Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) vs iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)

Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025)¹iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)²

Quick look

Quick look: Mac Studio M4 Max against iMac M4
Figure	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Price	£2,099³launch price	£1,299⁴launch price
Chip	M4 Maxchip	M4chip
CPU	14-coreCPU	8-coreCPU
GPU	32-coreGPU	8-coreGPU
Memory	36GBunified memory, base	16GBunified memory, base
Storage	512GBstorage, base	256GBstorage, base
Display	Not available⁵No built-in display	24-inchdisplay
Released	12 March 2025³ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 5 March 2025.	8 November 2024⁶ReleasedIn Apple Stores; pre-order from 28 October 2024.
Security updates	Not available⁷Security updates	Not available⁷Security updates

Price: The Mac Studio M4 Max is £2,099 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK); the iMac M4 is £1,299 at launch, per Apple Newsroom (UK).
Kind of Mac: The Mac Studio M4 Max is a desktop; the iMac M4 is an all-in-one. The iMac M4 has a built-in 24-inch display and a camera, whereas the Mac Studio M4 Max has neither.

True to scale

Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) · 197 × 95 mm frontiMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports) · 547 × 461 mm front

A desktop and an all-in-one are different shapes, so they stand side by side rather than superposed: the front face of one and the front face of the other, from Apple’s published dimensions, at one scale. Corner rounding is our drawing convention, not a measurement.

Specifications

Each figure is from the source marked by its Mac’s name unless it carries its own small number, which links to where that figure was read.

Body

Body: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Dimensions	95 x 197 x 197 mm	461 x 547 x 147 mm
Weight	2.74 kg	4.42 kg
Colours	Silver	Blue, Purple, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Silver
Ports	Four Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, two USB 3 (USB-A) ports (up to 5Gb/s), HDMI 2.1 port, 10Gb Ethernet, 3.5mm headphone jack; on front (M4 Max): two USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s), SDXC card slot (UHS-II)	Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, 3.5mm headphone jack
Thunderbolt ports⁸	4	2
Thunderbolt version	Thunderbolt 5	Thunderbolt 4
USB-A ports	2	No USB-A ports.⁹
HDMI	HDMI 2.1 port	No HDMI port.¹⁰
SD card slot	Yes	No SD card slot.¹⁰
Headphone jack	Yes	Yes
Keyboard	Not available¹¹	Magic Keyboard
Touch ID	Not available¹²	No Touch ID.⁹

Display

Display: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Display size	Not available⁵	24 in
Resolution	Not available⁵	4480 x 2520
Pixel density	Not available⁵	218 ppi
Display type	Not available⁵	4.5K Retina display
Brightness	Not available⁵	500 nits
Wide colour (P3)	Not available⁵	Yes
Nano-texture option	Not available⁵	No nano-texture display option.¹⁰

Chip and memory

Chip and memory: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Chip	Apple M4 Max chip	Apple M4 chip
Apple silicon	Yes	Yes
CPU cores	14	8
Performance cores	10	4
Efficiency cores	4	4
GPU cores	32	8
Neural Engine cores	16	16
Chip options	M4 Max with 14-core CPU and 32-core GPU, or M4 Max with 16-core CPU and 40-core GPU¹³	M4 with 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU
Memory (base)	36GB	16GB
Memory (maximum)	128GB¹³	24GB
Memory options	36GB; 48GB, 64GB or 128GB (16-core CPU and 40-core GPU)¹³	16GB or 24GB
Memory upgradeable by user	Not available¹⁴	No, as Apple documents¹⁵
Memory bandwidth	410 GB/s	120 GB/s
Storage (base)	512GB	256GB
Storage (maximum)	8TB¹³	1TB
Storage options	512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB or 8TB¹³	256GB, 512GB or 1TB
Media engine	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginetwo video encode enginestwo ProRes encode and decode enginesAV1 decode	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAWvideo decode enginevideo encode engineProRes encode and decode engineAV1 decode

Battery and power

Battery and power: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Included power adapter	Not available¹⁶	143 W¹⁷
Maximum continuous power	480 W	Not available¹⁸

Connectivity

Connectivity: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)	Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
Ethernet	10Gb Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ-45 connector)	Gigabit Ethernet configurable
External displays (base)	5	1

Camera and audio

Camera and audio: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Camera	Not available¹⁹	12MP Center Stage camera with support for Desk View
Camera resolution	Not available¹⁹	12 MP
Speakers	Built-in speaker²⁰	High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers
Microphones	Not available¹⁴	Studio-quality three-mic array with high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming

Platform

Platform: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Newest macOS	macOS 27 Golden Gate²¹	macOS 27 Golden Gate²¹
Model identifier	Mac16,9²²	Mac16,2²³
Model year	2025	2024

Benchmarks

Benchmarks: Apple Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025) against Apple iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports)
Specification	Mac Studio M4 Max¹	iMac M4²
Geekbench 7 (CPU, single-core)	3,500²⁴	3,176²⁴
Geekbench 7 (CPU, multi-core)	25,909²⁴	13,437²⁴
Geekbench 7 (Metal)	169,424²⁴	47,416²⁴

Sources

Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs · Default for Mac Studio M4 Max · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2024, Two ports) - Tech specs · Default for iMac M4 · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new iMac supercharged by M4 and Apple Intelligence · Apple’s figure · read 27 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in display
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Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new iMac supercharged by M4 and Apple Intelligence · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Security updates: no end date published. Checked: endoflife.date. Read 22 Sep 2026
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Different Thunderbolt generations. Mac Studio M4 Max: Thunderbolt 5. iMac M4: Thunderbolt 4.
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iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports): No USB-A ports. No Touch ID. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2024, Two ports) - Tech specs. Read 15 Sep 2026
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iMac (24-inch, M4, 2024, Two ports): No HDMI port. No SD card slot. No nano-texture display option. Checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2024, Two ports) - Tech specs. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in keyboard, and Touch ID is a keyboard feature
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Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 2 Oct 2026
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Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Install memory in an iMac · Apple’s figure · read 18 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: internal power supply, no power adapter in the box
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Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2024, Two ports) - Tech specs · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026
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Not published by Apple. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2024, Two ports) - Tech specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new iMac supercharged by M4 and Apple Intelligence. Read 9 Oct 2026
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Doesn’t apply: no built-in camera
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Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs · Apple’s figure · read 9 Oct 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers · Apple’s figure · read 22 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model · Apple’s figure · read 15 Sep 2026
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Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) · third-party figure · read 11 Oct 2026
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Not published by Apple

Mac Studio M4 Max. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — Mac Studio (2025) - Tech Specs; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple unveils new Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac ever; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your Mac Studio model, read 9 Oct 2026.

iMac M4. Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: refresh rate, storage upgradeable by user, the macOS it shipped with. Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (24-inch, 2024, Two ports) - Tech specs; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — Apple introduces new iMac supercharged by M4 and Apple Intelligence, read 9 Oct 2026.

If you own one of them

Whether to move is a different question from which is better. Each Mac has a page on it: what its successor changes (the newest Mac in its line where Apple sells one, otherwise the Mac this site treats as its replacement, which can be in another line), what it fetches and whether it still gets updates. Should I upgrade my Mac Studio M4 Max (2025)? · Should I upgrade my iMac M4 (24-inch, 2024, Two ports)?

The pairs a buyer of either Mac would also weigh. Any two Macs in the catalogue can be compared from the chooser.