Apple iMac M3 review: All-in-one(der)

When the M1-powered 24-inch iMac launched over two years ago in April 2021, the multi-hued lineup felt like a walk down memory lane, to a time when colours offered consumers a respite from Apple’s silver and space grey Macs. Cut to 2023, where the iMac makes a return (after skipping the M2 series of chips) with the M3 generation of Apple’s silicon. Despite its obvious lack of visible changes on the outside, the iMac redeems itself with compelling upgrades under the hood and remains an easy choice for a shared family or small business desktop Mac.

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Those lack of visible changes and the recycling of design from the M1 iMac isn’t a ding on the iMac, as the 12 mm thick all-aluminium design in seven colours (with to boot) is still the slickest way to take a Mac (nay, any desktop) out of its box, plug in power, and have it ready to go. It’s equal parts a smart décor piece as it is a productivity desktop, so it finds itself equally at home in a living space, a study, or a dry kitchen countertop.

It’s still got a limited range of motion—the stand only tilts and still isn’t height adjustable—and port selection is still limited to four Thunderbolt USB-C ports on the step-up models (the entry level has two). Oddly, the colour-matched accessories—a Magic Mouse, a Magic Keyboard (with TouchID on upgraded models), and the Magic Trackpad—still use Lightning ports to charge instead of USB-C that practically every other Apple product uses.

Powering the iMac is Apple’s latest M3 chip, which allows for the same benefits of dynamic memory caching (adjusting memory per app as needed), ray tracing, and mesh shading (for games and graphics apps) as the more powerful M3 Pro and M3 Max chips that are to be found on the pro-grade MacBook Pros.

New to the iMac is a 10-core GPU, a step up from the 7/8-core GPU on the M1 iMac, and up to 24GB of memory on upgraded models. The 10-core, 16GB model I had for review worked plenty snappily on everyday tasks, yet is enough of a bump for even M1 iMac owners to consider the upgrade (and definitely folks with Intel Macs), particularly if you indulge in some lightweight video and photo editing.

Interestingly, there’s a renewed focus on gaming on M3 Macs, and I was able to play games like Baldur’s Gate 3 (Steam) and Lies of P decently enough on medium settings with no issues. Not bad for the entry-level chip in the series. One wishes there were models of the iMac that offered the more powerful Pro and Max chips for folks with heavier workloads, an iMac for pros... an iMac Pro reboot, perhaps?

While the M3 chip is certainly the star of the show, what you interact with on a daily basis—the 4.5K (4480 x 2520 pixel) Retina screen—is no less impressive. It’s bright, the colours are vibrant, and the 24-inch size is handy for most places, though some may have wanted a larger screen model for big-screen video editing / mini-TV use cases. The 1080p FaceTime camera, six-speaker sound, and triple-mic array certainly show off its video call / media consumption prowess.

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As lovely as it looks perched bang in the middle of the home, it’s tough to ignore the fact that practically anyone looking for a less integrated solution could easily pair an M2 Mac mini with a budget monitor and Bluetooth accessories for far less. It’s capable enough of handling the daily needs for work and play to suit many households, all in a form factor that prioritises quality, design, and simplicity. There isn’t another desktop that packs in more oomph, that’s for sure.

Rating: 8 /10

Price: INR 1,34,900 onwards