Apple has unveiled the M6-equipped 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac. Pre-orders for both begin on Thursday, October 29, with availability starting Friday, November 6.
M6 Arrives in the Standard 14-inch MacBook Pro! Up to 13x Faster AI Performance Compared to M1!
Following the "OLED-equipped iPad mini" on day one of what is expected to be three consecutive days of Apple product announcements, the latest reveals were the 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac, both featuring the newest CPU.
First up, the 14-inch MacBook Pro. This standard model within the MacBook Pro lineup has been refreshed with the M6 chip. Configurations start from ¥339,800 for a model with 16GB unified memory + 1TB SSD. It comes in two colors, Space Black and Silver, with no fundamental changes to the exterior design from the M5-equipped model.
The biggest evolution, therefore, is the CPU change. Compared to the M5, the CPU now boasts 12 cores, an increase of 2 cores, significantly boosting multi-threaded performance. The GPU also sees an increase of 2 cores, now at 12 cores, resulting in up to 30% faster graphics performance than the M5. AI performance has also been accelerated by up to 25%.
While unified memory is standard at 16GB, configurations up to 32GB are available, allowing demanding applications to run smoothly with a maximum bandwidth of 170GB/s.
The press release details extensive performance comparisons with older models that users might be upgrading from. Battery life is up to 24 hours, which is up to 14 hours longer than Intel-based models and up to 4 hours longer than M1 models. For LLM prompt processing, it's up to 13 times faster than the M1 model; for Blender rendering, up to 11.7 times faster than the M1 model; and for Affinity image processing, up to 3.3 times faster.
Additionally, it now supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
iMac Updated After Two Years, Also Featuring M6; Retains 24-inch 4.5K Display, Adds 2.5GbE Wired LAN
Next up is the M6-equipped iMac. This marks its first update in two years since the M4-equipped model launched in November 2024. It continues to be available in seven colors: Blue, Green, Pink, Silver, Yellow, Orange, and Purple. Pricing starts from ¥249,800 (16GB + 256GB), which is a ¥51,000 increase from the M4 model (starting at ¥198,800).
The biggest change here is also the CPU. Compared to the M4 model, performance in applications like Excel is up to 1.5 times faster, and up to 2.5 times faster than the M1 model. Ray-tracing game performance is up to twice as fast compared to the M4 model. In addition to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, it has also evolved to support 2.5GbE for wired LAN.
The display continues to be a high-resolution 24-inch 4.5K (4480×2520) LCD, supporting 500 nits of brightness and a wide P3 color gamut. It also features a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera. Two models are available for the rear Thunderbolt 4 ports: one with two ports and one with four ports. Although both feature the M6 CPU, their specifications differ (10-core CPU/10-core GPU vs. 12-core CPU/12-core GPU). Furthermore, the Nano-texture glass option for the display is only available on models with four Thunderbolt 4 ports (an additional ¥36,000).
