Hi all .... firstly I am not proficient in geek speak so please forgive me. I am in need of replacing my 2010 iMac 27in.. it has served me well but now has the black screen of death. was looking at recondition 2013 with SSD as was told this preferable as there are less moving parts and I really am on limited funds... but am thinking if it is at all possible to run my old Adobe CS6 suite on a new iMac I could possibly look to purchasing on payment as it seems to be crazy not to for the extra speed and hopefully longevity. My question is can the OS be backtracked to High Sierra which was the last OS used on my iMac and what I am using in my macbook which the CS6 is compatible with .. I am not sure how much further CS6 can go and I presume most new machines will come with Catalina? I really don't want to upgrade to new Adobe software as it is set up to pay as you go and that doesn't work for me. I also am unsure if old CS6 files would open using newer Adobe software and I need to be able to access them as I have return clients. I use my machine for graphic design, illustrator indesign and Photoshop and other online activities as well as reference for my artwork. I am looking at something like 27in iMac 3.3GHz 6-core i5/8GB/ 512GB SSD with Retina 5K Display. All of which would be a step up from my old girl ... which I love ... any help would be great as I am just a devotee and not really good at the tech stuff.
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replacing dying 2010 27in iMac ... need to be able to use CS6 help?
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You can check to see what versions of macOS will run on a particular model at
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Unfortunately any new Mac will only be able to run the operating system it initially shipped on or later, as prior versions of MacOS will not have the necessary drivers for the new hardware in the Mac. So you have two options;
A: Buy a used Mac that can High Sierra which means you are looking at Macs that were released in 2017 or earlier.
B: Ditch CS6 and switch to something else. This is what I would recommend as option A is just putting off the inevitable. I had the same problem and did not want to use Adobe's subscription software. I am not sure what CS6 apps you rely on, but I was primarily using Photoshop and I moved to Affinity Photo which is a reasonable one off purchase and just about does everything that photoshop did. I have not looked back. I did use Adobe Premiere and moved to Final Cut Pro (that was an expensive purchase). Affinity also offer alternatives to Adobe illustrator and indesign as well, not that I use those.
A: Buy a used Mac that can High Sierra which means you are looking at Macs that were released in 2017 or earlier.
B: Ditch CS6 and switch to something else. This is what I would recommend as option A is just putting off the inevitable. I had the same problem and did not want to use Adobe's subscription software. I am not sure what CS6 apps you rely on, but I was primarily using Photoshop and I moved to Affinity Photo which is a reasonable one off purchase and just about does everything that photoshop did. I have not looked back. I did use Adobe Premiere and moved to Final Cut Pro (that was an expensive purchase). Affinity also offer alternatives to Adobe illustrator and indesign as well, not that I use those.
HI James. thanks for your reply. I use illustrator and indesign as well as PS and need to access these files as I have ongoing clients and was wondering if I go to the subscription software if it would read the older files... and to be honest I can't really afford the ongoing cost as I am not working regularly. I will be paying off the computer as it is ... lol just can't face life without one. I have been looking at the reconditioned option(A) but as you say I am concerned about the limited life span of that. ahhh. just one of those big leap what to do decisions I guess. thanks again for your input.
Affinity Photo can open and edit .psd files
Affinity Publisher can import InDesign files that have been saved in IDML (InDesign Markup Language) format, which is available in InDesign CS4 and later.
Affinity Designer technically can open AI files, but the effect is similar to opening a non-editible PDF in Illustrator. You'll find text blocks are broken onto separate lines and gradients/shadow affects are exploded or rasterised. Depending on what you want to do with a file, you may be able work around these issues to export a JPEG, and save the file out as an Affinity file for future changes.
You're in Australia? Seems like craigslist is a ghosttown there. What are your local computer repair shops offering in the realm of 2012-2017 Macs? And what are they quoting you to attempt to fix your 2010 iMac? If you can get a 2012 machine with upgradeable memory and HD, that's potentially a mid/long term solution or at worst, worth it just to continue your active projects even if you buy an upgraded machine to transition away from CS6 at the same time. It all depends on what the used/repair market for Macs is like in your area...
Is this just a screen problem. What about buying a 2560x1440 monitor with displayport and using the iMac as just "a computer"? Just a thought.
Hi Brian .... there is an option to buy an upgraded late 2013 with new SSD for about 1500 but am on super low income so your suggestion of both is not viable for me. I am making a decision I hope to get me through the next 5 years on at least. I just hate the way adobe holds us to ransom with this subscription software concept. I am just torn between spending 1500 for reco that is 7years old or an extra 1000 for a new model that will require new software additional cost but will hopefully last me as well as the 2010. I have had someone look at my iMac but it seems to be an "age" issue black screen of death... graphics ribbon maybe... no one has been able to definitively say what and even the reco people aren't interested in mac as old as mine. cheers for your input.
sorry to ask dumb question? like I said not a geek... yes it seems to be just a screen problem.. it goes black after about 30 secs of being booted up.. it did take longer but it seems more terminal now lol. if there is something like something streaming it keeps playing and I can hear it just can't see it. It seems to function ok as I can access it from my laptop but can't see anything on the screen. so the monitor you are talking about is just any brand of monitor?
so I should be able to use my laptop to test it? do I have to mirror screens or something?
I don't know how you can test it with a laptop. There are a couple of ways to test it. 1) Does anybody in your circle of friends have a monitor with displayport you could borrow to connect to your iMac? 2) Do you have a hidef TV with HDMI connection? You can get a minidisplayport to HDMI dongle and then connect the hidef TV to test if you get video, which you should. But if you go this route I would get a monitor with displayport for use with your iMac. I am a freelance photographer and use an Asus PB258Q (2560x1440 resolution) that I really like, it was $340 US and I use it with my 2012 MacBook Pro.
ok so I have just looked at the refurbed iMac and even it comes with Catalina so I seem to find info that says you can take it back to Mojave or High Sierra which is what I am operating on now... does this sound correct?
Yes. But I would ask the seller to perform a clean install of Mojave as a condition of the sale. Let them deal with it.
I would probably avoid Mojave with CS6. It is not officially supported, Apple had moved to Metal and CS6 struggles to run well on Mojave.
so you would say that High Sierra is probably the last OS that will support CS6? and can you tell me what Metal is please?
so just a question on trying out using the TV as a screen to test this option .. I already use my macbook with HDMI cable sometimes with the TV. Is this the sort of cable I need to test the iMac? don't really have friends that do this kind of thing ....with appropriate gadgetry and not inclined to buy for test as don't have spare dollars... think almost 60 year old arty girl who is a bit of a freak amongst her tribe.. lol most of them come to me for computer work
Metal is a low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated 3D graphic and compute shader API created by Apple. It is intended to improve performance by offering low-level access to the GPU hardware for apps. High Sierra supports metal 2, but Mohave is the first version of Mac OS that requires a GPU to support it. CS6 does not support Metal 2.
CS6 can run on Mohave, but users tend to see stability and performance issues.
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thanks James.... I understood about the last line of that.... lol as I said I don't really speak geek but I did ask the question. I do understand what you are saying however that it may create problems. I think I am more confused as to which way to jump now than I was but I do appreciate all the input.
This would do, $14 US on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-DisplayPort-Adapter-Cable-GMDPHDW6/dp/B00E98MSKYso just a question on trying out using the TV as a screen to test this option .. I already use my macbook with HDMI cable sometimes with the TV. Is this the sort of cable I need to test the iMac? don't really have friends that do this kind of thing ....with appropriate gadgetry and not inclined to buy for test as don't have spare dollars... think almost 60 year old arty girl who is a bit of a freak amongst her tribe.. lol most of them come to me for computer work
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On the flip side, can you use the iMac in target display mode for longer than 30 minutes? This would ensure that it is the display that’s problematic, and not the computer. Use the laptop to drive the iMac, and see if it exhibits the same blanking issue after 30 minutes. If it doesn’t, then it’s not the display that’s broken but the computer. In that case, using an external display would suffer the same fate.