Hands-on with Apple’s new 24-inch M3 iMac: Same beloved design, better performance

Apple’s Scary Fast event saw the very first update to the 24-inch iMac. Much like the other devices revealed on that pre-Halloween night, the real highlight of the announcement has the new M3 chip basking in all the glory. I’ve been using the new M3 iMac all week since launch and have some quick hands-on thoughts.

Apple’s 24-inch iMac immediately caught my eye back when it first launched in 2021. I rushed to an Apple retail store on launch day two years ago to secure my shiny new machine and put it through its paces as an everyday driver for well over a year and a half. Then, I moved to New York.

Space was limited, and I knew that making the switch to a MacBook-centered workstation was going to be the right call. So, I parted ways with my beloved all-in-one to take a more streamlined approach to my setup. But I can’t say that I never looked back…

Fast forward to October, and Apple throws the 24-inch iMac a bone by upgrading it for the first time with that brand-new M3 chip. It may have been one of the more expected squares on the keynote bingo card to get checked off, but the reveal was still just what I needed to hear as someone missing her colorful desktop Mac. So, I locked in my order on the middle-tier model with 10-core GPU and 8GB of RAM and picked it up on Tuesday night.

I’ve been using the machine all week and am thrilled to be back to having the iMac on my desk. It’s hilariously the opposite decision of what 9to5Mac‘s Chance Miller just did, switching from a MacBook Air and Mac Studio to one of Apple’s new 14-inch M3 MacBook Pros. Now, on the other side of the equation, I find myself loving the dual MacBook and iMac setup.

Sure, there might not be anything entirely new with the 24-inch iMac, but the M3 performance has been deeply appreciated. The design remains so unapologetically Apple and, quite frankly, unmatched in the world of desktops. I still adore how slim the whole build is, and the fact that I can have a blue Mac on my desk is even harder to beat.

Its 4.5K Retina Display also looks as good as ever and is such a nice upgrade from the old LG UltraWide I had been using as a companion display with my MacBook that I am surprised that I was able to even get by for so long with so few pixels. Other frills, like a braided nylon power cable, continue over from the original and feel just as premium as ever.

Circling back to the performance, the M3 chip is such a notable upgrade over the M1 Apple Silicon in the original. I feel like I can get away with far more in my daily use before I hit any form of performance peak than before. This desktop has largely been serving as my podcast studio, but it also has quickly become my go-to way to interface with my server – monitoring Plex, handling bulk file transfers, and other longer-term tasks that having a desktop always running excels at.

But yeah, there’s no getting over that this is a pretty minimal upgrade as far as form factor goes. Anyone rocking an original M1 24-inch iMac shouldn’t need to upgrade – at least if you’re not already maxing out your two-year-old machine. Benchmarks are at least backing up my anecdotal claims that the M3 chip is no joke. And with no larger iMac seemingly anywhere close to seeing the light of day, getting one of the higher-end configurations of the new desktop seems more compelling than ever.

My past few days of use might not be the most exhaustive testing, but I can pretty safely say that the M3 iMac will happily serve as a core part of my workflow going forward. It’s a full embodiment of a if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it mentality as far as the design goes. And on the inside, delivers noticeable gains over its predecessor.

If you’ve been holding off on buying one of the 24-inch iMacs solely because the M1 chip in the original was beginning to show its age, then now certainly is the time to upgrade. The M3 model is very much worth pulling the trigger on.

Apple’s new 24-inch M3 iMac now starts at $1,299 and is available for purchase. The same four colorways still exist on the baseline model, with the $1,499 and up options bringing a few extra designs into play to total seven different styles.