Apple iMac 24″ (M3) vs Apple iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)

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iMac 24″ (M3) compared with iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)

	AppleiMac 24″ (M3)	AppleiMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2023	October 2009
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M3	Intel Core 2 Duo E7600, Intel Core 2 Duo E8600, Intel Core i5-750 or Intel Core i7-860
CPU cores
CPU cores	8	2 or 4
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) or ATI Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB GDDR3)
Memory
Memory	8 GB or 24 GB (better)	4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 2 TB (better)	1 TB to 2 TB
CPU
CPU	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores	3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo E7600 with 3 MB L2 or optional 3.33 GHz E8600 with 6 MB L2. Quad-core Core i5-750 runs at 2.66 GHz with up to 3.2 GHz Turbo Boost; optional Core i7-860 runs at 2.8 GHz with up to 3.46 GHz Turbo Boost and eight threads through Hyper-Threading. Both quad-core chips have 8 MB L3. Exact identities cross-checked with EveryMac; Core 2 Duo models shipped on 20 October 2009, while maker stated quad-core models would ship in November 2009.
GPU
GPU	8-core GPU (two-port model) or 10-core GPU (four-port models); hardware-accelerated ray tracing	Core 2 Duo models have ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256 MB GDDR3 or optional HD 4850 with 512 MB GDDR3; quad-core models have HD 4850 with 512 MB GDDR3
Memory type
Memory type	–	4 GB standard as two 2 GB modules, with four user-accessible SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of 1066 MHz DDR3. Macworld reports 8 and 16 GB factory upgrades for the 27-inch Core 2 Duo model; support sheet gives the same 16 GB maximum across the model.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	100GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	1 TB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, configurable to 2 TB; slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer DVD burning
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	24″	27″
Resolution
Resolution	4480 × 2520 (better)	2560 × 1440
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	IPS LCD
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits (better)	375 nits
Display type
Display type	4.5K Retina display; actual diagonal 23.5 inches	Glossy LED-backlit IPS widescreen LCD, millions of colours, 178° horizontal/vertical viewing angle and maker typical brightness 375 cd/m²; refresh rate unpublished and omitted. Optional VESA mounting adapter.
Pixel density
Pixel density	218 ppi	–
Display features
Display features	1 billion colours; wide colour (P3); True Tone	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB4, headphone jack	DisplayPort, 4 × USB-A, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	–	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 1	Up to 1
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	802.11n
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	2.1 + EDR
Camera
Camera	1080p FaceTime HD	iSight camera
Back ports
Back ports	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	Mini DisplayPort video input/output, four USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800 at 7 W, Gigabit Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone/optical digital output and line-in/optical digital input. FireWire and audio input described here; the SD slot is not labelled SDXC.
External displays
External displays	One at up to 6K 60Hz	Full built-in resolution and one external display up to 2560 × 1600 simultaneously. Mini DisplayPort input supports external DisplayPort sources; HDMI input is not implied. Extended desktop and mirroring, optional DVI/VGA/dual-link DVI output adapters.
Camera
Camera	1080p FaceTime HD camera; advanced image signal processor with computational video	–
Speakers
Speakers	High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers; wide stereo sound; Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	Built-in stereo speakers with two internal 17 W amplifiers, microphone and support for Apple Stereo Headset microphones
Microphones
Microphones	Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming	–
Keyboard and mouse
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	Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	4.43 kg (better)	13.8 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	547 × 147 × 461 mm	650 × 207 × 517 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Power supply
Power supply	143W external power adapter; power lead (2 m)	Maximum continuous power 365 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase
Materials
Materials	–	Aluminium and glass enclosure, arsenic-free display glass and mercury-free LED backlight; BFR-free and PVC-free components, with PVC-free external cables in North America only
Colours
Colours	Two-port model: Blue, Green, Pink, Silver; four-port models also Yellow, Orange, Purple	–
In the box
In the box	iMac, Magic Keyboard (with Touch ID on four-port models), Magic Mouse, 143W power adapter, power lead (2 m), USB-C to Lightning Cable	iMac, Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Mouse, cleaning cloth, power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife '09