Time to replace mac OS High Sierra (Mid 2010) but which model?

My Mac is running so slow nowadays, cannot cope with Photoshop 2020 very well, I think it's time to replace but which model and it looks like I won't get anything for my old machine what can I use it for? I had the hard drive replaced a few years ago - it was working fine until this year, just freezing more and more, have to save all my artwork on a separate hard drive as back up.


Any ideas what model to go for my current machine is 21.5 inch - I use it daily and do a lot of artwork on it.


Cheers


Cherie

Posted on Sep 7, 2023 5:53 PM

Reply
12 replies
Question marked as Helpful

Sep 7, 2023 8:17 PM in response to Digbert22

Since you're going to be running Photoshop, get at least 16 GB of RAM, as per Adobe's recommendation. You can't upgrade RAM on any of the Apple Silicon Macs after purchase. While some people have gotten 8 GB, and have not looked back, others have regretted not getting more – after it was too late to do anything about it.


The stock models of some entry-level Macs – like the 24" M1 iMac – only have 8 GB of RAM. If you are interested in one of those Macs but want to have plenty of RAM for Photoshop, you may want to custom-order through the Apple online store to get the amount of RAM that you need. If you're doing really demanding stuff in Photoshop there may be an advantage to having as much as 32 GB of RAM, but my impression is that that first jump, from 8 GB to 16 GB, is where most of the benefit would be for many users.


Sep 8, 2023 9:32 AM in response to Servant of Cats

Do not skimp on storage either. Storage is like RAM in current iMacs—it cannot be upgraded after leaving the assembly area.


Also note that the entry level model iMac has only two expansion ports, and cable ethernet is optional. Best to go for the next one up if you need wired ethernet of plan to use external drives, monitors or drawing pads.

Sep 8, 2023 10:29 AM in response to Servant of Cats

Good point, I also wonder if the new unified RAM which is shared by the CPU and GPU needs a little extra to take that into account. Though with an SSD that may be plenty fast for virtual memory, just make sure that also is large enough to have enough free space.


Any ideas on a good usable RAM footprint for the new unified memory so you have enough for both the CPU and GPU? I don't have any good experience or feel for that yet. My Intel Mac from 2019 has 32GB RAM and a GPU with its own dedicated 2 GB RAM, for historical reference. So, add a few extra GB beyond the expected typical CPU/application needs that would be shared for GPU use I guess is the new rule of thumb?

Sep 8, 2023 3:33 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Okay, noted, it's like a minefield of specs, I am not tech savvy but I manage, I went down the rabbit hole of M1, M2 and M3 chips, my mind is blown. I just want to finish the book I am working on without losing all my work in case the current machine goes kaput. I do use Procreate on my ipad pro but it's only hand for travelling, not the same.


I shall wait to see if they announce another one at the conference like 6X6 says above and keep backing up in the meantime.


thanks


Fellow Servant of 2 x Cats



Sep 9, 2023 6:03 AM in response to Digbert22

You can buy the latest model today and in just a matter of months, or maybe even less, it'll be an older model.


The trick is to buy what suites your need. That way, when newer models are released you'll still have the computer you need. And newer models will always be in the pipeline, so you'll never have the latest model for long.

Sep 9, 2023 12:05 PM in response to Digbert22

Howdy-ho, Digbert22 (or Cherie), whichever you like to be addressed as....

although a new iMac 24" is a decent machine...and the older iMac's pro were decent machines, too, the new iMacs are not upgradeable at all. they are built to custom order....so after you buy one, internal upgrading of any kind is impossible, you can, however, add external SSD's and dvd drives, etc...something to maybe think about...plus they run Catalina or greater, which is fine, but anything that runs/ran in High Sierra will not run in Catalina unless you find a 64-bit Catalina compliant version of the software/program/application....it breaks all 32-bit support, does away with it entirely....My vote (and this is what I have and am using now) is for a Classic(Intel??) Mac Pro 5,1 with 12 cores... still lots of life, power and goodness left in the old beastie, at least I think so... upgradeable easily ? you betcha...RAM and internal hard drives/SSD's ? Sure, no sweat, as big as you want and can afford, you can have up to 3-4 hard drives or SSD's in there...max capacity per drive ( I think ) might be 6-8 TB each... as for Ram/Memory, up to 96 GB, video/graphics card, a Sapphire Pulse RX-580 with 8 gigs VRAM would do you just fine... and it'll run Mojave like a champ...won't do Catalina or later officially, oh well...and it's relatively affordable for a used Classic Mac Pro 5,1 with 12 cores...OWC (macsales.com) used to sell them, and I'm sure there are other places out there that do sell Classic Mac Pro 5,1's with 12 cores, just not OWC at the moment. They do offer an Apple Mac Pro (Late 2019) at a starting price of $3,579 USD (that's US Dollars) and you'd have to figure out and add on the cost of shipping it to you, and taxes....as for what you can do with your old 21.5" mac....I'm guessing it's an iMac...Apple will recycle it for you, for free.....they, as you said, won't give you anything, and you won't get anything for it in terms of cash or value...you could donate it to a school , sell it locally "as-is" for parts/spares/repairs, eg , Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace...any local buying and selling groups....

Anyways, that's just my opinion, and I'm just one guy, I don't know how much you have to spend (your budget) or how much money you have set aside to maybe buy a newer Mac...how much you could spend safely, and/or how much you'd want to spend/could spend....I just checked online, and DVwarehouse.com has used Classic Mac Pro 5,1's 12 core starting at $700 USD ... https://www.dvwarehouse.com/apple/desktops/mac-pro.html

might be worth a look-see

John B



John B

Sep 15, 2023 3:59 PM in response to Digbert22

Thank you John,

Apologies for the delay in replying, I think I might look at the Mac Book Pro 16". I only kept my old iMac because I had a copy of PS on it, now that I have to subscribe to Adobe to run the later versions of PS (I am sure you could buy them years ago). Speaking to other illustrators they have been using Mac Book Pro with no issues and they can tackle the meaty PS files without keeling over like my current machine does. I'm embarrassed that I never thought of considering the Mac Book Pro before but I draw most of my artwork traditionally then use PS to colour and play around with composition etc. I use a iPad Pro for my work commute and work on parts of my art in Procreate then export it back to PS . I shall have a look at the latest models here in AU where everything is $$$$$$$. The only good thing about losing my old iMac will be that I get to label the next machine in my own name and not look at my ex H's name every bloomin type I booted up the thing. thanks for your reply

Sep 15, 2023 7:32 PM in response to Digbert22

No worries at all, Digbert22....I'm still rockin' a 2012 classic Mac Pro 5,1 (obviously, portability is not a consideration/worry for me at all as I don't care about portability....As for your ex H's name, well that can be changed easily, login as admin, and change the user account settings to whatever name you want, yours, your dogs/cats/gerbils/goldfishes, whatever you like, it's your iMac after all... If it's just the name of the hard drive, SSD, that's easy as pie to fix.just click on it once so it's highlighted, then do a Get info on it (Apple+ the "I" key held down together, and you should see a looong window..... on the bottom there should be a lock....are you with me so far....click on the lock to unlock it and make changes, type in your login/startup/admin user name and password, make the change, when done, lock it up again to save changes and there you go...permanent name change.... I suppose the only other real question to consider is your budget? is it worth it, to you, to spend the $ to upgrade your iMac, knowing that it can only go so far, and take you so far, and that's it, or that you want to go for the "best bang for your buck" so to speak, and know when to say "enough's enough....time to say goodbye, old girl.....That'll do, Pig, that'll do" pretty much any Intel MacBook Pro should support an eGPU up to, say, 2017-Late 2018-ish, dunno about 2019.... plus they are upgradeable after you buy 'em.... the new M1 and M2 Portable Macs (MacBook, MacBook Pro, etc, even the Mac studios, are, sadly, not) ...they are strictly built-to-order, what you see is what you get, no more, no less....

Time to replace mac OS High Sierra (Mid 2010) but which model?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.