苹果发布搭载 2nm M6 芯片的 MacBook Pro 与 iMac，支持 ProRes RAW 硬件加速

Apple has brought its 2nm M6 chip to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 24-inch iMac. Both machines get two more CPU and GPU cores than before, Neural Accelerators in every GPU core, Wi-Fi 7 and a Media Engine with hardware ProRes and ProRes RAW support. For editors, the more important details sit further down the spec sheet: memory stops at 32GB, and the ports stay at Thunderbolt 4.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 starts at $1,999 and the iMac with M6 at $1,499. Pre-orders open tomorrow, October 28, and deliveries start on Friday, November 6. Both use the M6 chip that debuted in the Mac mini in August, which we covered in our Mac Studio and Mac mini launch article. In its full version, the M6 has a 12-core CPU (2 super cores, 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores), a 12-core GPU with a Neural Accelerator in each core, third-generation ray tracing, a Dual 16-core Neural Engine and up to 170GB/s of memory bandwidth. Unified memory starts at 16GB and goes up to 32GB. The Media Engine has one video decode engine, one video encode engine, one ProRes encode and decode engine and AV1 decode, with hardware acceleration for H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW. The entry-level iMac uses a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU version of the chip.

The M6 chip and video work

Apple’s performance claims for the MacBook Pro compare it with the 14-inch M5 model: up to 30 percent faster graphics, up to 25 percent faster AI workloads such as LLM prompt processing, and a Neural Engine that is up to 1.9x faster. The application examples in the press release are Blender ray tracing (up to 1.3x faster than M5), Affinity image processing (up to 1.2x) and Xcode builds (up to 1.3x). For the iMac, Apple compares against the M4 generation and quotes up to 2x faster graphics and up to 5x faster on-device AI prompt processing in LM Studio. Apple also claims the M6 has the world’s fastest CPU core. None of the figures Apple published for these two machines involves a video editing or grading application, so for filmmakers the Media Engine and memory configuration say more than the percentages.

The Media Engine layout is the same as in the M5 Pro: one encoder, one decoder and one ProRes engine. The M5 Max doubles the encode and ProRes blocks. In practice, the M6 machines get hardware decoding for the formats most cameras record (H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW), but parallel exports, for example deliverables and proxies at the same time, share a single encoder. Formats outside that list, such as BRAW, R3D or ARRIRAW, rely on the CPU and GPU instead.

Memory is the more obvious ceiling. Both machines top out at 32GB, and on the MacBook Pro the 16GB base configuration runs at 153GB/s; the full 170GB/s needs 24GB or 32GB. For 4K timelines in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, 32GB is workable. Heavy noise reduction, Fusion compositions or 8K material are where the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro (up to 64GB at 307GB/s) or M5 Max becomes the more realistic option. We covered those models in our MacBook Pro M5 Pro and M5 Max launch article.

MacBook Pro M6: XDR display, Thunderbolt 4

The 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display carries over: 3024 x 1964 pixels at 254ppi, up to 1,000 nits sustained full-screen, 1,600 nits peak for HDR content, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, P3 wide color and ProMotion up to 120Hz. For editors, the fixed refresh rates of 47.95, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60Hz match playback to the project frame rate, and the reference modes include HDR Video (P3-ST 2084). A nano-texture version of the display is optional.

On the ports side, the M6 model has three Thunderbolt 4 ports at up to 40Gb/s, plus HDMI, an SDXC card slot, MagSafe 3 and a headphone jack. The M5 Pro and M5 Max models have three Thunderbolt 5 ports at up to 120Gb/s instead. The M6 drives up to two external displays at 6K/60Hz or 4K/165Hz, or one display at 8K/60Hz, 5K/120Hz or 4K/240Hz. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 are new.

Apple rates the 72.4Wh battery at up to 24 hours of video streaming and up to 16 hours of wireless web use, and says performance is the same on battery and on mains power. The laptop ships with a 70W USB-C adapter; with a 96W or higher adapter, it charges to 50 percent in 30 minutes. It measures 31.26 x 22.12 x 1.55cm / 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61in and weighs 1.55kg / 3.4lb. Storage options are 1TB, 2TB or 4TB, and the colors are space black and silver.

iMac M6: two models, two different port layouts

The iMac comes in two versions, and the differences matter more for media work than the two extra cores suggest. The 10-core model has two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, supports one external display (up to 6K/60Hz), takes up to 24GB of memory and up to 1TB of storage, and has 2.5Gb Ethernet only as an option. The 12-core model has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2.5Gb Ethernet as standard, up to 32GB of memory, up to 2TB of storage, support for two external 6K displays (or one 8K/60Hz display) and an optional nano-texture glass. Both start with 16GB of memory and a 256GB SSD, which Apple says is up to 2x faster than in the M4 iMac. With 256GB, media has to live on external storage from day one.

The 24-inch (23.5-inch viewable) 4.5K Retina display has a resolution of 4480 x 2520 pixels at 218ppi, 500 nits of brightness and P3 wide color with support for 1 billion colors. It has no XDR or HDR mode and no ProMotion, so the iMac is an SDR editing screen. The iMac also has a 12MP Center Stage camera, a six-speaker system with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support, and a three-mic array. It comes in blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange and silver, measures 54.7 x 46.1cm / 21.5 x 18.1in and weighs 4.42kg / 9.7lb (10-core) or 4.44kg / 9.8lb (12-core).

Both ship with macOS 27

Both computers ship with macOS 27 Golden Gate, which includes Siri AI and new Apple Intelligence features. For edit systems, the more relevant point is software support. In our macOS 27 article for video editors, Adobe and Apple had confirmed support, while Blackmagic Design and Avid had not listed macOS 27 as qualified. New Macs generally cannot run a macOS version older than the one they ship with, so anyone buying one of these machines for client work should check their NLE, plugins and I/O drivers first.

Where they fit

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is the entry point to Apple’s pro laptop line. It suits editors and shooters who cut 4K H.264, HEVC or ProRes, offload cards on location with the SDXC slot, and want an XDR display for HDR review away from the suite. Projects that need more than 32GB of memory, fast Thunderbolt 5 RAIDs or three external displays point to the M5 Pro version.

The iMac is an all-in-one for SDR work: proxy editing, assistant editor stations, social and YouTube production, and offices that need a clean setup. For that work, the 12-core model is the better fit, as it adds the two extra Thunderbolt ports, the second external display and Ethernet as standard.

Price and availability

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 starts at $1,999 ($1,899 for education) with 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD. In Germany, Apple lists it from €2,299 including VAT. The iMac with M6 starts at $1,499 for the 10-core model and $1,699 for the 12-core model ($1,449 and $1,599 for education), and at €1,799 and €1,999 including VAT in Germany. Pre-orders open on October 28 in 35 countries and regions, and deliveries and in-store availability start on November 6. B&H and CVP do not list the new models yet. More details are in Apple’s announcements for the MacBook Pro and the iMac, and on the MacBook Pro and iMac tech specs pages.

Would an M6 MacBook Pro or iMac cover your editing work, or do 32GB and Thunderbolt 4 push you to the M5 Pro? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!