i have an iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

i have an iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) its running High Sierra but it can't do anything, its a perfectly good unit with loads of memory and i don't want to upgrade to a newer model (not very sustainable) but i can't even download excel for work. how do i upgrade it and be able to use it effectively.

Posted on Mar 24, 2021 4:03 PM

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6 replies

Mar 24, 2021 5:26 PM in response to Trafpolly

You cannot install Office now if you don't already have it installed. However, the free LibreOffice is a mature, robust, and full-featured productivity suite that reads and writes MS Office files.


https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/


Your computer more than meeets its system requirements: https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/system-requirements/


Our 2011 iMac is still in full service because we installed Office 2008 on it years ago. No issues with browsers at this point.

Mar 24, 2021 7:39 PM in response to Trafpolly

With due respect sir you know not what you are talking about. Its has nothin to do with greed, it has to do with technology moving forward. In order for Macs to be able to run more current versions of Mac OS they need Metal, which is built into the GPU. And before your ask, no the GPUs cannot be upgraded and that isn't a plot either it's simple. Technology moves forward, it is that simple.


If you want to run a more current version of Excel, then buy it and move on. Your iMac will run Excel 2019 which is currently the most up-to-date version, if you don't want Excel 2019 then subscribe to Office 365 and never have to worry about having current versions again.


It's that simple.

Mar 24, 2021 5:25 PM in response to Trafpolly

Technology changes quickly and the new OS versions are for hardware that is compatible with them. Every computer maker has to cut it off at some point and, even though it may look like new, 10 years is ancient in electronic terms. So you need to realize that there is a "life cycle" for both the hardware and software. As well, companies would go out of business if they didn't innovate and come out with new things and nobody would buy anything.


So, you can work with some older software - if it works - and keep using yours. I bought a 2017 on purpose because it will run new versions, but also older ones (which I need because I have some older expensive software/apps that will not run on new machines and it is not worth it to me to replace it all because I no longer use them all the time, only occasionally).

Mar 24, 2021 4:32 PM in response to rkaufmann87

thank you for replying, at this very moment i want to get excel from the app store, i have numbers i know, but i need it for work.

and even if i was using numbers it would be an old version because that won't update either.

I know that the machine is 10 years old, but i have been out of the country and its perfectly physically good, like new condition and i just don't understand why apple would not allow it to be updated. other than greed of course.

thank you for your time

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i have an iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

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