Help with uploading photos

[Glenwood Coleman]

Full disclosure, I am bone stupid with computers and most technology. I have an old imac (mid 2011) that runs Yosemite 10.10.5 and for months I havent been able to upload photos off my phone on to my computer, ( usually I would just plug it in and photos would open and I could import them no problem, but it doesnt seem to work anymore. I wonder if I should upgrade my operating system? Do you think the old machine I have would handle whatever the current OS is? Im a bit scared of upgrading for fear of losing all of my pictures that I have on my computer because I don't have a backup for them. any thoughts? Or is there any other way to transfer the images off my phone without using photos? itunes does not recognize my phone.

Thank you very much for any help.

 

[organicCPU]

usually I would just plug it in and photos would open and I could import them no problem, but it doesnt seem to work anymore.

With your device connected, open Photos app. There should be an active checkbox 'Open Photos' and a dropdown 'import to Library' like shown on the screenshot at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302#importmac

Or is there any other way to transfer the images off my phone without using photos?

Image Capture app should be fine https://support.apple.com/guide/image-capture/imgcp1003/7.0/mac/10.13

Do you think the old machine I have would handle whatever the current OS is?

No, unfortunately not. At least not regularly supported.

I wonder if I should upgrade my operating system?

An iMac Mid 2011 can run macOS High Sierra 10.13.x, but not macOS Mojave 10.14.x. If it has got a SSD built-in, you could upgrade to High Sierra. If it has a mechanical HDD, I don't recommend upgrading until you're going to put a SSD inside. However, don't touch a running system that you like, at least not without a working...

Im a bit scared of upgrading for fear of losing all of my pictures that I have on my computer because I don't have a backup for them.

!!!BACKUP!!!

 

[superscape]

!!!BACKUP!!!

Hah hah! Yep... best solution for the problem of not having a backup is to get a backup. Time Machine and/or Carbon Copy Cloner are good, common options.