Apple iMac (20-inch, Early 2006) vs Apple iMac 24″ (M3)

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iMac (20-inch, Early 2006) compared with iMac 24″ (M3)

	AppleiMac (20-inch, Early 2006)	AppleiMac 24″ (M3)
Overview
Released
Released	January 2006	November 2023
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core Duo T2500	Apple M3
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	8
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Radeon X1600 (128 MB GDDR3) or ATI Radeon X1600 (256 MB GDDR3)	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	512 MB, 1 GB or 2 GB	8 GB or 24 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	250 GB to 500 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	2 GHz Intel Core Duo T2500 with 2 MB shared L2 cache and 667 MHz system bus; exact identity documented in Ars Technica's launch review	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	ATI Radeon X1600 with 128 MB GDDR3, configurable to 256 MB	8-core GPU (two-port model) or 10-core GPU (four-port models); hardware-accelerated ray tracing
AI engine
AI engine	–	16-core Neural Engine
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	100GB/s
Memory type
Memory type	Two SO-DIMM slots for PC2-5300 (667 MHz) DDR2 SDRAM; 512 MB standard as one module, expandable to 2 GB. The intermediate 1 GB factory option is documented by Sound On Sound's launch review.	–
Storage type
Storage type	250 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, configurable to 500 GB; slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 2.4x double-layer DVD burning	SSD
Media engine
Media engine	–	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; video decode engine; video encode engine; ProRes encode and decode engine; AV1 decode
Display
Screen size
Screen size	20″	24″
Resolution
Resolution	1680 × 1050	4480 × 2520 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	60 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	280 nits	500 nits (better)
Display type
Display type	Widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, millions of colours; typical contrast 800:1 and viewing angles 170° horizontal and vertical. Panel technology and refresh rate unpublished.	4.5K Retina display; actual diagonal 23.5 inches
Pixel density
Pixel density	–	218 ppi
Display features
Display features	–	1 billion colours; wide colour (P3); True Tone
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × USB4, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	–
External displays
External displays	Up to 1	Up to 1
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11g; 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.0 + EDR	5.3
Camera
Camera	iSight camera	1080p FaceTime HD
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 2.0 ports on the computer and two USB 1.1 ports on its keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports sharing 8 W, mini-DVI, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone/optical digital output and analogue audio line input	Two-port model: 2 × Thunderbolt / USB 4 with DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s), USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s) and USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s), Gigabit Ethernet optional; four-port models add 2 × USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s) and Gigabit Ethernet as standard; 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
External displays
External displays	One external display in extended desktop or mirroring mode; digital resolutions up to 1920 × 1200. DVI, VGA, S-video and composite adapters sold separately; analogue maximum omitted because the archived maker page gives an unresolved 2045 × 1536 figure.	One at up to 6K 60Hz
Camera
Camera	–	1080p FaceTime HD camera; advanced image signal processor with computational video
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers with internal 12 W digital amplifier and built-in microphone	High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo sound; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos
Microphones
Microphones	–	Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and Apple Remote; optional wireless keyboard and mouse	Magic Keyboard (two-port model) or Magic Keyboard with Touch ID (four-port models), and Magic Mouse; Magic Trackpad or Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad available instead
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	–	4.43 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	493 × 189 × 472 mm	547 × 147 × 461 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker weight 22 pounds (10 kg), varying by configuration and manufacturing process; shared scalar weight omitted	–
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 180 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase	143W external power adapter; power lead (2 m)
Colours
Colours	–	Two-port model: Blue, Green, Pink, Silver; four-port models also Yellow, Orange, Purple
In the box
In the box	iMac, Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, Apple Remote, power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X 10.4.4 Tiger and iLife '06, Front Row, Photo Booth, Microsoft Office 2004 Test Drive and iWork trial	iMac, Magic Keyboard (with Touch ID on four-port models), Magic Mouse, 143W power adapter, power lead (2 m), USB-C to Lightning Cable