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How Long Do You Think iMacs Last?

trevpimp

trevpimp

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 16, 2009
698
301
Inside A Mac Box
just wondering quality wise, how long do you think iMacs last.

Like the screen or hardware. If the hdd conks out how much is it to replace?
 
I don't know about the current iMacs, but I've seen some original iMacs still being used and some of the 2nd generation iMacs. That makes them somewhere between 7-10 years old
 
Like most computers, the hardware will likely continue to function well beyond the point where it is obsolete.
 
umm i don't see why they wouldn't last.

my grandma's computer has an 8-10 year old hard drive in it... and it's a laptop - i don't see why the iMac would just... die - unless you did something wrong with it i.e power surge, banged on it or something.

look at all the old iMac's at schools... they are 5+ years old and still going strong with kids pounding on them everyday.
 
czachorski said:
Like most computers, the hardware will likely continue to function well beyond the point where it is obsolete.
Click to expand...


Another forum posters say the HDD last like 2-3 years and I really don't want to go through this upgrading thing.

It should last atleast 3-4 years right?
 
trevpimp said:
Another forum posters say the HDD last like 2-3 years and I really don't want to go through this upgrading thing.

It should last atleast 3-4 years right?
Click to expand...

ummmm the hdd wont go bad in 2 years unless you are doing something wrong or it is a bad drive.


they might have said the HDD wont be MADE anymore in 2 or 3 years... SSD's are on the way in.
 
My high school's A/V class uses a mix of Intel iMacs, PPC iMacs, and eMacs (and a single G3 for recording DV tape). They'll work for an unthinkable amount of time. I heard a rumor over in the Digital Video forum that there are still people working professionally on the G4, just because it works.
 
Dr.Pants said:
My high school's A/V class uses a mix of Intel iMacs, PPC iMacs, and eMacs (and a single G3 for recording DV tape). They'll work for an unthinkable amount of time. I heard a rumor over in the Digital Video forum that there are still people working professionally on the G4, just because it works.
Click to expand...

haha... that or they are really bad at editing and can't afford a Mac Pro
 
michael.lauden said:
haha... that or they are really bad at editing and can't afford a Mac Pro
Click to expand...

Some HDs will fail in 2-3 year, some will fail in 2-3 days. Most will last for many, many years. We have 2 Tivos in our house with HDs in them that have been busily recording and playback 5-6 hours of TV a day for 5-6 years. I have never had an HD fail in a computer that I have ever owned. I had one fail in a Tivo after 2 years, and replaced it myself.

Bottom line: I don't think the OP has to worry to much.
 
I still have an original Intel iMac and it runs perfectly, the only thing I've done to it was upgrade the hard drive to 500GB. Although the original hard drive still runs perfectly. I still have some 512MB (Yes, MegaByte) hard drives that still run fine, so hard drives can last a very long time.

In addition, all my old Macs like the Apple ][e and Quadra 650 still run fine. So you really don't have to worry much about Macs not lasting for a long time. And if you are worried then you can always get AppleCare, but I usually only get that for portable computers.
 
iBookG4user said:
I still have an original Intel iMac and it runs perfectly, the only thing I've done to it was upgrade the hard drive to 500GB. Although the original hard drive still runs perfectly. I still have some 512MB (Yes, MegaByte) hard drives that still run fine, so hard drives can last a very long time.

In addition, all my old Macs like the Apple ][e and Quadra 650 still run fine. So you really don't have to worry much about Macs not lasting for a long time. And if you are worried then you can always get AppleCare, but I usually only get that for portable computers.
Click to expand...

Sweet, now you said your mac runs perfectly?

How did you keep it maintained to run fast throughout?

Do I have to install a software, is there a way I can keep it maintained without a software?

Thanks
 
trevpimp said:
Sweet, now you said your mac runs perfectly?

How did you keep it maintained to run fast throughout?

Do I have to install a software, is there a way I can keep it maintained without a software?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yeah, currently it is used daily by my parents and younger sister. Not much maintenance is done on it, I just tell them to make sure to leave about half of the hard drive free of data to maintain the speed. The RAM is at 2GB so it is not too bad for today.

There is software that you can use to keep it running as fast as possible like Onyx, although I personally don't use it. Really the only thing you need to do to keep it running fast is keep about half the hard drive free and make sure that you don't have too many applications open at once which would fill up the RAM and cause Page Outs. (That means that the computer has to use the hard drive as RAM and it is very slow!)
 
I have a 2001 g3 that my school threw out. It was out in the rain all day it has ben shot with a bb gun and dropped and it works great if there anything like they were back then they should last a good 10 years i also have a 512k for 1985 which has been treated well and works fine. If you treat it will ir will repay you with lasting long
 
My iMac is going on 3 years and 3 months now and it has been great thus far. If only it could have more memory then it would really go another 3 years imo. for what I do and need it for in the future. It's not the fastest anymore but the workflow gets done just fine.
Prior to this one my other iMac lasted 4 years I believe so i'd say that the new iMacs out now should get most by during a 3-4 year time frame if not more under less stressful conditions.
 
My family has been using Macs since about 1992 or so. Our oldest Motorola 68K-based macs never had hardware problems. Our Performa 475 was stolen after about three years in a home break-in (very sad day!); the replacement Performa 630CD lasted until 1999 or so when we replaced it with an iMac G3 DV system. The G3 was still working the day we gave it away to a non-profit group about a year ago.

We replaced the G3 with a 17" iMac G4 in 2003. The G4 needed a main logic board replacement after a year or so. More recently, it began experiencing faults and panics in late 2008, to the point of no longer booting reliably. We decided it was not worth repairing.

We bought a 20" iMac G5 in 2004 or 2005. It experienced a major hard disk drive failure in about 2007; little could be salvaged with DiskWarrior. Other than that episode, it's still working fine today.

Earlier this month we augmented the G5 with a new 2009 iMac.

On the portable side, we bought a white iBook in 2002 or so, and a MacBook Pro and Macbook in 2007. All are still working fine.

Discounting that newest iMac system, I'm pleased with our experience with eight older macs stretching back 17 years or so.
 
Artful Dodger said:
If only it could have more memory then it would really go another 3 years imo.
Click to expand...

I agree. The only thing forcing me to order a new iMac is the 2 GB RAM limit on my current iMac, which simply isn't enough for me to run my critical Windows apps in Fusion without bogging the system down.
 
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