Apple releases the M6 chip and launches the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac powered by it

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Sina Digital News, evening of October 27: Apple today released the new-generation M6 chip and simultaneously launched the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac equipped with the chip. The new Macs have been upgraded in CPU, GPU, and on-device AI performance, and also support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Among them, the 14-inch MacBook Pro has a maximum battery life of up to 24 hours, while the iMac continues the seven-color design. Both products will open for pre-order at 1 a.m. on October 29 and officially go on sale on November 6.

M6 chip released: 12-core CPU, 12-core GPU, further strengthening on-device AI performance

The core upgrade of these two new Mac products comes from the M6 chip. The chip is equipped with up to a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, each increased by two cores compared with the previous generation, further improving multitasking, professional creation, and graphics computing performance.

According to data published by Apple, the graphics processing performance of the M6 chip on the 14-inch MacBook Pro is up to 30% higher than that of M5, and on-device AI workload performance is up to 25% higher.

Each GPU core of M6 is equipped with a neural network acceleration engine, and it features a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Among them, the performance of the Neural Engine is up to 1.9 times higher than that of M5, which can further accelerate tasks such as running large language models, AI image generation, and super-resolution processing.

In addition, M6 also features a third-generation hardware-accelerated ray tracing engine and dynamic caching technology, further improving performance in scenarios such as 3D modeling, image editing, and gaming. Unified memory bandwidth reaches up to 170GB/s, providing support for processing large projects and running local AI models.

14-inch MacBook Pro: up to 24 hours of battery life, upgraded Wi-Fi 7

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro is equipped with the M6 chip, featuring a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory as standard, and up to 32GB as an option.

Apple said that compared with the previous generation product equipped with the M5 chip, the new MacBook Pro's first-token generation speed in large language model prompt processing is up to 30% faster, Blender ray tracing rendering performance is up to 30% higher, and Xcode project compilation speed is up to 30% faster.

If compared with the 13-inch MacBook Pro equipped with the M1 chip, the new machine can reach up to 13 times the first-token generation speed for large language models and up to 11.7 times the Blender ray tracing rendering performance.

In terms of battery life, the new MacBook Pro can achieve up to 24 hours of battery life, an increase of up to 14 hours compared with older MacBook Pro models equipped with Intel processors, and up to 4 hours compared with the M1 version. At the same time, the new machine supports fast charging; with a compatible USB-C power adapter of 96W or higher, it can charge to 50% in as little as 30 minutes.

In terms of display, the new machine continues to use a Liquid Retina XDR display, with HDR peak brightness of up to 1,600 nits and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. It also offers an optional nano-texture display option, which can reduce screen reflections and glare.

In terms of connectivity, the new MacBook Pro has been upgraded to support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, and is equipped with three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SDXC card slot, a MagSafe 3 charging port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, and supports connecting up to two external displays.

In addition, the new machine is equipped with a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, supports Desk View, and features a studio-quality three-microphone array and a six-speaker sound system that supports spatial audio.

In terms of appearance, the new MacBook Pro continues the existing design and is available in Space Black and Silver.

24-inch iMac: up to 12-core CPU and GPU, AI performance up to 5 times higher

In addition to the MacBook Pro, Apple also simultaneously updated the 24-inch iMac product line, equipped with the all-new M6 chip.

The new iMac offers two configurations: a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, and a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU. Compared with the previous generation equipped with the M4 chip, the M6 version has up to two more CPU and GPU cores.

According to data published by Apple, the new iMac's performance in graphics processing tasks is up to 2 times higher than that of M4, and the AI computing performance of the Neural Engine is up to 2 times higher. In a prompt processing test running a local large language model in LM Studio, on-device AI performance is up to 5 times higher than that of M4.

For users of earlier products, the performance improvement is even more obvious. Apple said that compared with the iMac equipped with the M1 chip, the new machine's performance in office applications such as Microsoft Excel is up to 2.5 times higher, Affinity graphics processing performance is up to 3.3 times higher, and local AI model processing performance is up to 12 times higher.

If compared with some older iMac models equipped with Intel processors, the new iMac's performance in specific tests can be up to 18 times higher.

In terms of display, the new iMac continues to use a 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, with a maximum brightness of 500 nits, supports the P3 wide color gamut, and can display more than 1 billion colors.

The new machine is also equipped with a 12-megapixel Center Stage camera, supports Desk View, and features a studio-quality three-microphone array and a six-speaker system that supports Dolby Atmos.

In terms of connectivity, the new iMac supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and an optional 2.5Gb Ethernet port, with wired network transmission speeds up to 2.5 times higher than the previous generation. At the same time, SSD read and write performance is up to 2 times higher than the previous generation.

In terms of ports, the new machine is equipped with up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports and supports connecting two 6K external displays at the same time.

In terms of appearance, the new iMac continues to use a thin all-in-one body design, offering seven colors: blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange, and silver, and is also equipped with a keyboard, mouse, or trackpad that matches the body color.

The Safari browser adds features such as automatically organizing tabs, monitoring changes in webpage content, and creating extensions through natural language. Shortcuts also supports creating automation workflows through natural language descriptions.

Pricing and availability

In terms of price, the new 14-inch MacBook Pro is available in Space Black and Silver, with a starting price of 15,999 yuan in the Chinese market.

The new 24-inch iMac offers two main configurations, among which the 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU version starts at 12,499 yuan, and the 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU version starts at 13,999 yuan.

Both new products will open for pre-order starting at 1:10 a.m. on October 29 in 35 countries and regions including the United States, and will officially go on sale on November 6.

The simultaneous upgrade of the MacBook Pro and iMac to the M6 chip also means that Apple is further expanding on-device AI capabilities to Mac products in different forms. With the addition of GPU neural network acceleration engines, dual 16-core Neural Engines, and higher memory bandwidth, the new generation of Macs, in addition to improvements in traditional productivity and professional creation performance, has also further strengthened the ability to run local large language models and AI applications.