2013 - 27” 3.2ghz Imac Question…..

[Mac2004]

I have a 27inch late 2013 3.2ghz iMac with 8gb of memory. I’ve noticed over the years as I have updated the Mac OSX operating system that my iMac seems to be working slower and slower and I see the spinning beach ball many times when I try to open up an application. I especially noticed this with the Big Sur update. I’ve noticed that it takes a lot longer to open anything up.

Should I go back to another earlier version of Mac OSX when my iMac was a lot more snappier? If so, do you recommend High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina and how do i do it? I just want something that won’t bog down my computer and isn’t a memory hog. It’s just too slow now. I also want it to work with the latest version of Pages and Photos. I have it hooked up to a Canon Imageclass printer I got 3 years ago.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I would suggest you run your iMac from an external SSD (plugged in the iMac via USB port). It will cost about 50$ for you to try.

 

[zarmanto]

I don't generally favor going backwards; there are a couple of other potential bottlenecks that you may want to look more closely at, before you take that road. One is the internal drive, which I think is what Nguyen is trying to target: if you have a HDD internally, than yes, his suggestion may help some. Another option for targeting that is actually cracking open that iMac, and replacing the internal drive with a newer SSD. This requires a bit of technical know-how, but can be well worth it in the end.

That said, I think you've already alluded to the other significant bottleneck. You mentioned the issue of macOS becoming more of a memory hog, right? Well... what about just giving it more memory to work with, than? RAM upgrades for older computers tend to be a pretty cost effective upgrade, and depending upon which model you have (21-inch or 27-inch) you could go to either 16GB or 32GB, respectively, according to Apple's official tech specs for the 2013 models -- though, you may be able to go higher than that, particularly on the 27-inch model.

I upgraded my old 2012 27" iMac to 32GB of RAM almost immediately after I bought it and more recently I pulled the old 3TB HDD in favor of a 2TB SSD. I've had no problems getting decent performance out of it... but it isn't actually my primary computer these days, so the more useful (and amusing) testament probably comes from my father-in-law. He frequently uses it (bootcamped into Windows) to work from home these days, and he has commented multiple times about how it's far more snappy than his two-year-old Windows laptop.

Old Macs rule, man.

 

[Fishrrman]

Get a USB3 SSD. 1tb ought to do.
Format it for APFS, GUID partition format.
Install Mojave onto it.
Use that to boot and run the 2013 iMac.

I predict that you will be pleased with the performance improvement.

You can either buy a "ready to go" USB3 SSD, such as the Samsung t5
or
Buy a 2.5" "bare" SATA SSD and an enclosure, and put them together.
A decent enclosure:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

 

[ravinder08]

I did exactly this using a Samsung T7 1 Tb
Works so smoothly now it’s like having a brand new machine.

Get a USB3 SSD. 1tb ought to do.
Format it for APFS, GUID partition format.
Install Mojave onto it.
Use that to boot and run the 2013 iMac.

I predict that you will be pleased with the performance improvement.

You can either buy a "ready to go" USB3 SSD, such as the Samsung t5
or
Buy a 2.5" "bare" SATA SSD and an enclosure, and put them together.
A decent enclosure:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

 

[Mac2004]

I did exactly this using a Samsung T7 1 Tb
Works so smoothly now it’s like having a brand new machine.

Last night I went into Best Buy and the salesperson told me to buy the LaCie Rugged 2TB HDD Drive for my 2013 IMac. I was perplexed when I heard this because I thought SSD was better. He said they are much more expensive. I said all I want it for is to back up my large photos library on that has over 60,000 photos.

 

[zarmanto]

Last night I went into Best Buy and the salesperson told me ...

First I'll note this... you quite accurately described the person you spoke to; he's only a salesperson, and likely not a very technically savvy one at that. He should have verified some of the same details that you've provided in this thread, such as whether or not you intend to boot from it (which you do) and whether or not you're looking for the best performance possible (which you are). Even as "only a salesperson", he really needed to ask more questions.

Second, if you are particularly price sensitive, and if you mentioned that Nguyen had suggested your solution would only cost $50, it may be that he felt he was going to lose a sale if he didn't find something within your budget. And at Best Buy, they're not selling SSDs at the bargain basement prices that you can find on Amazon/NewEgg and such, so he probably just didn't have much to show you. (Something that I've always said about them is, "Best Buy... isn't.")

That said: if the only thing you wanted to do was make periodic backups of your photos, than his suggestion would probably be perfectly reasonable. Since you've suggested here that you want a bit more than just a backup drive, I suspect you'd be happier spending a bit more money on an SSD in the long run.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Last night I went into Best Buy and the salesperson told me to buy the LaCie Rugged 2TB HDD Drive for my 2013 IMac. I was perplexed when I heard this because I thought SSD was better. He said they are much more expensive. I said all I want it for is to back up my large photos library on that has over 60,000 photos.

Go back to Bestbuy and tel the saleperson: I want a 4TB SSD external disk.
Salesperson: But it will cost you 600$ ish...
You: Money doesn't matter, my precious photos do.
And there you go. You will be happier with the purchase.

Or:
Salesperson: But it will cost you 600$ ish...
You: Damn, I'll get one from Amazon.
The end....

<1> Already boxed SSD

Oyen Digital U32 Shadow Dura 4TB USB-C Rugged Portable Solid State Drive SSD

The U32 Shadow Dura is a high-performance Solid State Drive (SSD) built with NAND flash for optimum performance and reliability. No moving parts inside the SSD allows for ultra-silent operation, excellent for quiet environments. The shockproof design features an aluminum body encased in a silicon...

www.amazon.com

<2> Only SSD

SAMSUNG 870 EVO 4TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-77E4T0B/AM) , Black

The Latest 870 Evo Has Indisputable Performance, Reliability And Compatibility Built Upon Samsung'S Pioneering Technology. Performance May Vary Based On Ssd’S Firmware Version And System Hardware & Configuration. Sequential Write Performance Measurements Are Based On Intelligent Turbowrite Techno...

www.amazon.com

<2> Only box

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

 

[zarmanto]

Go back to Bestbuy and tel the saleperson: I want a 4TB SSD external disk.
Salesperson: But it will cost you 600$ ish...

To be (ahem) fair, Best Buy's online prices usually aren't much different than Amazon's prices, when directly comparing like items. (PNY vs PNY, Crucial vs Crucial, Sandisk vs Sandisk*, etc.) Product diversity certainly plays one role in contrasting the two stores, especially as it relates to which inventory is only on BB's website and which is also available to walk in and pick up right from their retail shelves.

It's also worth noting that BB doesn't always price products the same on their website as they do on the store shelves; I've personally walked in to pick up an item that I had reserved from the website, only to find a store salesman trying to convince me that the price I saw online was simply wrong. Had I not already made the purchase via their website, enabling me to show him the actual claim slip right there on my phone, I might well have been out of luck.

So I think we can all agree that the competency and honesty (or lack thereof of either and/or both) of their floor sales staff can also be a distinctly frustrating issue.

The bottom line is, as a general rule even a moderately tech savvy buyer should be able to do better by shopping online.

* Note that I did say "usually".