Apple M3 iMac could arrive Monday — here’s what we know

Apple recently announced plans for its “Scary Fast” event happening on Monday, October 30 at 5 p.m. PT. While we don’t know definitively what will be announced or launched at this Apple event, there’s a high chance Apple’s new M3-powered iMac is ready to launch at this event.

A recent tweet from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via MacRumors) included a link to an old Power On newsletter from March of this year. In this newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple’s next-generation iMac was in the engineering validation testing (EVT) stage, which would make a late October release date entirely possible.

Gurman’s tweet reads, “Apple has been planning an M3 iMac for a while, with the machine going into production months ago.” Although he doesn’t specifically say this in his tweet, his callback to the March Power On newsletter ahead of Apple’s “Scary Fast” event makes us think a new iMac launch is imminent. 

What to expect from Apple’s next-gen iMac

The current iMac model is equipped with an M1 chip. Though it may seem like Apple would release an M2 model before an M3 model, Gurman doesn’t think so. He has repeatedly stated that he thinks iMacs will skip the M2 chip entirely and head straight for the M3 chip. In fact, the iMac will probably be “one of the company’s first M3-based machines,” according to Gurman.

Aside from this massive upgrade to the iMac’s processor, next-gen models will also sport an updated stand. Gurman notes in the Power On newsletter that “the computer will see some of its internal components relocated and redesigned.” Then, his recent tweet says “the stand’s internal design has been tweaked.” It’s not clear how much this internal redesign will affect the overall look of the stand.

Lastly, the fun stuff: colors. The current iMac comes in green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver finishes. Gurman said back in March that the next-gen iMac was being tested in orange, pink, blue, and silver finishes. In his recent tweet, Gurman writes “I’d expect colors to remain similar,” which suggests there may aqlso be yellow and green finishes for this new M3-powered iMac.

Other than the chip upgrade and redesigned stand, Apple’s next-gen iMac will remain the same. It’ll carry over a lot of its current specs and features, like its display specs and software. For existing iMac users, the boost in performance from the M3 chip will be reason enough to upgrade to a new model.