The iMac received a well-needed upgrade this year as Apple announced a slick new version at its special event earlier this month. Powered by the company’s in-house chipset, the M1 Silicon, you can now pre-order the new iMac from Apple.com, Amazon, or Best Buy. Additionally, Apple has also started pre-orders for the new M1-powered iPad Pro range.

Pricing and availability

Pre-orders for the new 2021 iMac begin today, April 30, with shipments expected to arrive in the second half of May 2021.

The new iMac is being offered in three configurations starting at $1,299 (₹1,19,900) for the 8-Core CPU, 7-Core GPU option that features 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. Moving up, you can opt for the 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU option for $1,499 (₹1,39,900). This one also comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. The top-variant featuring an 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 8GB RAM and 512GB storage is priced at $1,699 (₹1,59,900).

The 24-inch iMac is the perfect option for those who want an all-in-one desktop computer. It packs the Apple M1 chip.
Apple iMac (2021)

The new iMac gets a complete redesign with a super-slim design powered by Apple's M1 Silicon, a brand new 24-inch 4K Retina Display and seven color options.

The 24-inch iMac is the perfect option for those who want an all-in-one desktop computer. It packs the Apple M1 chip.
Apple iMac (2021)

The new iMac gets a complete redesign with a super-slim design powered by Apple's M1 Silicon, a brand new 24-inch 4K Retina Display and seven color options.

Apple iMac 2021: Specifications

The new iMac comes in a variety of colors reminiscent of the iMac G3 from 1998. It is extremely thin, at just 11.5mm, and is powered by Apple’s ARM-based M1 chipset that is being used on the MacBook Pro 13, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and recently, the new iPad Pro.

There is a new 24-inch Retina display, with a 4.5K resolution of 4480×2520 which makes it super sharp. It also has a DCI-P3-wide gamut, over one billion colors, 500-nits of brightness, and TrueTone support for auto white balance. The new design brings a total of seven new colors including Blue, Green, Pink, Silver, Yellow, Orange, and Purple. The entire system rests on a thin aluminum stand and can be tilted at various angles. On the inside, the M1 chipset is embedded on a tiny logic board, along with a dual-fan cooling system. The new iMac offers excellent performance over previous models offering 2x faster graphics performance on Adobe Photoshop and Affinity and the ability to edit up to five 4K streams in Final Cut Pro at once, or an 8K stream, without any drop in frames. Apple is offering the iMac with up to 16GB of memory and 512GB SSD, although Apple’s official product page does mention options of 1TB and 2TB as well.

Apple iMac M1 specifications

Apple has also updated the camera experience as there is a new camera that supports 1080p resolution with a larger sensor and improved low-light performance. Paired with ISP (image signal processor) on the M1 SoC, users can expect the best quality while doing video calls. The new iMac also includes a triple microphone setup along with noise cancellation for improved audio quality while making calls. There is also a new six-speaker setup with two pairs of subwoofers along with high-performance tweeters and spatial audio by Dolby Atmos.

There are a total of four USB-C ports on the iMac two of which support Thunderbolt and for power, there is a single cable that runs down to a power brick that can also accommodate an ethernet cable.

Complementing the new iMac, Apple also announced color-matched accessories including the new Magic Keyboard with support for new emoji, Apple Spotlight, dictation, do-not-disturb, a lock key, and built-in Touch ID for quick sign-in. There is also the newly-designed Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad that comes with similar color accents that are available on the new iMac.