Apple has refreshed the 24-inch iMac with its M6 chip, and the UAE is among the 35 countries and regions getting it first. According to Apple’s announcement, pre-orders open tomorrow, 28 October, on Apple website and in the Apple Store app. Deliveries and in-store availability, including Apple Authorized Resellers, start on Friday, 6 November.
The design stays the same: a thin all-in-one in seven colours (blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver). The changes are inside, with a faster chip, newer wireless standards and quicker storage. Tom’s Hardware reports that Apple also moved the 14-inch MacBook Pro to M6 the same day, so the chip is now spreading across the Mac range.
UAE pricing
The UAE store lists two configurations, and education pricing applies to both. Apple lists up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports as the iMac’s maximum.
| Configuration | UAE price | With education savings |
|---|---|---|
| M6, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU | AED 6,499 | AED 6,299 |
| M6, 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU | AED 7,499 | AED 7,099 |
Apple says further configure-to-order options and Magic accessory details are on apple.com/ae/mac. The 2.5Gb Ethernet port is listed as “available”, which suggests it’s an option rather than standard on every model.
What M6 changes
The headline upgrade is core count. Apple says the M6 has up to a 12-core CPU and up to a 12-core GPU, two more cores each than before. The GPU now includes a Neural Accelerator in each core. Apple claims the CPU delivers the world’s fastest single-threaded performance, and Hardware Engineering VP Shelly Goldberg said the chip’s “blazing performance and AI capabilities” supercharge every workflow.
Apple’s own comparisons give a sense of the scale. Against the M4 iMac, the company says everyday apps such as Microsoft Excel run up to 1.5x faster, graphics tasks such as photo editing in Affinity run up to 2x faster, and gaming with ray tracing runs up to 2x faster. Against the M1 iMac, those figures rise to 2.5x for Excel and 3.3x for graphics. Anyone still on an Intel iMac gets the biggest claimed jump: up to 18x faster than the most popular Intel-based model.
AI is where Apple pushes hardest. According to Apple, the new Dual 16-core Neural Engine delivers up to 2x faster AI compute than the previous generation. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 170GB/s. Apple also says prompt processing in LM Studio runs up to 5x faster than on M4 and up to 12x faster than on the M1 iMac. That is a pitch aimed at people running large language models locally, a trend we’ve also covered with PewDiePie’s Ajax model for local PCs. Apple frames local processing as a privacy benefit because data stays on the device.
Connectivity, storage and display
The iMac gains Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Apple says the optional 2.5Gb Ethernet is up to 2.5x faster than the previous generation’s wired connection, and that SSD read and write speeds are up to 2x faster. The iMac supports up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports and can drive two 6K external displays, which makes it more workable as a hub for external drives and docks.
The rest of the hardware carries over. That means a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display with 500 nits of brightness and P3 wide colour, a 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, and a three-microphone array. The speaker system has two pairs of force-cancelling woofers and two tweeters, with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support. A colour-matched Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad ship with it, and all use USB-C.
macOS 27 on day one
The iMac ships with macOS 27 Golden Gate, which we broke down in our WWDC 2026 roundup. Apple highlights a new Settings slider that adjusts Liquid Glass from ultraclear to fully tinted, plus sharper app icons. Continuity features such as file sharing, handoff and iPhone control from the desktop carry over, and switchers can transfer settings, files, photos and passwords from an iPhone.
Buying options
Apple Trade In credit is available through apple.com/ae/shop/trade-in, and year-round education pricing applies to students and educators. AppleCare+ covers accidents, battery replacement and priority support, and buyers who order directly from Apple get a Personal Setup session. On sustainability, Apple says the stand uses 100 percent recycled aluminium, and the iMac is built with 40 percent renewable electricity across the supply chain.
For comparison with Windows all-in-ones and desktops pitching AI features, see our look at ASUS’s AI PC lineup for the UAE.
When can I order the new iMac in the UAE?
Pre-orders open on 28 October on apple.com/ae/store and in the Apple Store app. Apple says arrivals and in-store availability, including Authorized Resellers, begin on Friday, 6 November.
How much does the M6 iMac cost in the UAE?
The 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU model starts at AED 6,499, or AED 6,299 with education savings. The 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU model starts at AED 7,499, or AED 7,099 with education savings.
Is it worth upgrading from an Intel or M1 iMac?
Apple’s figures show the biggest gains for Intel owners, with up to 18x faster performance than the most popular Intel-based iMac. M1 owners are claimed to get up to 2.5x faster Excel performance and up to 3.3x faster graphics. We recommend checking your trade-in value on Apple’s UAE trade-in page before you order.
