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Time for a Newer Mac?

Christine1234

Christine1234

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 2, 2011
168
13
Snowflake, AZ
I have a mid-2009 iMac running El Capitan. The other day when I went to use it, it whirred for a while until it warmed up a bit but has been quiet since then. It has also started freezing at random times. Any idea what might be causing this? I don't want to lose all the information on it, so I started looking for a good used iMac desktop and saw a 27" iMac 2013 desktop running Catalina for $600. It's a nice machine, but I'd rather not spend on it if this one can be saved. Any thoughts?
 
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The first thing came up to my mind is a dying hdd which would be quite normal for a 10 year-old drive.
Definitely do a back-up incase. I don’t know your requirements but using a 2009 iMac, it seems to be low. Then you might consider getting a newer 4K model rather than a still old 2013 27”.
 
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After 10 years, "it's time".

One thing that's important:
Get an iMac with an SSD inside.
This costs a little more, and you have to "special order" them through Apple's online page (or buy an Apple refurb), but it's worth it.
The SSD will make the computer run faster and give it a long life.

Although you've certainly squeezed "a long life" from that 2009 !! ;)
 
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LOL, thank you for confirming what I thought was probably wrong. My computing needs consist of e-mail, Youtube, and Word or Pages documents. That's pretty basic. I'll look for one with an SSD. I guess I was just hoping for a quick and easy fix for this one, since it meets all my needs. I tend to hang on to Macs forever as long as they continue to do everything I need. Still have that grape G3....

The 2009 has been a great computer, but it's reaching the end of its life. It's time for a new Mac for the new decade.
 
I think it does have an SSD, how do I check? I would prefer to fix this one if it can be done reasonably. I thought an SSD was just a type of hard drive.
 
OK, is this it?

Macintosh HD:





Available: 130.11 GB (130,111,098,880 bytes)


Capacity: 159.18 GB (159,182,127,104 bytes)


Mount Point: /


File System: Journaled HFS+


Writable: Yes


Ignore Ownership: No


BSD Name: disk0s2


Volume UUID: 6836DD89-59A2-3B44-957E-2A0E76B0C633


Physical Drive:


Device Name: WDC WD1600AAJS-40H3A0


Media Name: WDC WD1600AAJS-40H3A0 Media


Medium Type: Rotational


Protocol: SATA


Internal: Yes


Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)


S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified
 
Is it an early 2009 or late 2009? Big design difference. It can be made to run Catalina pretty smoothly with upgrades, although the maximum officially supported is 10.13 “High Sierra.”
 
OK, I just got back. I tried to reply to this thread and it froze again, so I took it to a computer repair place because I didn't trust myself to work on it. Now it has and SSD instead of the SATA hard drive, and the fan had some gunk on it that kept it from spinning like it should. Now I can really hear the fan and I can feel the cool air coming out. He said that the fan could have had something to do with the problem of it freezing up.

He also told me that it only has 2GB of RAM in it and can only support 3 max. Since I've only used between 1/4 and 1/3 of it, the 2GB shouldn't be a problem for me, except for trying to load a newer OS.

He told me not to spend too much more on it because it won't hold that much RAM and in a few years El Capitan won't be supported any more. Is there some work-around for this?

The fan is loud, but he said to wait and see if it freezes up again.

It is definitely faster.
 
He put what brand/model of SSD in it?
Apple menu > storage > Physical and look for the model number

Yes don't put too much money on it but it still ok for a few more years if your usage pattern do not change.
You probably should keep El Capitan if your apps still works on it.
 
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It says 240 GB solid state SATA drive, but I don't see a model number. I don't know how to do the picture, but it says iMac 20 inch mid-2009.

Is this it? Model: WDC WDS240G2G0A-00JH30
 
Screen Shot 2019-12-13 at 9.58.54 PM.png

[automerge]1576300183[/automerge]
Well, that's good news, anyway. This fan is so loud my ears ring when I shut the computer down. There's no way I can enjoy surfing the web with the noise.

I just tried unplugging it and checking the activity monitor with no luck. Nothing is running to make it run at full speed.
 
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