Apple on Monday announced an updated iMac with the company’s latest M4 chip.
TakeAway Points:
- Apple revealed an updated iMac featuring the company’s most recent M4 CPU on Monday.
- Orders can be placed for as little as $1,299 before its November 8 release date.
- Mac sales in the June quarter totalled $7 billion, up roughly 2% year over year.
- Apple supplier TDK has partnered with McLaren Racing in Formula E electric motor racing Apple supplier TDK has partnered with McLaren Racing in Formula E electric motor racing.
iMac with M4 chip
The iMac starts at $1,299 and is available to order ahead of its release on Nov. 8.
Apple’s Mac family remains a large business segment even though it is less important to the company than the iPhone. In the June quarter, Apple reported $7 billion in Mac sales, up about 2% on an annual basis.
Unlike on the iPhone, where only phones released in the past two years will support Apple Intelligence, all of Apple’s computers with the M1 chip and newer since 2020 can run the company’s artificial intelligence. Still, Apple is marketing the new Macs with a focus on AI to build momentum around its new offering.
Apple Intelligence will allow users to rewrite, proofread or summarize text. For example, you might highlight the text of an email and use Apple Intelligence to make it sound more professional or more concise. It also lets users type to Siri, which now provides more answers about Apple products. Apple plans to release another version of Apple Intelligence in December that adds OpenAI’s ChatGPT support into writing tools and Siri.
Features
The M4 iMac comes in new shades including green, yellow, orange, pink, and purple. It is also still available in silver. All four USB-C ports on the back also support the fastest Thunderbolt 4 standard, which means you can transfer large videos and other files faster. It supports up to two additional 6K displays. It comes with an updated Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard with USB-C charging, too, replacing the older Lightning port.
The new iMac maintains the same 24-inch 4.5K Retina display launched in earlier models but now adds a new nano-texture display option that helps prevent reflections and glare.
Apple could still announce more new Macs over the coming days. Apple’s chief marketer Greg Joswiak posted Thursday on social media site X to “Mac your calendars” for an exciting “week of announcements.”
Apple first introduced the M4 in May in Apple’s iPad Pro. At the time, Apple said the chip had additional AI capabilities, a better graphics processor and that it used TSMC’s 3-nanometer manufacturing process. Apple says the M4 uses half the power as the M2, first released in 2022.
In September, Apple announced new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods. The Mac announcements this week are likely Apple’s last major hardware announcements for the year.
Apple supplier TDK partners with McLaren Racing
Apple supplier TDK has partnered with McLaren Racing in Formula E electric motor racing as the Japanese components manufacturer targets expansion in the electric vehicle sector.
TDK, once well known to consumers for its cassette tapes, is the world’s largest supplier of smartphone batteries. It is growing its passive components and sensors businesses and aims to build its presence in the EV supply chain.
The company’s technology is used in the Nissan e-4ORCE 05 cars used by McLaren, and TDK will look at supplying components such as inverters and sensors, an executive said.
“Formula E technology is always at the cutting edge of EVs and we want them to utilise our components so we can sharpen our technology,” Taro Ikushima, CEO of TDK’s Electronic Components Business Company, said in an interview.
About TDK
Automotive accounts for almost a quarter of total sales at TDK, which was founded in 1935, with the company a leading supplier of components such as ceramic capacitors and temperature sensors.
While many fans remain wedded to Formula One with the signature sound of its internal combustion engines, interest in Formula E is growing.
The speed of the broader transition from gasoline vehicles is debated, with Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda believing the global share of EVs will peak at 30%.
TDK sees opportunity across the spectrum with plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles using 60% and 100% more multilayer ceramic chip capacitors respectively than gasoline cars.
“Safety, durability, longevity, in automotive these are very important factors and can be applied to other industries,” Ikushima said.
TDK shares are up 39% this year, outperforming the 13% rise in Japan’s broader Topix index.
