Apple iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011) vs Apple iMac 24″ (M3)

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iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011) compared with iMac 24″ (M3)

	AppleiMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011)	AppleiMac 24″ (M3)
Overview
Released
Released	August 2011	November 2023
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i3 3.1 GHz (iMac Late 2011)	Apple M3
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	8
Graphics
Graphics	AMD Radeon HD 6750M (256 MB GDDR5)	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU
Memory
Memory	2 GB, 4 GB or 8 GB	8 GB or 24 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	250 GB	256 GB to 2 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	3.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 with 3 MB shared L3 cache. The English specification and maker education price list confirm dual-core i3; conflicting translated regional processor descriptions are not used. Exact Intel SKU unestablished.	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 256 MB GDDR5.	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	1333 MHz DDR3; 2 GB standard in one module, configurable to 4 GB (two 2 GB) or 8 GB (two 4 GB).	–
Storage type
Storage type	250 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive; slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer 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	21.5″	24″
Resolution
Resolution	1920 × 1080	4480 × 2520 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	60 Hz
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Display type
Display type	LED-backlit glossy TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours. Panel technology, brightness and refresh rate are not published.	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	4 × USB-A, SD card slot, 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	802.11n	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	5.3
Camera
Camera	FaceTime HD camera	1080p FaceTime HD
Back ports
Back ports	Four USB 2.0 ports on the computer, plus two on the wired keyboard; Mini DisplayPort, FireWire 800 at 7 W, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone/optical output and audio line-in/optical input. This education model has no published Thunderbolt or Bluetooth specification.	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	Built-in display and one external display up to 2560 × 1600 simultaneously; extended desktop or mirroring.	One at up to 6K 60Hz
Camera
Camera	–	1080p FaceTime HD camera; advanced image signal processor with computational video
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers with two internal 20 W amplifiers; microphone and support for Apple iPhone headset 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	Wired Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Apple Mouse with scroll ball.	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	8.8 kg	4.43 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	528 × 188.5 × 451 mm	547 × 147 × 461 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker reference weight; actual weight varies with configuration and manufacturing process.	–
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 205 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz.	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	Education institution model with Mac OS X Lion and iLife. August 2011 month precision follows contemporary MacRumors ordering coverage and 9to5Mac shipment scheduling, corroborated by the maker price list dated 8 August; that price date is not treated as a first delivery day.	iMac, Magic Keyboard (with Touch ID on four-port models), Magic Mouse, 143W power adapter, power lead (2 m), USB-C to Lightning Cable