation of its custom silicon? Follow along for a detailed look at the M3 iMac vs Intel iMac.

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac (21.5 and 27-inch)

CPU, GPU, memory, neural engine

Compared to the 2019 21.5-inch Intel iMac and the 2020 27-inch Intel iMac, the 2023 iMac with M3 chip includes a more powerful 8-core CPU, up to 10-core GPU, unified memory of up to 24GB, and a dedicated media engine.

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac CPU, GPU, memory

One M3 spec that is lower than the Intel iMacs is memory with a max of 24GB. But keep in mind the new unified memory is finely tuned with the whole M3 SoC.

M3 iMac21.5″ Intel iMac27″ Intel iMac
CPU8-coreUp to 3.2GHz 6-core Intel i7
Up to 3.6GHz 10-core Intel i9
GPU8 or 10-coreUp to AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20Up to AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT
Media engineHardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW, Video decode engine, Video encode engine, ProRes encode and decode engine, AV1 decode
StorageUp to 2TB SSDUp to 1TB Fusion DriveUp to 8TB SSD
MemoryUp to 24GBUp to 32GBUp to 128GB
Neural engine16-core

One other spec that is lower with the 24-inch M3 iMac is up to 2TB SSD – the 27-inch iMac allowed up to an 8TB SSD.

But compared to the 21.5-inch Intel iMac Apple says you should see 4x faster overall performance with the M3 iMac.

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac speed

Apple says the M3 iMac is up to 2.5x times faster “than the most popular Intel‑based
27‑inch iMac models.” It doesn’t specify which 27-inch iMac that is, but it’s likely one with middle-of-the-road specs.

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac performance

Apple also says the 8-core CPU is up to 35% faster than M1, and the 10-core GPU is up to 65% faster than M1.

In our first look at M3 iMac benchmarks, the single-core and multi-core scores came in near that 35% mark.

Display

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac display

The M3 iMac features a 4.5K Retina display, P3 wide color, True Tone, and 500 nits brightness.

To put that in perspective, you’re getting a resolution right in between the 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs with the physical display size in the middle too.

M3 iMac21.5″ Intel iMac27″ Intel iMac
Size24-inch21.5-inch27-inch
Resolution4480 x 2520 (4.5K)4096 x 2304 (4K)5120 x 2880 (5K)
Aspect Ratio16:916:916:9
Brightness500 nits500 nits500 nits
Retina display
P3 wide color
True Tone
LED-backlit
Nano-texture option

The only thing you’re not getting with the modern M3 iMac that the 27-inch iMac offered is the low-reflective nano-texture glass option.

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac I/O

M3 iMac vs M1 iMac I/O

You get a number of nice I/O upgrades with the M3 iMac over the Intel iMacs. That includes Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, an improved speaker system, and optional Touch ID with the Magic Keyboard.

M3 iMac21.5″ Intel iMac27″ Intel iMac
Thunderbolt 4/USB 42
Thunderbolt 3/USB 322
USB 3 Type-C2 on mid models and up (0 on base models)
USB-A44
Gigabit EthernetOptional with base models, included with mid models and up (in power brick)
10Gb EthernetOptional
SDXC slot
WiFiWiFi 6EWiFi 5WiFi 5
Bluetooth5.34.25.0
Touch IDOptional with base models, included with mid models and up
Hey Siri’ support
WebcamFaceTime 1080p HD + M3 ISPFaceTime 720p HDFaceTime 1080p HD
Video output1 external display up to 6K at 60HzUp to 2 4K external displays at 60Hz or 1 at 5 or 6K 60HzUp to 2 6K external displays at 60Hz
6-speaker system
Wide stereo sound
Dolby Atmos support
Studio-quality 3-mic array
3.5mm headphone jack

Unfortunately, like the M1 iMac, the M3 iMac is still limited with support for only one external display. That may not be as much of an issue as with MacBooks since you’ve already got a 24-inch built-in display with iMac.

But that’s still a bit of a letdown when both the 21.5 and 27-inch Intel iMacs from years ago supported up to 2 displays.

Colors and size

iMac colors

Colors for the M3 iMac are the same as the M1 iMac. That includes 7 choices for the 4-port models and 4 colors for the 2-port models. That’s 6 more choices than the Intel iMacs.

M3 iMac21.5″ Intel iMac27″ Intel iMac
ColorsBlue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange, purple (all w/ white bezels)Silver (black bezels)Silver (black bezels)
Weight9.87 pounds (4.48 kg)12.1 pounds (5.48 kg)19.7 pounds (8.92 kg)
Height18.1 in (46.1 cm)17.7 in (45 cm)20.3 in (51.6 cm)
Width21.5 in (54.7 cm)20.8 in (52.8 cm)25.6 in (65 cm)
Depth with stand5.8 in (14.7 cm)6.9 in (17.5 cm)8 in (20.3 cm)

The M3 iMac physical design has a super-thin 11.5 mm depth (14.7 cm counting the stand). The rest of the dimensions are slimmer than the old Intel iMacs. However, the large chin remains.

Like the M1, the one downside of the M3 iMac is there’s still no model available with black bezels.

Price

Apple has kept the starting price for the iMac the same for many years. That’s an affordable $1,299 for the base model, $1,499 in the middle, $1,699 on the higher end, and $2,699 at the top.

M3 iMac21.5″ Intel iMac27″ Intel iMac
Base model$1,299Orig. $1,299Orig. $1,799
4 port 256/8GB$1,499
4 port 512/8GB$1,699
4 port 2TB/24GB$2,699

M3 iMac vs Intel iMac wrap-up

Reasons to buy

If you’ve been holding out for the new iMac release and love the all-in-one form factor, the M3 iMac is a great, yet iterative update for those with light to medium computing needs.

Considering most 4.5k or 5k external displays sell for $1,000 on their own, the M3 iMac with a sharp display and modern Apple Silicon starting from $1,299 is a solid value.

Unless you have a high-end 27-inch iMac, you should see somewhere between 2 and 4x faster performance with the M3 iMac over the Intel iMacs.

Reasons to pass

Unfortunately, there’s no M3 Pro option with the new iMac. So if you’d like to spec out your new Mac with a more powerful CPU, GPU, memory, etc, you could go with a Mac mini or Mac Studio. Those come with the ability to step up to the M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra chips (all more powerful than the M3). Plus you can take unified memory up to 192GB.

Other reasons to pass on the M3 iMac include if you need support for more than one external display or if white bezels are a deal breaker.

Spec advice

If you do pick up an M3 iMac, keep in mind you can’t upgrade the chip, memory, or internal storage after the fact. So if you can afford it, get it specced out exactly how you want (thinking about how long you’d like to keep it may help dial that in).

You can get the M3 iMac at Apple, Amazon, Adorama, and more.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

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Avatar for Michael Potuck Michael Potuck

Michael is an editor for 9to5Mac. Since joining in 2016 he has written more than 3,000 articles including breaking news, reviews, and detailed comparisons and tutorials.