24-inch M3 iMac vs M1 iMac: Should you upgrade?

• 24-inch iMac (M3, 2023)

  The refreshed 24-inch iMac received a small but mighty upgrade in 2023. It’s now equipped with the powerful new M3 chip, bringing massive performance and efficiency upgrades to the table. It has a bright and accurate display, great sound, and all the accessories you need to get started.

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  24-inch iMac (M1 2021)

  $1200 $1300 Save $100

  The latest 24-inch iMac finally comes with Apple’s own powerful M1 Silicon and 8GB of RAM. It has a new, improved design, a higher quality camera, excellent speakers and comes in a number of new colors to brighten up your room or office.

Apple finally refreshed the 24-inch iMac at its October 30 “Scary Fast” event. The new machine is now equipped with the latest Apple M3 silicon, and it brings massive performance and efficiency upgrades across the board. The new iMac has a new and powerful hardware. However, Apple appears to have missed the memo and kept the majority of the design and non-CPU and GPU-related tasks completely unchanged.

Related: All Apple M3 chips compared: Which chipset is best for your next Mac?

You’ve come to the right place if you’re debating upgrading, or purchasing the newly unveiled 24-inch iMac with the M3 chip. We’ll give you all the advantages and disadvantages, and explain why it might be a good idea to buy the new iMac, and why you might want to hold out on pressing that purchase button.

• 	24-inch iMac (M3, 2023)	24-inch iMac (M1 2021)
  Memory	Up to 24GB unified memory	Up to 16GB unified memory
  Graphics	M3: 8/10-core	M1: 7/8-core
  CPU	M3: 8-core	M1: 8-core
  Storage	Up to 2TB SSD	Up to 2TB SSD
  USB Ports	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports or Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with Two USB 3 ports	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports or Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with Two USB 3 ports
  Networking	Configurable with Gigabit Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet (4-port model)	Configurable with Gigabit Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet (4-port model)
  Display	24-inch, 4.5K Retina Display, 4480 x 2520, 16:9, 500 nits peak brigthness	24-inch, 4.5K Retina Display, 4480 x 2520, 16:9, 500 nits peak brigthness
  Dimension	18.1 x 21.5 x 5.8 in (46.1 x 54.7 x 14.7 cm)	18.1 x 21.5 x 5.8 in (46.1 x 54.7 x 14.7 cm)
  Weight	9.87 lbs (4.48kg)	9.87 lbs (4.48kg)
  Price	From $1,299	From $1,299
  Operating System	macOS	macOS
  Connectivity	Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
  Webcamera	FaceTime 1080p HD	FaceTime 1080p HD

M3 iMac vs M1 iMac: Price & Availability

The 24-inch iMac (for both the M1 and M3) starts at $1,299, which includes the base model with two ports, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of base storage SSD. The higher-specced model included four ports, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD for $1,499. The one above included 8GB of RAM and 512GB SSD for $1,699. The highest-specced M3 offers up to 2TB of SSD storage and 24GB of RAM that retails for $2,699.

Regarding availability, the new 24-inch M3 iMac is widely available at retailers and at Apple.com. The 24-inch M1 iMac remains up for grabs at most retailers, but the device will likely only be available until the stocks run out.

M3 iMac vs M1 iMac: Design & Hardware

In terms of design, both the M3 and M1 equipped machines are the same, and Apple didn’t change a thing on either of these machines. Both machines have the same 46.1 x 54.7 x 14.7 cm dimensions and even the same weight at 4.48kg. Both computers are available in seven colors, including Blue, Green, Pink, and Silver, with the higher-specced model also having Yellow, Orange, and Purple shades.

Both machines come with a FaceTime 1080p HD web camera. However, despite the same hardware, the new M3 model should be able to capture more detail and provide better lighting, given that it uses the more advanced ISP on the new chip. The M1’s web camera still works well, and it’ll be perfect for video calls, conference calls, and catching up with family and friends.

The one area where the M3 offers significant upgrades is on the connectivity side. And no, the iMac still doesn’t offer 10Gb ethernet, but it does at least up the Wi-Fi connectivity from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0 to 5.3. While these are fairly small upgrades, they’ll make the new 24-inch M3 iMac more futureproof and faster, assuming you have a compatible Bluetooth device and modern router.

M3 iMac vs M1 iMac: Display

As mentioned in the section above, Apple didn’t make any changes whatsoever to the M3-equipped iMac, and it looks the same as its predecessor. Unfortunately, that also means that we’re not seeing any improvements on the display front, and the new iMac features the same 24-inch, 4.5K Retina Display with 4480 x 2520 resolution as its predecessor. It has the same 500 nits of peak brightness level, the same 16:9 aspect ratio, and the same color accuracy.

While this is disappointing for some, it’s worth remembering that it’s a beautiful display and while we would’ve love to see some improvements to the brightness levels, 500 nits is more than adequate on a machine that’s intended for general users.

Perhaps the only nitpick we have is that there is still no dark model available, and the bezels are still white. The bezels are still large by modern-day standards, and we would’ve preferred a slimmed-down version with a larger display.

M3 iMac vs M1 iMac: Which should you buy?

Apple says the new M3 provides a massive jump in performance between the M1 and the M3 series of chips. While these are great to hear, it’s worth noting that the iMac isn’t intended for professionals and power users, although some might be able to fully utilize it.

If you own the 24-inch M1 iMac and you find yourself editing, gaming, and using a lot of demanding apps and tasks, the new M3 iMac might offer the performance upgrade that you need. The iMac can be paired with a 6K secondary monitor, and the higher-end configuration offers plenty of power to carry out graphics-intensive tasks, and those that require even more CPU cores. That said, the main improvements are the increased memory, better CPU, and faster GPU, as well as the better connectivity options for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

24-inch iMac (M3, 2023)

The refreshed 24-inch iMac received a small but mighty upgrade in 2023. It’s now equipped with the powerful new M3 chip, bringing massive performance and efficiency upgrades to the table. It has a bright and accurate display, great sound, and all the accessories you need to get started.

In contrast, if you do not lack any power and your existing M1 iMac still holds up just fine, you should sit this one out and wait a few more years. If you want to upgrade, you might be interested in the MacBook for more flexibility, or even the Mac mini, as it offers even more performance and a more configurable package.