Is my 2009 iMac repairable, got grey screen took to a local computer shop but unable to repair it, is the life of an iMac 8 years? not very good for a computer that only lasts 8 years for nearly £2000 in 2009, many thanks in advance for any input. Is it worth buying a refurbished iMac if not repairablee?
You did not say what the shop said the problem was. And, was it a Mac repair shop or ??
For electronic devices, 8 years is quite old and if yours is a 2009, it makes it 11 years old. Parts can and will fail at some point; hard drives can go after 2 - 5 years, so that may be a problem. So do logic boards.
So, if the shop didn't mention anything specific, have you run Apple hardware test? Included in your original install disks (disk 2 if I remember correctly). And, take a look to see if there is anything helpful here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6499732
To shop for a refurbished Mac, see > https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac
It's 11+ years old and will cost more to fix than it's worth.
8 years is a pretty good run, though it looks more like 10 from what you said. Any computer from any manufacturer can fail at any time.
Be prepared, there are many apps that will not run on a new Mac, such as iPhoto.
Refurbished macs are good deals.
Here's Apple's take on vintage and obsolete. After 5 years is starts entering old age and repairs may be uncertain, and after 7 they won't even look at it in an Apple repair place.
Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty [ was: Vintage and obsolete products]
Thanks, Den I read somewhere that the iMac in 2015 have a graphic card problem, so need to be careful when buying a refurbished computer, I have seen on some of these coupon sites that they are selling refurbished iMacs for about £250 approx with a year's warranty so may look at these.
Which is why you should always have a backup. Sometimes, even if the HD will not boot you can take it out of the computer and get the data from it.
Thanks, Keith, my iMac packed up in 2017, although magic keyboard and mouse stopped working within 8 months, took back to Currys and they said that these items are not covered under warranty, more annoyed that I lost photos and information on the iMac, the shop did use my original disks, but the computer just would not load up.
Thanks, Babowa, Just annoying as the computer looks as good as the day I bought it, the shop was a small computer shop that sold refurbished Apple equipment, but they run it with the disks and just could not get past the grey screen, shop not there anymore.
I kept thinking that I should buy an external hard drive to back up my photos etc. but never thought the computer was going to pack up, different if I had issues with it, but just would not load one day, had the grey screen, tried all the recommended fixes but nothing would get past the grey screen, I do back up everything now.
Many people have at least two backups. I keep one by the computer which gets backed up automatically every 3 hours just in case the computer suddenly dies. I have another in a safe location elsewhere in the house should a thief break in and steal all my equipment, or there's a fire.
Thanks, Limnos when I get my next iMac, will possibly keep it for 5 years then sell and upgrade.
Is my 2009 imac repairable, got grey screen took to local computer shop but unable to repair, is the life of an imac 8 years?
