I upgraded to a 2TB SSD and it runs great- far better than I could have imagined.
I have a late 2012 IMac 17 w/32 GB Critical Ram. It cam with a 3TB Fusion drive that became a disaster after a couple of years. I should note that I run Bitdefender because I am in a mixed OS environment and it's amazing how many Trojan Horses I had on my machine which shared cloud drives with Windows.
Now the AV software has overhead but didn't slow iMac badly but may have contributed to my upcoming upgrade woes.
Word to the wise - Shut of your AV software if you run any or uninstall befor upgrading OS's
While upgrading to High Sierra the machine crashed and I was left with it running so slow Mac techs said I might have a virus. Took 20 minutes to boot to safe mode. I wound up reinstalling High Sierra with Online Repair Mode. Amazingly I didn't lose any data. Machine ran well.
Then Mojave came and this time my upgrade experience was worse. I lost all data on the drive. Fortunately I had Time Machine running on an external USB. I reinstalled Mojave with Online Repair Mode and my data from Time Machine. I was thinking of buying a new iMac but when the 2012 ran well-It was really great for an older machine. No spinning balloons. I decided to look into installing an SSD.
Meanwhile within a week the Fusion drive totally died so my options were buy a new Imac or mini, or try installing an SSD. I was lucky.
I found a guy who did Mac service at a relatively reasonable price. I picked up a Crucial MX500 2TB 3D NAND SATA at Amazon and brought the machine to his shop. For $200 he installed the drive and I brought the machine home like a new iMac with a new Fusion drive made of the original 128 SSD and the new SSD. The machine has been running like a champ. It really is incredible for an "obsolete" machine.
If you can upgrade to an SSD, a challenge unless you go external or find an expert, it makes a world of difference. Check the YouTube videos if you are technically inclined for the kits offered by OWC and another online vendor.
Mojave has run great with the new drive. Been smooth sailing for a few months.
I upgraded my early 2014 Macbook Air with 8GB Ram to Catalina and it has fixed some issues and created others. My battery lasts much longer than Mojave, but the fan is running half the time.
I wanted Catalina so I could run with my iPad Pro as a second display but after installing found out it doen't work with older machines Check Apple's support site. That's it for me- sticking with an almost flawless Mojave 10.14.6 until I retire this workhorse.
I have a late 2012 IMac 17 w/32 GB Critical Ram. It cam with a 3TB Fusion drive that became a disaster after a couple of years. I should note that I run Bitdefender because I am in a mixed OS environment and it's amazing how many Trojan Horses I had on my machine which shared cloud drives with Windows.
Now the AV software has overhead but didn't slow iMac badly but may have contributed to my upcoming upgrade woes.
Word to the wise - Shut of your AV software if you run any or uninstall befor upgrading OS's
While upgrading to High Sierra the machine crashed and I was left with it running so slow Mac techs said I might have a virus. Took 20 minutes to boot to safe mode. I wound up reinstalling High Sierra with Online Repair Mode. Amazingly I didn't lose any data. Machine ran well.
Then Mojave came and this time my upgrade experience was worse. I lost all data on the drive. Fortunately I had Time Machine running on an external USB. I reinstalled Mojave with Online Repair Mode and my data from Time Machine. I was thinking of buying a new iMac but when the 2012 ran well-It was really great for an older machine. No spinning balloons. I decided to look into installing an SSD.
Meanwhile within a week the Fusion drive totally died so my options were buy a new Imac or mini, or try installing an SSD. I was lucky.
I found a guy who did Mac service at a relatively reasonable price. I picked up a Crucial MX500 2TB 3D NAND SATA at Amazon and brought the machine to his shop. For $200 he installed the drive and I brought the machine home like a new iMac with a new Fusion drive made of the original 128 SSD and the new SSD. The machine has been running like a champ. It really is incredible for an "obsolete" machine.
If you can upgrade to an SSD, a challenge unless you go external or find an expert, it makes a world of difference. Check the YouTube videos if you are technically inclined for the kits offered by OWC and another online vendor.
Mojave has run great with the new drive. Been smooth sailing for a few months.
I upgraded my early 2014 Macbook Air with 8GB Ram to Catalina and it has fixed some issues and created others. My battery lasts much longer than Mojave, but the fan is running half the time.
I wanted Catalina so I could run with my iPad Pro as a second display but after installing found out it doen't work with older machines Check Apple's support site. That's it for me- sticking with an almost flawless Mojave 10.14.6 until I retire this workhorse.
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