iMac Late 2015 macOs Monterey is painfully slow

[OldLogan0101]

Guys, Do you recommend a Imac late 2013 Mac Os Catalina for working and using some photo editing?

I know its old but it has 32 Gb Ram and 4Gb Graphics, what do you guys think? Could it run some old versions of photoshop ?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

What a holy peace of cr*p ! How could Apple sell in 2019 a computer with only a spinning drive as storage?

For that one a good solution is to use an external USB3 SSD.

Better a real Thunderbolt 3 SSD case with an NVMe blade (not that easy to find, but really worth the additional price).
That is a better solution than opening the iMac to replace the HDD with an SSD (which will be SATA, slower than NVMe over Thunderbolt3)
The small external drives can be glued behind the stand, barely visible and not dangling on the desktop.
The internal HDD can be used as a time machine storage.

Replace the internal SSD is cheaper than buy a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure where I live.
And the job is done by professional repair shop, not DIY.

 

[bzgnyc2]

Guys, Do you recommend a Imac late 2013 Mac Os Catalina for working and using some photo editing?

I know its old but it has 32 Gb Ram and 4Gb Graphics, what do you guys think? Could it run some old versions of photoshop ?

What's the oldest version of Photoshop you can get your hands on?

Would Adobe PhotoShop Elements work for you? Adobe says that the 2022 version will run under Catalina but requires a 6th generation Intel processor while that system apparently has a 4th or 5th generation processor. Assuming that Adobe enforces that processor requirement you would need to drop back to the 2020 version and you would be stuck there.

I would think that system would be fine for light photo editing. A 2020 Mac would be several times faster for CPU-intense filtering operations and such, but basic 2D image editing used to run fine on G4 computers with a fraction of those specs.

 

[rin67630]

Replace the internal SSD is cheaper than buy a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure where I live.
And the job is done by professional repair shop, not DIY.

Then ask the professional to replace the NVMe SSD blade if you had a fusion drive.
Just replacing the HDD by a SATA SDD will be much slower.
But if you have a 128GB SSD blade as part of the Fusion drive, you can just reconfigure your system, without opening it.

 

[exoceano]

it's also the easiest and safest way to get your iMac to fly again.
Dismanteling the iMac up to the accessing the blade connector under the logic board is painful and risky.

Thanks to all who weighed in on my issue - I ordered a 1Tb Crucial X9 - put it on last night - downloaded the cloning software recommended here - very easy to use - took about 6 hrs over night to clone - changed startup drives and restarted this AM and yes the thing FLYS now. Thanks for all the discussion and sound counsel !!!

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Then ask the professional to replace the NVMe SSD blade if you had a fusion drive.
Just replacing the HDD by a SATA SDD will be much slower.
But if you have a 128GB SSD blade as part of the Fusion drive, you can just reconfigure your system, without opening it.

Sure. With 40$ labor cost, I can ask them to replace the tiny nVME blade with 1TB or 2TB blade. Ditch the HDD, too.

 

[rin67630]

Sure. With 40$ labor cost, I can ask them to replace the tiny nVME blade with 1TB or 2TB blade. Ditch the HDD, too.

I would leave the HDD in place, formatted hfs+.
It is great for Time Machine and long time storage. Better and safer than SSDs.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I would leave the HDD in place, formatted hfs+.
It is great for Time Machine and long time storage. Better and safer than SSDs.

Its' better and safer to keep my Time Machine outside a heated environment. Easy to access and connect to newer Mac when needed. It's more convenience that way.

 

[rin67630]

Its' better and safer to keep my Time Machine outside a heated environment. Easy to access and connect to newer Mac when needed. It's more convenience that way.

Fully OK, if it's convenient for you.
Many like having a clean desktop without dangling stuff, therefore my remark.

By the way, being in hot Viet-Nâm (I suppose), tell your IT guy to put some heat sinks onto the NVMe SSD before screwing the guts in place.
Mine get quite hot when used intensively.

 

[penniless]

Thinking about upgrading to Monterey from Mojave on my iMac, but concerned about slowdown...

Any issue with installing Monterey on an external SSD and booting from there (when I decide to) and keeping Mojave on my main SSD drive? Mojave works great for my needs, but a lot of apps have stopped support...

 

[rin67630]

Any issue with installing Monterey on an external SSD and booting from there (when I decide to) and keeping Mojave on my main SSD drive? Mojave works great for my needs, but a lot of apps have stopped support...

That work pretty well with an USB3 external case.
The SSD will be ~20% slower than if it were directly connected but anyhow ways faster than a HDD.
If you use a Thunderbolt external case e.g. a LaCie TB drive from which you have replaced the HDD by a SSD, you can even get full speed.

 

[penniless]

That work pretty well with an USB3 external case.
The SSD will be ~20% slower than if it were directly connected but anyhow ways faster than a HDD.
If you use a Thunderbolt external case e.g. a LaCie TB drive from which you have replaced the HDD by a SSD, you can even get full speed.

Thanks for the informative response!

I may look into doing that mod, if it's relatively painless...

A few questions...

Is the external ssd only used for the OS?

What's the best practice for other applications and files?

Is there a way to access the same applications and files for both OSs (Mojave and Monterey, in this example)... can those be stored on a partitioned internal drive?

Thank you for your time!

 

[rin67630]

Is the external ssd only used for the OS?

It's up to you.
I have several OS's on external SSDs and my data on the internal 3TB HDD.
Works really well, mainly your User files are not that heavily read/written to slow down your computer.

What's the best practice for other applications and files?

Again it's up to you. Apps and OS should be on a SSD, user files are OK on a HFS+ formatted HDD.
That's important: don't let the OS format the HDD as APFS, that is a hard drive killer.

Is there a way to access the same applications and files for both OSs (Mojave and Monterey, in this example)... can those be stored on a partitioned internal drive?

You don't even need separate partitions:
One user-data partition formatted HFS+ and you can share all data.

 

[macguru9999]

the single best thing you can do is fit a sata 1 or 2 tb SSD in place of the spinner. Its probably not worth pulling the mobo to fit more ram, or looking for a pci ssd slot. trust me, the sata ssd alone will transform your computer. I use crucial ssds in 1/2/4tb sizes....

 

[rin67630]

the single best thing you can do is fit a sata 1 or 2 tb SSD in place of the spinner. Its probably not worth pulling the mobo to fit more ram, or looking for a pci ssd slot. trust me, the sata ssd alone will transform your computer. I use crucial ssds in 1/2/4tb sizes....

it's easier to use an external USB3 or TB SSDs, so you don't need to open the iMac.
It does no even need to be large: 256GB is plenty of room for the OS and your apps.
Your user data can remain on the spinner. But it should be formated back to HFS+. APFS is a HD-killer.

 

[macguru9999]

it's easier to use an external USB3 or TB SSDs, so you don't need to open the iMac.
It does no even need to be large: 256GB is plenty of room for the OS and your apps.
Your user data can remain on the spinner. But it should be formated back to HFS+. APFS is a HD-killer.

easier but not as good for most users, tho actually the tb3 ext ssd is faster than an internal sata ssd.,,,, also ssds should be formatted apfs

 

[rin67630]

easier but not as good for most users

I bet nobody would notice the difference, especially not if you use a TB3 - NVMe enclosure.
Which you can conveniently glue behind the foot, so no mess around your iMac.

 

[Barnclos]

Regarding the use of an external Thunderbolt (TB) drive: bear in mind that late 2015 only has TB2.
There are no TB2 drive enclosures available now, so connection would need: a TB2 cable <> Apple TB2 to TB3 adapter <> TB3 drive enclosure.
The problems don’t end there as the Apple TB2-TB3 adapter doesn’t carry power, so a drive enclosure with external power source is needed (very limited choice), or connected via a TB hub (that gives power to enclosure).
Bottom line: if you’re connecting an external SSD to a 2015 iMac, then USB is much simpler and much cheaper than Thunderbolt.

 

[rin67630]

also ssds should be formatted apfs

Yes, you should format SSDs with APFS but never format HDs with APFS, use HFS+.

 

[Fishrrman]

"you should format SSDs with APFS but never format HDs with APFS, use HFS+"

I'm a fan of HFS+ myself, but it should be pointed out that if one uses time machine (I don't), I believe it requires APFS.

Same for CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper, if cloning the more recent versions of the OS to an external HDD, APFS is required.

But otherwise... HFS+ for HDD's, yes.

 

[rin67630]

Same for CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper, if cloning the more recent versions of the OS to an external HDD, APFS is required.

Normal. The OS should be on a SSD on APFS since Mojave.
The data should be on HFS+ when located on a HD disk.

 

[macguru9999]

Yes, you should format SSDs with APFS but never format HDs with APFS, use HFS+.

I never use HDs anymore. Even my backups are SSDs. I know data recovery is unlikely so I have multiple backups. Everything is so quiet, even my qnap nas uses ssds....

 

[rin67630]

I never use HDs anymore. Even my backups are SSDs. I know data recovery is unlikely so I have multiple backups. Everything is so quiet, even my qnap nas uses ssds....

You are free to do so. Others are free to use HDDs where they have advantages.

 

[macguru9999]

You are free to do so. Others are free to use HDDs where they have advantages.

gee thanks

 

[bluewooster]

the single best thing you can do is fit a sata 1 or 2 tb SSD in place of the spinner. Its probably not worth pulling the mobo to fit more ram, or looking for a pci ssd slot. trust me, the sata ssd alone will transform your computer. I use crucial ssds in 1/2/4tb sizes....

As a coincidence, last week I bought a used late 2015 retina 21.5" iMac second hand very very cheaply. I could not believe how slow it was when I got it home (I have a couple macbooks and a mac mini from that period that run circles around it). Just checking system preferences was a spinning beach ball!

Then I was super disappointed to find out that the RAM is soldered to the logic board and not upgradeable and the only drive port is SATA! I decided to upgrade it anyway, removed the screen and put in a cheap 512gb SATA SSD.

It is a totally different computer! Not a powerhouse by any means but you can actually use it without feeling like it is a chore.

It's shocking that Apple released that thing with a 5400rpm HDD. Honestly, I can understand trying to maintain a profit margin but where is the pride? Increase the price but don't release that garbage into the wild! (In fairness, maybe it wasn't so obviously terrible with the OS it had at the time but Monterey is brutal!)

I'm curious about the comments that external TB3 would actually be faster than an internal SATA drive - from what I can see, this device just has USB3 and TB2? Apologies, I've never explored using an external drive for the OS before.