Apple iMac 24″ (M3) vs Apple iMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003)

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iMac 24″ (M3) compared with iMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003)

	AppleiMac 24″ (M3)	AppleiMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2023	February 2003
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M3	Motorola PowerPC G4 800 MHz (iMac Flat Panel)
CPU cores
CPU cores	8	1
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (32 MB)
Memory
Memory	8 GB or 24 GB (better)	256 MB, 512 MB or 1 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 2 TB (better)	60 GB
CPU
CPU	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores	800 MHz PowerPC G4, 100 MHz system bus and 256 KB on-chip L2 cache. Single-core maker-clock record is reused only for the same published clock and G4 family; uncertain silicon identity is not inferred.
GPU
GPU	8-core GPU (two-port model) or 10-core GPU (four-port models); hardware-accelerated ray tracing	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32 MB dedicated DDR video memory and AGP 2x support.
Memory type
Memory type	–	256 MB SDRAM standard; factory options 512 MB or 1 GB. One 168-pin DIMM and one user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. Apple supports up to 1 GB.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	100GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	60 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/66 hard drive and 32x Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW. Combo reads DVDs at 8x, writes CD-R at 32x and CD-RW at 10x. No unsupported storage option is paired with this processor.
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″	15″
Resolution
Resolution	4480 × 2520 (better)	1024 × 768
Panel
Panel	IPS LCD	–
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	60 Hz	–
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits (better)	200 nits
Display type
Display type	4.5K Retina display; actual diagonal 23.5 inches	TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 300:1 contrast; panel technology and refresh rate unpublished in the exact maker sheet.
Pixel density
Pixel density	218 ppi	–
Display features
Display features	1 billion colours; wide colour (P3); True Tone	Typical viewing angles: 120° horizontal and 90° vertical. Articulated display arm adjusts height and angle.
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB4, headphone jack	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	–	0.1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 1	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
Camera
Camera	1080p FaceTime HD	–
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	Three USB 1.1 ports on the computer, plus two on the keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports with 8 W shared power, Mini-VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, headphone jack and Apple speaker minijack. The 15-inch model has no audio line-in. Optional AirPort 802.11b card; Bluetooth requires a separate USB adapter, unlike the 17-inch internal option.
External displays
External displays	One at up to 6K 60Hz	Mini-VGA video mirroring through an optional adapter: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz. S-video and composite output are absent on the 15-inch model.
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 speaker and microphone; Apple Pro Speakers rated at 9 W each and internal 18 W amplifier.
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 Keyboard, Apple Mouse, Apple Pro Speakers and modem cable.
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	4.43 kg (better)	9.7 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	547 × 147 × 461 mm	–
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Adjustable maker ranges: height 329–509 mm, width 384–415 mm and depth 270–415 mm; base diameter 270 mm. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Power supply
Power supply	143W external power adapter; power lead (2 m)	90–264 V AC, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 130 W.
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	Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar and iLife, with AppleWorks and other bundled applications. Classic environment supports older applications; the exact EveryMac model source confirms it cannot boot Mac OS 9, unlike the original 2002 revision. Maker launch confirms immediate availability on 4 February 2003.