Apple iMac (M4) review – There’s One Hidden Crucial Detail No One Talks About!

The super-powerful Apple M4 processor has arrived for the iMac, and we’re thrilled to put it through our extensive tests.

On paper, the new iMac looks almost identical to its predecessor, but we’ll thoroughly test it to either confirm or refute this. Of course, Apple doesn’t need to change a winning formula—cutting-edge performance, a superb display, and a beautiful design.

Interestingly, the new iMac even comes at a lower price point, considering that 16GB of RAM should have been standard in the previous generation. Instead, it was a $200 upgrade option. Now, for the same price, you can upgrade to the 24GB RAM variant, building on the new base 16GB configuration.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the storage. The base configuration still offers just 256GB, which actually translates to just over 200GB of usable space.

For those needing maximum performance, the most important upgrade is the four-port iMac with 10 CPU and 10 GPU cores—this upgrade also costs $200. However, the number of ports and the two additional cores aren’t the only improvements. The 10-core configuration comes with not one, but two system fans, resulting in a significant performance boost for intensive workloads like video rendering and 3D modeling!

The difference in fan count has been present since the M1 iMac, and you can watch an excellent video about it from Max Tech. Back then, however, the difference between the two variants was limited to just one GPU core. With the M4 iMac, it’s a whole new game—this is the first generation where we see a difference in the number of CPU cores, and it’s a substantial one: 10 vs 8 CPU and GPU cores! The additional CPU cores are “efficiency cores” but the 4 performance cores are expected to run at much higher frequencies, thanks to the second fan.

Stay tuned—there’s much more to come in this review!

You can find all available Apple iMac M4 configurations in your country here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Contents

Specs, What’s in the box

What’s in the box?

The M4 iMac comes with a Magic Keyboard, a Magic Mouse, and a braided magnetic power connector, all color-matched. The 10-core CPU/GPU variant’s Magic Keyboard includes a Touch ID button, which is another benefit you get for paying the extra $200.

Of course, all cables are now USB-C instead of Lightning. Good job, EU.

Design and Construction

As we noted, the M4 iMac uses the same design as the M1 and M3 generations—it’s super elegant with its 0.45″ (11.5 mm) profile and ultra-clean appearance.

Even the Apple logo is missing. After all, everybody knows the brand when they see the computer.

There’s one small visual difference: the camera above the screen is larger, as the iMac now features a 12MP Center Stage camera, offering better quality than the previous two generations.

Here’s something to be aware of before ordering your iMac in a color of your choice. The colorful variants may look subtle on Apple’s website, but in person, they’re highly saturated—almost distractingly so. Initially, we ordered the Pink variant but ended up returning it for the more neutral gray/white color variant.

*We tried to make them look more realistic on that image

The Apple logo is still present—it’s just on the back of the computer.

Ports

The backside houses the power connector and two or four Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, depending on the configuration. That’s it—so simple, and perhaps a bit disappointing for those who remember the rich connectivity of Intel-based iMacs. However, with the modern iMac, you’re expected to rely on a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, and minimal peripherals.

Surprisingly, the audio jack is still included, located on the side of the iMac.

The good news is that all ports are now Thunderbolt 4. Compared to the last-generation iMac, which had two Thunderbolt ports and two USB 3 ports, this is a notable upgrade.

The Ethernet port, if included, is integrated into the power supply, with the power cable doubling as an Ethernet cable. This is one of those “Apple” things you don’t expect but can’t help but appreciate.

With the 2-port M4 iMac, you can connect one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

With the 4-port M4 iMac, you can connect up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz or one external display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz.

Here’s something important to note: if you connect it to an HDMI display (like a TV), you’re limited to 4K at 60Hz. For higher resolutions, you’ll need to apply some tweaks and workarounds, which you can read more about here.

Display and Sound Quality

Apple iMac M4 24-inch
Diagonal	23.5 inches (59.7 cm)
Panel Type	IPS 4.5K Retina display
Resolution	4480 x 2520 pixels
Max Refresh Rate	60 Hz
Aspect Ratio	16:9
Pixel Density	218 PPI
‘Retina’ Distance	Greater than or equal to 40 cm

Viewing Angles

Viewing angles are good. We take photos from different angles to evaluate the quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

Color Coverage

The whole “sail-shaped” map below (Fig. 1) consists of all the colors we can see, while the black crooked line shows all the colors from real-world scenes and nature around us.

Then, we’ve drawn some of the most important and interesting color spaces, compared to the colors the panel of Apple iMac M4 24-inch can show:

Standard/For Web: sRGB – widely used color space for most consumer devices, ideal for Web design and development
For Print: AdobeRGB – used in professional photo editing, graphic design, and print
For Photographers/Video Editors: DCI-P3 – used in high-end film production, post-production, and digital cinema
Premium HDR: Rec.2020 – the widest consumer ITU color standard, covering a massive 75.8% of the visible spectrum, a benchmark for premium HDR content

Apple iMac M4 24-inch: the yellow dashed triangle (– – – – – –) represents the range of colors this monitor can display.

In our tests, we calculated the total color coverage of the monitor at 100% of the sRGB color gamut and 100% of the Display P3 color gamut.

(Fig.2) Apple iMac M4 24-inch covers 100% of the Display P3 gamut

When the user opens a web page in a browser on the Apple iMac M4 24-inch screen, the content is typically displayed in the sRGB color space by default, although the native coverage is Display P3.

(Fig.3) sRGB

Brightness and Contrast

The maximum brightness is 515 cd/m² in the center of the screen.

The Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) on a white screen at maximum brightness is 6830K.

Uniformity: Luminance, Contrast, and Color Deviation

The figure below shows the results from our uniformity test across different sections of the screen. It’s measured at 182 nits (Windows slider = 58%) — a brightness level we consider typical for standard working conditions.

DeltaE values below 4.0 are acceptable for regular users. For those working with colors, screens with DeltaE values no higher than 2.0 are recommended.

Color Accuracy

Let’s check the difference between real colors and those you’ll see on the iMac M4 24-inch. We measure that distance in DeltaE – the higher the number, the more different they look.

Values below 4.0 are acceptable for regular users, while values below 2.0 are suitable for color-sensitive work. A value below 1.0 means the difference is indistinguishable to the naked eye.

For the next graph, we’ve selected 24 common colors, including dark/light skin, blue sky, green grass, etc.

Below are the results of the Apple iMac M4 24-inch in its factory condition compared to sRGB color spaces.

Health Impact: PWM (Screen flickering)

Some use PWM to regulate their brightness, which means that instead of reducing the light intensity, they pulse or flicker. Our brain merges the image, so it appears darker, but this strains both it and our vision, especially when the frequency of the pulses is low. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

In the graph below, you see the intensity of light at different brightness levels—on the vertical axis is the brightness of the emitted light, and on the horizontal axis—time.

The light from the backlight of the Apple iMac M4 24-inch display is not pulse-width modulated, providing visual comfort in the discussed aspect.

Health Impact: Screen Reflectance

Glossy-coated displays can cause eye fatigue in high ambient light conditions due to reflections. We measure the level of screen reflection with the display turned off, at a 60° angle.

High Gloss: >70 GU
Medium Gloss: 30 – 70 GU
Low Gloss: <30 GU

The reflectance of the Apple iMac M4’s screen is 48.4 GU. This is a great result for an office computer.

However, if there’s a direct sunlight against your display, it’s important that you purchase configuration with the Nano-texture glass cover. We have tested it in the iPad Pro, and you can see the difference below the Nano-texture covered iPad (left) and a typical OLED screen laptop below:

Apple iPad with Nano-texture glass (left) | Typical OLED laptop (right)

Sound

The Apple iMac M4 has a six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers. Its sound is of very good quality. The low, mid, and high frequencies are clear.

It also has three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming.

Performance: CPU, GPU, Storage

To get a broader picture of the M-series performance, check out our Apple M4 (+ Pro / Max) vs M3 (+ Pro / Max) vs M2 (+ Pro / Max / Ultra) vs M1 (+ Pro / Max / Ultra) – The Ultimate Benchmark Comparison! article.

Now, let’s summarize your performance options for the M4 iMac:

CPU Performance

We bought the variant with 8 CPU cores and just one system fan. However, we’ve tested the 10-core M4 in a MacBook Pro so we can show you what to expect from it.

Actually, there’s a 9-core variant too which can be found in the budget configurations of iPad Pro. Here are all three of them in the Single-core test:

The difference is not significant.

However, if you work with heavy applications related to 3D Rendering and Video editing, Multi-core performance is also important to you:

To put things into perspective, we’ll show you the M4 position relatively to the Intel’s current mobile flagship, Core i9-14900HX:

In short, Apple M4 is much better when it comes to regular “everyday” tasks, while the i9-14900HX shines in heavy processes.

Storage Performance

The storage performance isn’t mind-blowing but that’s to be expected for such a small SSD – we have the 256GB variant. Still, the speeds you see below are more than enough for comfortable work in regular tasks.

Performance During Continuous Load: 3D rendering, video editing, and other heavy tasks

We already mentioned the hidden difference between the 2-port and 4-port iMac configurations—the cooling system. The 2-port variant uses only one fan, while the 4-port has two, making the latter better suited for power users.

As we purchased the 2-port variant, our iMac is equipped with just one fan. To even hear it, you would need to push the system to 100% load for at least a few minutes. Even then, it’s so quiet you could easily miss it.

In other words, unless you’re using the iMac for continuous 100% load tasks like rendering large videos, you may never hear the fan at all.

Let’s check the throttling with just one fan under 100% CPU load, using Cinebench 2024 in loop:

As you can see, we start from 4 GHz but after the first 5 minutes the frequency is stabilized around 2.7 GHz. Of course, for regular users, most tasks will be done after a fraction of a second, this graph is important for those who work with 3D Rendering apps, or other heavy workload.

OK, now let’s check what happens if we leave the iMac under 100% load for 30 minutes:

The 2.6 – 2.9 GHz frequency is sustained for a long time, and the fan is not intrusive.

Gaming Stress Test

We used the 3DMark Solar Bay stress test to evaluate the continuous performance of the one-fan-powered M4 iMac.

The Solar Bay graphics test includes ray-traced reflections, volumetric lighting, particles, and post-processing effects.

As shown, the M4 in the iMac handles continuous GPU heavy loads effortlessly, achieving over 97% stability over 20 runs, even when cooled by just one small fan.

Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

The M4 iMac is not an easy to repair. At all. However, if you’re an enthusiast, there’s a super useful guide for that on Apple’s service website – both for the 2-port configurations, and for the 4-port variants.

In order to get access to the hardware of the iMac, you have to remove the display. The detailed guide is here. Here’s how it looks like in short:

Prepare the iMac: Place a stand wedge between the stand and housing. If using a VESA mount, position the computer upright in the support stand.

Cut the adhesive strips: Use the adhesive cutter at a 90-degree angle between the display and housing. Avoid the 3-inch area surrounding the camera to prevent damage.

Separate the display: Lay the iMac face up on a flat surface. Run the adhesive cutter along the edges until resistance decreases. Slightly lift the display and inspect for remaining adhesive, cutting as needed.

Use safety tools: Wear safety glasses and use a black stick to carefully cut any stubborn adhesive. Do not insert or twist the stick beyond its notch.

Detach flex cables: Rotate the iMac, lift the display gently, and disconnect the backlight flex cable, camera cable, and eDP flex cable.

Remove adhesive: Peel off the residual adhesive from the display edges. Use ethanol or IPA wipes to clean the edges, ensuring they are dry before reassembly.

Conclusion

The M4 iMac is a perfect machine for regular users or those who don’t prioritize maximum multi-core performance. For 90% of users, single-core performance is far more important, and the M4 chip delivers blazing-fast single-core results.

To get a broader picture of the M-series performance, check out our Apple M4 (+ Pro / Max) vs M3 (+ Pro / Max) vs M2 (+ Pro / Max / Ultra) vs M1 (+ Pro / Max / Ultra) – The Ultimate Benchmark Comparison! article.

If you’re a power user, don’t hesitate to invest $200 more for the 10-core M4! You’ll get 25% more CPU and GPU cores, better temperatures, higher clocks, and, as a bonus – two additional Thunderbolt ports, support for 2x external monitors, Ethernet port, and a Touch ID button on the keyboard. If you’re a regular user, you probably won’t notice the difference between the two variants.

Upgrading a desktop might sound like an easy task, but as expected, this isn’t the case with the iMac, so plan your needs carefully. The good news is that the 16GB of RAM in the base variant should be sufficient for regular tasks for the next few years. However, the same can’t be said for the 256GB of SSD storage—you’ll likely need an external drive for archives if you choose this variant.

Another critical feature, often overlooked, is the screen quality. High contrast, high resolution, and the ability to boost brightness when needed are essential for avoiding eye strain. The ultra-low surface reflectance of the display is another significant advantage, and precise information about it is only available on LaptopMedia. If your display position is exposed to direct sunlight (and you can’t change that), you must buy the variant with Nano-texture glass, available only with the 10-core iMac. Yes, it’s expensive, but your eye health is far more important.

In conclusion, the M4 iMac has its share of drawbacks, but it is a product of such high quality that, even with these shortcomings, it remains a perfect computer for the majority of users out there.

You can find all available Apple iMac M4 configurations in your country here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

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