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How old is your iMac?

R

retta283

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Jun 8, 2018
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How old is your iMac? Have you done any upgrades to it since purchased? Are you planning on upgrading soon?

I have multiple iMacs, but my main one is a 2010 21.5 with 8GB RAM upgrade. I had a 2011, but the GPU burned up. I may try and find a deal on a thin iMac, but I think I want a 27" this time, so it may be a bit before I buy a newer one. I will also need to clear some space for it, my 21.5 is already tightly packed into its current spot.
 
My first iMac was a 2012 27", I sold that an upgraded to Late 2013, and I still have it till this day.
In 2015 I got the Late 2015 27", later in 2018 I sold that and got the Mid 2017 27", and recently sold that and got myself an Early 2019 27" iMac (upgraded to 32GB RAM).
 
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2019 (1TB, Vega 48, i9 (8 core))
- upgraded the 8GB RAM to 40GB using the OWC kit
- added an eGPU (RX 580) + 4K Dell monitor
- attached 2TB over USB C
- attached two 4TB HDD’s in RAID 0 for Time Machine + storage

+ a base model 13” MBP for on the go tasks. Was using a 2013 MacBook Pro + eGPU + SSD upgrade to 2TB and decided to finally bite the bullet and sacrifice having everything portable for the performance of a desktop

Go iMac
 
ruslan120 said:
2019 (1TB, Vega 48, i9 (8 core))
- upgraded the 8GB RAM to 40GB using the OWC kit
- added an eGPU (RX 580) + 4K Dell monitor
- attached 2TB over USB C
- attached two 4TB HDD’s in RAID 0 for Time Machine + storage

+ a base model 13” MBP for on the go tasks. Was using a 2013 MacBook Pro + eGPU + SSD upgrade to 2TB and decided to finally bite the bullet and sacrifice having everything portable for the performance of a desktop

Go iMac
Click to expand...
I think I'll be getting a new laptop before a new iMac, I need something portable now. I do have a 2008 unibody MB, but it's pretty rough and the screen is bad.

But man, I really want a 27" iMac...
 
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oof nice, I've never actually owned a unibody, lived with a santa rosa core 2 duo MBP until the 2013 retina. how is it usability (performance) wise?

retta283 said:
I think I'll be getting a new laptop before a new iMac
Click to expand...

2020 MBP? or one of the older models + nice price drop after the 2020's come out?


... not sure if it's useful but I feel a bit constricted by the 2 thunderbolt 3 ports (on both the iMac and base model 13"). didn't think I would. they tout daisy chaining but a lot of useful thunderbolt accessories / monitors end in USB C or don't actually have daisy chaining
 
ruslan120 said:
oof nice, I've never actually owned a unibody, lived with a santa rosa core 2 duo MBP until the 2013 retina. how is it usability (performance) wise?



2020 MBP? or one of the older models + nice price drop after the 2020's come out?


... not sure if it's useful but I feel a bit constricted by the 2 thunderbolt 3 ports (on both the iMac and base model 13"). didn't think I would. they tout daisy chaining but a lot of useful thunderbolt accessories / monitors end in USB C or don't actually have daisy chaining
Click to expand...
With an SSD and RAM upgrade, it runs quite smooth on Sierra. Sierra is unofficially supported thanks to the dosdude patcher. My battery is ruined though, it would need replaced.

My issue with this MacBook is the display. Sat next to even my 2008 iMac with a TN panel it looks terrible. Washed out colors, and the viewing angles are laughable. I've tried some profiles to make it a bit better, but there is only so much it can help with. The poor display is the main reason I am upgrading. I love a good display on my computers.

It depends on what they introduce, I would probably end up getting the replacement for the 13.3, but time will tell. It is also possible that I would go for a 13.3 from 2013-15, they seem to be pretty reliable and fast today. I am used to using an older machine so it would not be terrible for me. I also only upgrade my OS every few years, still running regular Sierra on most of my Macs, but I do some testing with Mojave and now Catalina.

For a 27", I might go for a used/refurb from 2015/17, I'll have to see how large the performance gains were from 2017 to 19.
 
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I have lots of iMacs, all had upgrades:

Late 2012 27" iMac-I got the BTO options for the i7, 680MX 2GB, and 1TB Fusion Drive. I upgraded the RAM myself to 24GB. It is my main Mac that I use, and I may upgrade the internal drives, either just replace the HDD to SSD, or maybe both drives and run them in a RAID 0. I think this should get me about 1000MBps read speeds on the boot drive.

Mid 2011 27" iMac-This was a dumpster find that a friend found and gave to me to see if I could fix it. It had a corrupt HDD and the GPU was fried. I end up doing a GPU bake in the oven to fix it and this was a top of the line BTO iMac from Apple, had every possible upgrade. I also replaced the very hot-running HDD with a SSD. I might add a second SSD using the unused SATA3 port and run a RAID0.

Mid 2007 20" iMac-I picked this one up on craigslist for really cheap in 2010. I have since maxed the RAM and replaced the HDD with a SSD, and gave it to my parents to use. I have not plans to do anything else to it.

Late 2003 17" iMac G4-Got this one in 2004 or 2005 from a police auction, it was missing the internal drive. I max the the internal RAM and user replaceable RAM and put a 320GB HDD in it. It is my favorite Apple design, so I would like to mess around with it more one day. I might put a SSD in it.

1998 iMac G3-Got this in the early 2000's for $60 from an ad in the local paper. I replaced the HDD, upgraded the vRAM, and maybe the RAM. I think I also added an AirPort Card, but can't remember. I might put a SSD in it one day.


I would say the Mid 2011 is one of the best iMacs due to the many possibilities and combinations of things to do. It has 3 SATA ports, a non-soldered GPU, a couple GPU plug & play options, is really easy to work on, and lots of parts out there for it.
[doublepost=1567967853][/doublepost]
retta283 said:
I had a 2011, but the GPU burned up.
Click to expand...

If you still have it, consider doing a GPU bake on it. It fixed my Mid 2011 iMac with the still very expensive 2GB GPU.
 
vertical smile said:
I have lots of iMacs, all had upgrades:

Late 2012 27" iMac-I got the BTO options for the i7, 680MX 2GB, and 1TB Fusion Drive. I upgraded the RAM myself to 24GB. It is my main Mac that I use, and I may upgrade the internal drives, either just replace the HDD to SSD, or maybe both drives and run them in a RAID 0. I think this should get me about 1000MBps read speeds on the boot drive.

Mid 2011 27" iMac-This was a dumpster find that a friend found and gave to me to see if I could fix it. It had a corrupt HDD and the GPU was fried. I end up doing a GPU bake in the oven to fix it and this was a top of the line BTO iMac from Apple, had every possible upgrade. I also replaced the very hot-running HDD with a SSD. I might add a second SSD using the unused SATA3 port and run a RAID0.

Mid 2007 20" iMac-I picked this one up on craigslist for really cheap in 2010. I have since maxed the RAM and replaced the HDD with a SSD, and gave it to my parents to use. I have not plans to do anything else to it.

Late 2003 17" iMac G4-Got this one in 2004 or 2005 from a police auction, it was missing the internal drive. I max the the internal RAM and user replaceable RAM and put a 320GB HDD in it. It is my favorite Apple design, so I would like to mess around with it more one day. I might put a SSD in it.

1998 iMac G3-Got this in the early 2000's for $60 from an ad in the local paper. I replaced the HDD, upgraded the vRAM, and maybe the RAM. I think I also added an AirPort Card, but can't remember. I might put a SSD in it one day.


I would say the Mid 2011 is one of the best iMacs due to the many possibilities and combinations of things to do. It has 3 SATA ports, a non-soldered GPU, a couple GPU plug & play options, is really easy to work on, and lots of parts out there for it.
[doublepost=1567967853][/doublepost]

If you still have it, consider doing a GPU bake on it. It fixed my Mid 2011 iMac with the still very expensive 2GB GPU.
Click to expand...
I gave it to my friend for parts, he may have fixed it himself, as he mentioned a GPU solution to me. At the time, I was not willing to mess with it, so I just turned it over to him, he did give me the drive from it though.
 
2 years and 2 months old - I only purchased 2x8 GB RAM to have total of 24 GB RAM + I have external 2 TB Samsung for Time Machine
 
Top of the line iMac from 2012...waiting for a redesign. I almost bit at the iMac Pro (and there are a bunch on sale for $3500), but I am probably going to hold out and wait.
 
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2019 i9 3.6 | 512 SSD | 580X - I upgraded the RAM from 8GB to 64GB (32GB x2) and sold the two 4GB modules.

I switched from the 2017 model, which I owned for 23 months. Performance was great and I could have easily hung onto it for another 2-3 years, but I find it's often easier (and more enjoyable) to sell something newer. It cost me about $600-700 to upgrade to the 2019 model, including AppleCare+, after the sale of the 2017 iMac.
 
Have 4 of the 1999 tray loading iMacs (one of each color except for Lime), a 20" top spec G4 iMac that needs some love, and a 20" and 24" late 2006 iMacs. All are currently in storage, and when my new house is finished in about 2 months, I will be moving these into my planned workshop in the finished basement to give them all some much needed attention.

Would like something a little more modern eventually, but I have a upgraded 2009 Mac Pro and 15" 2012 MacBook Pro for that currently.
 
Trucking my 2012 iMac since it's release and chugging until the redesigned iMac comes out, which my guess is will be next year finally. I had immediately upgraded it to 24GB RAM but recently maxed it out to 32GB this year to make it go a little further.

2020 couldn't come sooner!
 
I had a base model 21.5" 2011 that was still my daily driver up until alst year -- 1tb spinner drive and all. Only upgrade I ever did was discard the OEM 4gb of ram and bump it up to 16gb the first week I had it. It only recently started showing signs of GPU issues, but only when used without an external. Plug in an external and it worked flawlessly still which I never could explain.

Couldn't wait for the upgrades I wanted to make their way to the iMac (some of which, I expect would never make it), so I ended up going the Hackintosh route since it's a work computer so I probably won't be upgrading again anytime soon.
 
2019 27” / i9 /8 core / 2Tb SSD / 64 Gb ram / Vega 48. Attached 6Tb Thunderbolt 3 Lacie external HD for time machine and other things. Sold my 2013 iMac a couple of months ago for €1000,- and did not want to wait for an “all new” designed iMac. Like it as it is.
 
27" Late 2015 Retina 5K with the Core i7, M395X and 512 GB SSD which I've had since 2016. I bumped the RAM up to 32 GB 2133 MHz DDR3. As nice as a new redesigned iMac would be in 2020, I don't have enough of a reason to upgrade.

I also have a 24" Late 2006 iMac which I use to watch TV (both OTA and online) and YouTube. It shows its age sometimes (Apple prevented it from updating to any MacOS after OS X Mountain Lion) but works well enough for the most part. I recently installed Win 10 to make a dual-boot config.
 
retta283 said:
How old is your iMac? Have you done any upgrades to it since purchased? Are you planning on upgrading soon?

I have multiple iMacs, but my main one is a 2010 21.5 with 8GB RAM upgrade. I had a 2011, but the GPU burned up. I may try and find a deal on a thin iMac, but I think I want a 27" this time, so it may be a bit before I buy a newer one. I will also need to clear some space for it, my 21.5 is already tightly packed into its current spot.
Click to expand...

I have several still in daily use.

2007 upgraded Hard drive to SSD, upgraded RAM. This is the only one not used continuously. Guest bedroom machine.
Late 2009 27" upgraded hard drive to an SSD in 2010 along with RAM. Upgrade i5 CPU to i7.
2010 27" upgraded i3 to i7 CPU, RAM, swapped hard drive to ssd.
2011 27" upgraded i5 to i7 CPU, RAM, swapped hard drive to dual SSD in RAID0
2012 27" upgraded RAM, Swapped fusion hard drive for SSD
2013 27" upgraded RAM
2015 27" upgraded RAM
2019 27" upgraded RAM

I bought the i7 CPU's on eBay for less than $40 each and added some extra processing and life to those computers.
 
My primary "daily use" desktop iMac is a 2011, upgraded with: 24 GB RAM, original 1 TB spinning HD replaced with 2 TB spinning disk plus an 80 GB SSD in a "homemade" Fusion Drive.

I use it as a home server plus thanks to "Target Display Mode" as a third display for my MacBook Pro, which is my actual "primary use" computer.

I also have a few other iMacs...
iMac Core 2 Duo 17" polycarbonate
iMac G5 iSight
iMac G4 17" USB 2.0
iMac G4 17" (Original release, that can still boot Mac OS 9)
iMac G3 (Summer 2001 - 600 MHz Graphite)
iMac G3 (Summer 2000 - 450 MHz Ruby)
iMac G3 rev.b (the original 1998 iMac with the slightly-upgraded graphics that was bumped a few months after release; with a "mezzanine" SCSI card.)
 
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