Apple iMac M4: 3 reasons to buy and 2 reasons to skip

On November 9, 2024By Pranco

There’s a new iMac in stores, now powered by the very latest Apple M4 chipand I think it’s a great machine for Mac fans looking for an all-in-one PC.

As you read in my Apple iMac M4 reviewThis year’s iMac looks an awful lot like its predecessors, but there are a few worthwhile improvements, including the upgrade to the M4 chip under the hood, an improved 12MP camera for video calling, and an optional $200 anti-glare screen coating .

It’s enough to seem like an attractive upgrade for current Mac owners, especially those looking to put aging behind them iMac M1.

After reviewing and trying out the iMac M4, I think there are a few good reasons to buy one for yourself. However, there are also a few good reasons to pass up this colorful new iMac, which is one of them best all-in-one currently on the market, even though it may not be the best for your specific needs.

Apple iMac M4: Reasons to buy

I like the iMac M4, and I think it really stands out as a PC used by multiple people in the home. Here’s why.

Beautiful 24 inch screen

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk

The iMac M4’s 24-inch 4.5K Retina display looks great even at wide angle, meaning friends and family can easily gather around the screen. (Image credit: Future)

I’ve been defending the iMac’s value as a family PC for years, because the display is remarkably good for an all-in-one at this price, with good brightness and color reproduction and excellent viewing angles.

If you just need a desktop Mac for your home office, it’s great to have this lovely 24-inch 4.5K display tucked into a handy nook, because it looks great and packs a pretty capable Mac inside.

But I think the iMac only really comes into its own when you place it somewhere where everyone in the household can reach it, such as the living room or study. That’s because the screen has nice wide viewing angles that ensure you get great picture quality even if you’re sitting quite far to the side. If you want to stream or watch TV shows regularly YouTube Making videos with others is where this all-in-one excels.

And the optional $200 nano-textured glass coating, new to the iMac M4, actually reinforces this value, because it really makes a difference if you place the iMac M4 near a window or other source of bright, direct light. I think the nano-textured glass coating makes more of a difference on the latest MacBooks because they are used in sunlight more often and had more reflective screens than the iMac to begin with. But the nano-textured glass is also a nice option on this desktop.

It’s a little less fun that the coating isn’t available on the base $1,299 iMac M4. You’ll actually have to spend at least $400 extra ($1,499 upgraded iMac M4 + $200 nanotexture upgrade), which means if you want an iMac M4 with nanotexture glass, it’ll cost $1,699 to start.

Great speakers (for an all-in-one)

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk with Twin Peaks

(Image credit: Future)

Another good reason why this iMac M4 is surprisingly good as a family PC isn’t immediately apparent: a built-in sound system with six speakers and force-canceling woofers.

I’m not an audiophile, so I can’t comment on the quality of the woofers mentioned, but what I can say is that music, movies and TV shows sound better on the iMac M4 than on any other all-in-one PC also. ever tested.

The sound quality gets a lot better when you listen to something Dolby Atmos or Apple’s Spatial Audio technology, as the iMac M4 does a good job of making the audio sound as if it were coming from all around you instead of for you.

It’s not a substitute for great headphones, and the best computer speakers may give you better sound quality, but out of the box this iMac sounds remarkably good, further cementing its place as the best Mac for the family room.

Fast performance

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk

(Image credit: Future)

Last but certainly not least, the iMac M4 is a great buy if you want an elegant, sleek all-in-one that’s more than fast enough for homework and basic tasks.

I know this because we put every PC we review through our testing lab, where our crack team of experts puts each machine through a series of tests to see how well it performs.

And in the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark, which subjects the system to a series of tests designed to evaluate and score how well the chip performs across single-core and multi-core workloads, the iMac M4 performed remarkably well.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

iMac M4 Performance Tests
Row 0 – Cell 0	iMac M4	iMac M3	iMac M1
Geekbench 6 (single core)	3,646	2,235	1,739
Geekbench 6 (multicore)	14,724	10,745	7,684
Handbrake (minutes:seconds)	5:03	6:46	13:38

As you can see in the graph of our results, the M4 chip helps the 2024 iMac run faster than its predecessors, both in single-core and multi-core workloads. That means you can count on pretty good performance when launching and running demanding apps, and you can be confident that this machine will feel fast and modern for years to come.

The M4 chip also has enough power for the kind of light video and audio editing you might do on a family PC, like putting together home videos or editing podcasts. As you can see in our Handbrake video editing test, which shows how long it takes the PC to transcode a 4K video file to 1080p with Handbrake, the iMac M4 is significantly faster at light video editing than the iMac M3 or M1.

Additionally, the fact that the M4 chip shares common ground with the A-series chips in Apple’s iPhones means you can download and run apps from the Apple App Store directly on the iMac M4.

So if fast performance and access to your iPhone and iPad apps on your PC are important to you, the iMac M4 is a great buy.

Apple iMac M4: reasons to skip

As much as I like the iMac M4, there are some major weaknesses you should know about that could keep you from buying one.

Poor gaming performance

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk with Baldur's Gate 3

You can play a modern game like Baldur’s Gate 3 on the iMac M4 with a decent framerate, but the game won’t look its best. (Image credit: Future)

The M4 chip in the 2024 iMac makes it the best iMac for gaming yet, but I have to say that I was disappointed with the desktop’s gaming performance more often than I was impressed.

To be clear: you can have a lot of fun playing games on this PC. Apple supports Mac gaming with a level of knowledge and enthusiasm I haven’t seen in decades, so you can expect good performance from games optimized for Apple Silicon, like Death Stranding, Disco Elysium, Lies of P, and Resident Evil 4.

And of course you can play hundreds of older games Steam fine, as well as all games offered in the Apple App Store.

But playing mobile games on the iMac, which doesn’t have a touchscreen, feels awkward at best and painful at worst on a mouse and keyboard. And while games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and No Man’s Sky run at a decent framerate on the iMac M4 (30+ FPS), more often than not I found that when I dug into the settings menus, those good framerates were achieved by running the game with a resolution significantly lower than the screen’s native 4.5K.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Gaming testing @ 1080p in frames per second
Row 0 – Cell 0	iMac M4	iMac M3	iMac M1
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm	49.6	35.9	28.7
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	39	34	DNR
Border countries 3	23.6	21.4	DNR
Total War: Warhammer 3	22.9	20	DNR

As you can see in our gaming test results table, the iMac M4 struggles to run even a five-year-old game like Borderlands 3 at 30 FPS in 1080p. That’s great for a Mac, but not great for someone who likes to play Borderlands 3.

So if you want your all-in-one to be able to play modern games at decent framerates and resolution, I recommend looking for a Windows machine, ideally with a discrete graphics card on board. They are rare, but not impossible to find HP envy 34 for example, is a great alternative.

Not very adjustable or ergonomic

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk, rear camera

The iMac M4 has some nice design touches, like a cutout in the stand for power cable routing, but it could use a more ergonomic and customizable design. (Image credit: Future)

I really like many elements of the iMac design. It’s remarkable that you can get a Mac this powerful in such a sleek, elegant package, and its bright colors and small size make it fit easily into living rooms, bedrooms and home offices.

But one thing that has been driving me crazy for years is the complete lack of height adjustment on this PC. Apple gives you some room to adjust the screen for your comfort by letting it tilt forward and back a bit, but you can’t rotate the screen back and forth or move it up and down.

That might not be a big deal for most people, but for a tall person like me it makes using the iMac physically painful unless I prop it up on books (awkward) or buy the iMac. iMac M4 with a VESA mounting adapter instead of.

And honestly, I recommend you choose the VESA-mounted option or the version that comes with a stand if you’re particularly tall, small, or otherwise an atypical size. If I were buying an iMac for my home, I’d almost certainly buy one without the stand, because the assembly leans on the iMac M4’s strengths (lots of power in one slim, attractive screen) and makes it more accessible and comfortable to use.

But really, if Apple cared about customer health and happiness, it would design an iMac with an adjustable, removable stand so you don’t have to choose between one or the other. Most Windows all-in-ones can do this, so it’s disappointing that the iMac can’t.

Apple iMac M4: Outlook

Hopefully you now have a better idea of why I think the iMac M4 is one of the best best computers you can buy for your home and why it’s a great purchase for those looking to upgrade from the iMac M1.

The iMac has always been a sleek, attractive all-in-one, but the latest Apple silicon gives it enough power to compete with desktop PCs that weigh three times as much. The great speakers and great 12MP webcam are also wonderful to use at home or for distance learning, making it one of the best student computers startup.

But I really don’t like how limited the mode is, and while you can play most of the best Mac games at decent framerates on this all-in-one, you won’t be impressed with the gaming performance.

If these are deal breakers for you, I recommend finding another PC for your needs, or you can try one of the best mini pcs and attach it to a monitor to build your own. That is exactly what my colleague Anthony Spadafora did last year, and you can read how he does it here made his own all-in-one computer to see for yourself how it went.