Will I regret getting an iMac with an M3 chip now that M4 chips might come out soon?

So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

Nope.

The M3 is a great machine.

If you worry every time a new chip might come out, you’ll never buy a computer.

If you need one now, get the M3 or any M series. Even the M1 is still better than most Windows laptops for work (unless you’re doing gaming or specific stuff with NVIDIA).

Uma said:
Nope.

The M3 is a great machine.

If you worry every time a new chip might come out, you’ll never buy a computer.

If you need one now, get the M3 or any M series. Even the M1 is still better than most Windows laptops for work (unless you’re doing gaming or specific stuff with NVIDIA).

Yeah, and since Apple skipped the M2 for the iMac, I bet they’ll only update it with odd-numbered M chips.

Then again, who knows, their chip releases are harder to predict now than when they were with Intel.

It’s hard to say if Apple will upgrade the iMac so soon again. Remember, they didn’t even do an M2 iMac. They waited 2.5 years to jump from M1 to M3. I don’t think they’ll do an M4 iMac anytime this year.

I get your worry, but really, you won’t regret it. The M3 is solid and you’ll be happy with it.

Alexis said:
I get your worry, but really, you won’t regret it. The M3 is solid and you’ll be happy with it.

Thanks, that’s the reassurance I needed!

M4 will probably just be a small step up from M3. When the Apple Silicon chips first dropped, it was a huge deal. Now, each new one is just a little better. If you need a computer now, go for it. There’s always going to be something new around the corner.

Lennon said:
M4 will probably just be a small step up from M3. When the Apple Silicon chips first dropped, it was a huge deal. Now, each new one is just a little better. If you need a computer now, go for it. There’s always going to be something new around the corner.

True, but some features in the newer chips could be important for specific users. M3 added ray tracing, and M4 might focus on machine learning tasks. If ML is your thing, maybe wait. Otherwise, I agree with you.

Just get what you need when you need it. There will always be something newer down the line, but it won’t stop them from making better machines. The cycle never ends.

Terry said:
Just get what you need when you need it. There will always be something newer down the line, but it won’t stop them from making better machines. The cycle never ends.

Good point, I needed to hear that!

Terry said:
Just get what you need when you need it. There will always be something newer down the line, but it won’t stop them from making better machines. The cycle never ends.

Actually, those who got the M1 MacBook Air early scored big time. It’s still a beast today, and barely gets beaten by M2 and M3.

Winter said:

Terry said:
Just get what you need when you need it. There will always be something newer down the line, but it won’t stop them from making better machines. The cycle never ends.

Actually, those who got the M1 MacBook Air early scored big time. It’s still a beast today, and barely gets beaten by M2 and M3.

Yeah, but my point was to get what fits your needs. Maybe all they need is the M1.

Terry said:

Winter said:
Terry said:
Just get what you need when you need it. There will always be something newer down the line, but it won’t stop them from making better machines. The cycle never ends.

Actually, those who got the M1 MacBook Air early scored big time. It’s still a beast today, and barely gets beaten by M2 and M3.

Yeah, but my point was to get what fits your needs. Maybe all they need is the M1.

My friend bought the 13” MacBook Air right before the M1 came out and regretted it. It’s slow with poor battery life. The M1 buyers still have a strong machine today.

Winter said:

Terry said:
Winter said:
Terry said:
Just get what you need when you need it. There will always be something newer down the line, but it won’t stop them from making better machines. The cycle never ends.

Actually, those who got the M1 MacBook Air early scored big time. It’s still a beast today, and barely gets beaten by M2 and M3.

Yeah, but my point was to get what fits your needs. Maybe all they need is the M1.

My friend bought the 13” MacBook Air right before the M1 came out and regretted it. It’s slow with poor battery life. The M1 buyers still have a strong machine today.

That was me! I use my M1 for video editing, and it still amazes me.

Nico said:
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

Once you upgrade to the iMac and see the huge boost in performance, you won’t be looking at new Macs for a long time.

Nico said:
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

You probably didn’t buy the iMac to work on machine learning projects or anything super complex. You won’t regret it.

Nico said:
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

Apple will always have something new coming soon, but that doesn’t mean you should wait forever. Any M chip iMac will be a huge leap from your 2015 MacBook Pro. You probably wouldn’t even notice the difference between M3 and M4.

Nico said:
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

I know it’s tempting to wait, but how much more power will the M4 really give you? The M3 already has tons of power and AI features. The real game-changer will be the new macOS updates.

Nico said:
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

The M4 iPads will be out soon, and reviews will come with details on what’s new. If any of that seems important to you, maybe wait. I still prefer the 27” models though.

Nico said:
So here’s the deal, I’ve got a 2015 MacBook Pro that’s barely hanging on, and I’m looking to switch to an iMac for home use. The $1499 iMac seems to have everything I need, but I’m wondering if the new chips coming out soon will make a big difference. Should I wait? Any thoughts would help, thanks!

The only reason I’m holding out is that I want an iMac bigger than 24” or maybe a new OLED display for a Mac mini or Mac Studio. I’m still using my late 2013 27” iMac. I did upgrade it with more RAM and a SSD, but it’s old tech now.