Apple iMac 24″ (M4) vs Apple iMac G3 (Summer 2001)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

iMac 24″ (M4) compared with iMac G3 (Summer 2001)

	AppleiMac 24″ (M4)	AppleiMac G3 (Summer 2001)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2024	July 2001
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4	PowerPC G3 500 MHz (iMac), PowerPC G3 600 MHz (iMac) or PowerPC G3 700 MHz (iMac)
CPU cores
CPU cores	8 or 10	1
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	ATI RAGE 128 Ultra (16 MB)
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	38 TOPS	–
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	128 MB, 256 MB or 1 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 2 TB (better)	20 GB to 60 GB
CPU
CPU	8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores (two-port model), or 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores (four-port models)	500, 600 or 700 MHz PowerPC G3 with 256 KB on-chip L2 cache at processor speed; 100 MHz system bus. Clock-only chip records do not infer a silicon supplier.
GPU
GPU	Hardware-accelerated ray tracing	ATI RAGE 128 Ultra with 16 MB SDRAM in every configuration; AGP 2x.
Memory type
Memory type	–	500 MHz: 128 MB; 600/700 MHz: 256 MB PC100 SDRAM. Two DIMM slots support up to 1 GB. The configurations preserve the base processor/drive ties at base and maximum memory.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	120GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	500 MHz: 20 GB, Indigo or Snow. 600 MHz: 40 GB, Snow or Graphite. 700 MHz Special Edition: 60 GB, Snow or Graphite. All have an 8x/4x/24x CD-RW drive; no DVD reading. Apple says 500/600 MHz available immediately on 18 July; 700 MHz expected in August.
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	75 Hz (better)
Brightness
Brightness	500 nits	–
Display type
Display type	4.5K Retina display; actual diagonal 23.5 inches	15-inch nominal shadow-mask CRT, 13.8-inch viewable diagonal and 0.28 mm dot pitch.
Pixel density
Pixel density	218 ppi	–
Display features
Display features	1 billion colours; wide colour (P3); True Tone; nano-texture glass option on four-port models	1024 × 768 at 75 Hz, 800 × 600 at 95 Hz and 640 × 480 at 117 Hz. Main refresh describes the highest-resolution mode.
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 4, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, 2 × headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	–	0.1 Gb/s
Front ports
Front ports	–	Two headphone jacks.
External displays
External displays	Up to 1	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	–
Camera
Camera	12MP Center Stage	–
Back ports
Back ports	2 × Thunderbolt / USB 4 (two-port model) or 4 × Thunderbolt 4 (four-port models), each with Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s) and DisplayPort; Gigabit Ethernet on the power adapter, standard on four-port models and optional on the two-port model	Two FireWire 400 ports, two USB ports at 12 Mbps each, VGA mirroring, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem and audio line-in/out. Keyboard USB ports are excluded from chassis counts. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort card; not built-in wireless.
External displays
External displays	Two-port model: one at up to 6K 60Hz; four-port models: two at up to 6K 60Hz, or one at up to 8K 60Hz	VGA output mirrors the built-in screen.
Camera
Camera	12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View; 1080p HD video recording; 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	Odyssey stereo sound system designed with Harman Kardon; built-in microphone.
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 Pro Keyboard and optical Apple Pro Mouse.
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	4.42 kg (better)	15.8 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	547 × 147 × 461 mm	381 × 435 × 381 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Maker publishes height 38.1, width 38.1 and depth 43.5 cm; weight 15.8 kg.
Power supply
Power supply	143W external power adapter; power lead (2 m)	Maximum continuous power 150 W.
Materials
Materials	100% recycled aluminium in the stand; more than 15% recycled content overall	–
Colours
Colours	Blue, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Silver	–
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 Charge Cable, polishing cloth (nano-texture glass only)	Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X supplied with iTunes, iMovie 2 and Disc Burner. Later software revisions described in reviews are not launch firmware.