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Up grade to Sierra on 2009 IMAC ?

oldhifi

oldhifi

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 12, 2013
1,494
748
USA
I Found a nice 27 Inch MB953lla, can it be up graded to Sierra with no problems?? What about the next OSX upgrade?

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) - Technical Specifications
Processor and memory

  • 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache
    3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache
  • 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz
    2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores
4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; four SO-DIMM slots support up to 16GB

Size and weight

  • Height: 20.4 inches (51.7 cm)
  • Width: 25.6 inches (65.0 cm)
  • Depth: 8.15 inches (20.7 cm)
  • Weight: 30.5 pounds (13.8 kg)1
Connections and expansion

  • One FireWire 800 port; 7 watts
  • Four USB 2.0 ports
  • SD card slot
Communications

  • Built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking;2 IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
  • Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
  • Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Audio

  • Built-in stereo speakers
  • Two internal 17-watt high-efficiency amplifiers
  • Headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack)
  • Audio line in/optical digital audio input (minijack)
  • Built-in microphone
  • Support for Apple Stereo Headset with microphone
Environmental Status Report

iMac is designed with the following features to reduce its environmental impact:

  • Arsenic-free display glass
  • BFR-free
  • PVC-free5
  • Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosures
  • Meets ENERGY STAR 5.0 requirements
  • Rated EPEAT Gold
Acoustic Performance

DECLARED NOISE EMISSIONS in accordance with ISO 9296
 
It'll run, but it might be worth installing an SSD if you don't already have one; the old magnetic drives are pretty slow with the newer OSes.
 
Thanks but all I really do is pay bills and surf the web now days..
 
oldhifi said:
Thanks but all I really do is pay bills and surf the web now days..
Click to expand...

If all you do is surf and pay bills, why jump to Sierra? How about something in the middle like Yosemite? Hell, Leopard and Snow Leopard were killer but I don't if they are supported any more with current browsers. Yosemite is.

I recently installed Sierra on my mid 2011 iMac and my 2012 MBP and I didn't like it. It was very sluggish and I found a few apps and hardware that didn't work anymore without upgrading, so I dropped back to Yosemite and couldn't be happier.

Good luck and let us know what you do.
 
I found that El Capitan was faster than Yosemite on our early 2009. If you buy that machine, plan on upgrading the RAM to at least 8 Gb. If the disk drive is the original, you might want to budget for an SSD upgrade simply because older disk drives have a bad habit of dying. Assuming typical usage (i.e. daily but not 24x7), a 2009 spinner should still have some life left in it, but it's a bit of a crapshoot and the odds don't get any better as time moves on.
 
kschendel said:
I found that El Capitan was faster than Yosemite on our early 2009. If you buy that machine, plan on upgrading the RAM to at least 8 Gb. If the disk drive is the original, you might want to budget for an SSD upgrade simply because older disk drives have a bad habit of dying. Assuming typical usage (i.e. daily but not 24x7), a 2009 spinner should still have some life left in it, but it's a bit of a crapshoot and the odds don't get any better as time moves on.
Click to expand...
There were issues with some bad batches of HDD back in the 2009 model. The HDD in my late 2009 (built early 2010) only lasted for 2-3 years before it needed replacing. I am "only" on my second HDD now though, which runs together with an SSD.

But as others have said, if it is the original HDD it might be worth considering upgrading to an SSD, or at the very least replacing it with a new one.
 
I bought this:

iMac 27" Late 2009 with a 2.8Ghz i7 Intel processor, 12GB of ram and a 1 TB hard drive, it has Yosemite on it now

I have not got it yet..
 
I have the 3.06 C2D and run Sierra without issue on an SSD that replaced my Optical drive... though I'll be upgrading to a 2017 model soon. You should be able to run High Sierra as well. Definitely add the SSD drive as it will make a significant difference.
 
oldhifi said:
Thanks but all I really do is pay bills and surf the web now days..
Click to expand...
b06tmm said:
If all you do is surf and pay bills, why jump to Sierra? ...
Click to expand...
If you pay bills, access bank accounts and such, you want the latest OS for the best security, that is why.

While Apple does provide security updates for the 3 most current macOS releases, that means they will no longer provide updates for Yosemite (10.10.x) once High Sierra is released this fall.

12GB RAM is more than enough for your needs.
 
I would still recommend updating it to Sierra. Yes the drive will be slow, but it's slow even on El Capitan. And then update it to High Sierra when that comes out, to maintain compatibility with the new formats. Your 12 GB is more than sufficient.

If you can install a SSD that would be ideal, but if you can't then perhaps a reformat of the drive with reinstallation of the OS with only the necessary third party applications may be in order. A lean install tends to run faster in my experience. I did that with my 2010 27" iMac, and it's much more responsive than it was before... but it's still slow because of the HD.

In the end though, I'm now just using it as a monitor. You can use your 2009 as a monitor too BTW, if you ever decide to retire it.
 
yes I now have Sierra, but I need to remove the glass and clean behind it..
 
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