Apple iMac 24″ (M4) vs Apple iMac G5 (17-inch, 2004)

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iMac 24″ (M4) compared with iMac G5 (17-inch, 2004)

	AppleiMac 24″ (M4)	AppleiMac G5 (17-inch, 2004)
Overview
Released
Released	November 2024	September 2004
Performance
Processor
Processor	Apple M4	IBM PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz (iMac 2004) or IBM PowerPC G5 1.8 GHz (iMac 2004)
CPU cores
CPU cores	8 or 10	1
Graphics
Graphics	8-core GPU or 10-core GPU	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 MB)
AI engine (NPU)
AI engine (NPU)	38 TOPS	–
Memory
Memory	16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB (better)	256 MB or 2 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 2 TB (better)	80 GB to 160 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)	1.6 GHz PowerPC G5 with 533 MHz frontside bus and Combo drive, or 1.8 GHz with 600 MHz bus and SuperDrive; both have 512 KB on-chip L2 cache. Generic maker-clock chip records retain the single-core identity cross-checked with exact EveryMac sources; a silicon revision is not inferred.
GPU
GPU	Hardware-accelerated ray tracing	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB dedicated DDR video memory and AGP 8x support.
Memory type
Memory type	–	256 MB PC3200 (400 MHz) DDR SDRAM standard, expandable to 2 GB in two slots. Configurations conservatively list the published base and maker maximum.
AI engine
AI engine	16-core Neural Engine	–
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	120GB/s	–
Storage type
Storage type	SSD	80 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive; The maker launch lists a 160 GB build-to-order option. The 1.6 GHz model uses a slot-loading Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW; the 1.8 GHz model uses SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW with 4x DVD-R writing. The launch press's generic 250 GB option is not paired with the 17-inch model without exact support.
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″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	4480 × 2520 (better)	1440 × 900
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	Widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 350:1 contrast. Panel technology and refresh rate are not published in the exact maker sheet.
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	Typical viewing angles: 120° horizontal and 90° vertical.
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 4, 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	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	Three USB 2.0 ports on the computer, up to 480 Mbps, plus two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports with 8 W shared power, Mini-VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, headphone/optical digital audio output and audio line-in. AirPort Extreme 802.11g card and internal Bluetooth module are optional, rather than standard.
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	Mini-VGA provides video mirroring on a VGA display or S-video/composite television through optional adapters. Output resolutions: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz.
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	Built-in stereo speakers, internal 12 W digital amplifier and 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 Keyboard, Apple Mouse and modem cable.
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	4.42 kg (better)	8.4 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	547 × 147 × 461 mm	426 × 173 × 430 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	–	Published metric size and reference weight; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.
Power supply
Power supply	143W external power adapter; power lead (2 m)	100–120 V AC or 100–240 V AC depending on country of purchase, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 180 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)	Launch Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, iLife ’04 and bundled productivity software, with Classic environment support. The retained specification lists the later iLife ’05 bundle. Apple announced the model on 31 August 2004 and stated worldwide shipping would begin in mid-September; the release field therefore retains September month precision.