iMac (M3, 2023)
M3-powered iMac with Wi-Fi 6E. Retains the beautiful 7-color design with even faster GPU.
The same iMac with a faster chip, which is all it needed. M3 on a 3-nanometer process brought meaningfully quicker CPU and GPU work than the original M1, with hardware ray tracing and dynamic caching, and games and 3D work felt the difference most. Nothing outside changed. Same seven colors, same 4.5K screen, same 11.5mm chassis, because the 2021 redesign had gone down well enough that touching it would have been a mistake. The line stayed at one size. Requests for a larger or more powerful iMac went unanswered again, so anyone needing more had to look at a Mac Studio or a mini instead. Reviewers called it sensible maintenance and noted the iMac gets updated less often than the laptops or the mini. It is the kind of release that gets no headlines and keeps a good machine current.
Mac History Timeline
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Processor Deep Dive
Apple M3
AppleBuilt on TSMC's 3nm process, the base M3 chip in this iMac offered an 8-core CPU and up to a 10-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing and dynamic caching, a meaningful step up from the original M1's graphics capabilities. Compared to contemporary Intel and AMD desktop and mobile chips, M3 maintained Apple Silicon's strong efficiency advantage while adding genuinely new GPU features competitive with dedicated graphics hardware for casual creative and gaming use. This was the iMac's first chip refresh since the landmark M1 redesign, bringing real if incremental performance gains to the same beloved thin, colorful chassis.
Compatible Operating Systems
macOS Sonoma 14.1
Launch OS2023
Launched as the debut OS for the M3 iMac.
macOS Sonoma 14
Compatible2023
Continued to receive updates with desktop widgets and gaming improvements.
macOS Sequoia 15
Compatible2024
Brought Apple Intelligence features fully supported by this M3 hardware.
macOS Sequoia 15
Compatible2025
Remains actively supported and updated as of the most recent macOS releases.
Reviews & Reception
The M3 iMac was well received as a sensible, welcome internal refresh of the beloved 2021 redesign, praised for real performance gains without any need to reinvent the acclaimed chassis.
It's the same wonderful, colorful iMac design from 2021 with a genuinely faster chip inside. There's nothing new to look at, but it didn't need to be.
M3 brings real gaming and creative performance gains over M1, though we're still waiting for Apple to offer a larger or more powerful iMac configuration for professionals.
This is a sensible, welcome refresh rather than a headline-grabbing release, and that's perfectly fine for a design this already well-loved.
If you already own the M1 iMac there's little urgency to upgrade, but for new buyers this is an easy recommendation at the same price as before.