Apple's M6 MacBook Pro and iMac: Prices and Dates

Apple quietly refreshed two Macs on Tuesday with press releases instead of an event: the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 24-inch iMac both move to the new M6 chip. Pre-orders open on October 28 and both machines land on November 6. If you were about to buy an M5 MacBook Pro or an older iMac, this is worth a few minutes before you pay.

What happened

According to Apple's MacBook Pro announcement, the base 14-inch model now gets a 12-core CPU (two more cores than M5) and a 12-core GPU with Neural Accelerators. Apple claims up to 30% faster graphics and 25% faster AI work than the M5 version, plus a dual 16-core Neural Engine. Memory starts at 16GB, bandwidth goes up to 170GB/s, and Apple quotes up to 24 hours of battery, which it calls the longest ever in a Mac.

The new N1 wireless chip brings Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Everything else is familiar: the same chassis, the 1600-nit XDR display (nano-texture optional), HDMI, SDXC, MagSafe 3 and three Thunderbolt 4 ports. It comes in space black or silver.

The iMac update keeps the 4.5K screen and seven colours. Inside you get up to a 12-core CPU and GPU, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, an SSD Apple says is up to twice as fast, and support for two 6K displays. 2.5Gb Ethernet is on the 12-core models only.

Prices from Apple's store:

• MacBook Pro 14-inch M6: $1,999 (₹2,39,900 on Apple's Indian store), with 16GB and 1TB
• iMac M6, 10-core: $1,499 (₹1,74,900)
• iMac M6, 12-core: $1,699 (₹1,99,900)

Pre-orders go live in 35 countries on October 28. In India that's 10:40 PM IST.

Why it matters

Honestly, the MacBook Pro is a spec bump. 9to5Mac's comparison lists the chip and the wireless upgrade as the only real changes. The price is the same as the M5 model sells for today, but that's $400 above what the M5 cost at its October 2025 launch, after Apple dropped the 512GB version earlier this year.

The iMac is the bigger jump if you're coming from M1 or M3. Apple says graphics are up to 2x faster and on-device AI up to 5x faster than the M4 iMac. Remember these are all Apple's own numbers, though. Independent tests will show up after November 6.

What to do

• Already own an M5 MacBook Pro? Keep it. The gains are real but small.
• On an M1 or an Intel Mac? This is a sensible upgrade point, especially if you run local AI models or long builds.
• Students should check Apple's education pricing: $1,899 for the MacBook Pro and from $1,449 for the iMac.
• If you're thinking of running LLMs on it, my guide to the best Ollama models for limited RAM shows why 16GB is the realistic floor.

MacRumors flagged the MacBook Pro announcement on X soon after Apple published it.