Following the original Apple Silicon iMac with M1 chip that launched in 2021, the first update of Apple’s all-in-one desktop has arrived. Read along with our in-depth comparison of the M3 iMac vs M1 iMac when it comes to performance, display, features, I/O, and much more.
Improvements beyond just the speed and efficiency of the M3 chip CPU include memory up to 24GB, a more capable media engine, and up to a 10-core GPU.
And if you’re coming from a 21.5-inch Intel iMac (2019 and earlier) you should see 4x faster overall performance.
Apple has asserted that the M3 iMac delivers a significant boost in overall performance, claiming it to be up to 2.5 times faster than the most popular Intel-based 27-inch iMac models.
Furthermore, when focusing on the CPU and GPU capabilities of the M3 chip, Apple reports that the 8-core CPU demonstrates up to a 35% increase in speed compared to the M1, while the 10-core GPU exhibits up to a 65% improvement over the M1.
In initial benchmark tests of the M3 iMac, the single-core and multi-core scores closely aligned with the approximately 35% performance increase cited by Apple. the original Apple
The M3 iMac features the exact same display as the M1 iMac. That’s not a knock – you’re getting a fantastic 4.5K resolution Retina display, P3 wide color, True Tone, and 500 nits brightness.