Apple didn’t wait for Wednesday’s event. This morning it announced a 14-inch MacBook Pro and a new iMac, both with its new M6 chip. Both can be pre-ordered Wednesday, Oct. 28 and arrive Friday, Nov. 6.
Canadian prices
| Model | Canada | Education | U.S. price | U.S. price in CAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Pro 14-inch (M6) | $2,799 | $2,659 | $1,999 | $2,804 |
| iMac (10-core CPU and GPU) | $2,099 | $2,029 | $1,499 | $2,102 |
| iMac (12-core CPU and GPU) | $2,299 | $2,159 | $1,699 | $2,383 |
U.S. prices are from Apple’s U.S. MacBook Pro and iMac announcements, converted at the Bank of Canada’s Oct. 26 rate of 1.4025.
By that measure, there’s no “Canada tax” on either machine: the MacBook Pro and the base iMac are within a few dollars of the U.S. price, and the 12-core iMac is about $84 cheaper here. That fits what we found in today’s price check: Apple’s markups are on its premium phones, not its Macs.
What’s new
MacBook Pro. The M6 has a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU. Apple says graphics are up to 30% faster than the M5 model and on-device AI is up to 25% faster. It starts with 16GB of memory, and Apple quotes up to 24 hours of battery life, the longest of any Mac. The display is a Liquid Retina XDR screen, with up to 1,600 nits of HDR brightness. It comes in space black and silver.
iMac. The 24-inch iMac gets the M6 in two versions, with 10 or 12 cores. Apple says it’s up to twice as fast as the M4 model in graphics-heavy work, and up to 18 times faster than the most popular Intel iMac. The 12-core model adds four Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet and an optional nano-texture screen. It comes in seven colours.
What’s still to come
This isn’t the touchscreen MacBook Pro. Apple’s announcement doesn’t mention touch or an OLED panel. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that 14- and 16-inch models with OLED touchscreens are coming at Wednesday’s “Pro and Tell” event, which Apple hasn’t confirmed, per MacRumors. We’ll have live coverage from 1 p.m. ET, with Canadian prices as they land.
Why it matters: If you want a new MacBook Pro, wait until after Wednesday. If the rumoured touchscreen models arrive, they’re expected to sit above this $2,799 model, and you’ll want to see both before choosing. For the iMac, there’s no reason to wait: the 10-core model is the better buy unless you need the extra ports and Ethernet.