Apple's M6 chip brings serious on-device AI power to the entry-level MacBook Pro and the colorful iMac

Ahead of its upcoming "Pro and Tell" event, Apple has revealed its refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac, powered by its M6 chip.

The tech giant says the M6 features a 12-core CPU, paired with a 12-core GPU that delivers 30 percent faster graphics and 25 percent faster AI workload performance than last year's M5 chip. Interestingly, the company also compares the M6 to the M1 in its press release, highlighting that the newer, more powerful chip offers 11x faster graphics and up to 13x faster AI performance.

Apple says that the M6 features a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, emphasizing that it's a powerful platform for local LLMs and that the chip is designed to take full advantage of Siri AI and Apple Intelligence. The MacBook M6 also features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, alongside returning features like the 12-megapixel Center Stage camera and Liquid Retina XDR display with optional nano-texture.

Beyond the bump up to the M6 chip, the entry-level 14-inch MacBook features the same overall design and port layout as last year's M5 upgrade and, in fact, the year prior's M4 refresh. This means the new MacBook Pro features three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a MagSafe 3 charging port, a full HDMI port, and an SD card slot. While this isn't exactly surprising, given Apple's MacBook Pro design has been around for several years now, it would have been nice to see it evolve in some way.

Pricing for the 14-inch M6 MacBook Pro starts at $2,000 for the 16GB version, which matches last year's pricing. Pre-orders start on October 28th, with shipping beginning on November 6th.

The iMac also gets the M6 chip

Not much else is new with the all-in-one desktop

Apple also refreshed its all-in-one iMac with the M6 chip. This update comes two years after the colorful computer got the M4 chip (the iMac skipped the M5 series entirely). The base M6 configuration in the iMac features a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU, a step up from the 8-core M4 CPU in the last-generation iMac. There's also a more expensive 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU configuration

Beyond the chip upgrade, there isn't much else new. The refreshed iMac features Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 like the new 14-inch MacBook Pro. It also has the same Thunderbolt ports as the M4 iMac — two on the 10-core and four on the 12-core. The colors are all the same, too: Blue, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Silver. At the very least, it would have been great to see an iMac color refresh and a port selection that made a bit more sense.

The entry-level iMac starts at $1,500 and will be available to pre-order on October 28th, with shipping starting on November 6th.

The M6 MacBook Pro and iMac follow the M6 Mac Mini that Apple revealed earlier this year, which the company somewhat confusingly showed off alongside the M5 Max and M5 Ultra Mac Studio. The M6 is Apple's first 2nm chip and bumps up to a 12-core CPU from the M5's 10 cores.

Apple also recently revealed its A20-powered iPad mini. At its upcoming event, the tech giant is expected to show off its long-rumored touchscreen MacBook for the first time.