refurbishing late 2013 iMac - questions

Glen_St wrote:

Should I image the original drive somehow, either with the iMac or from my PC with something like Macrium Reflect, then copy to new drive before I put it in?

I would definitely create at least one bootable external startup drive before attempting what you describe. While you can theoretically re-install macOS on that model using Internet Recovery, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

You can do a "clean install" of macOS on the external drive. You can also use a third-party clone utility (Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!) to clone the existing startup volume.

It might be easiest just to hook up an external USB 3.0 SSD, do the clean install on it, make that your boot drive – and avoid having to open up the iMac at all. (This might not be a possibility if the internal hard drive is failing; if it has a S.M.A.R.T. status of Failing and is throwing up errors. But I used an old iMac for a long time with an external SSD and an ejected, spun-down, unused internal hard drive.)

It does appear that Late 2013 iMacs can take internal "blade" SSDs that would be much faster than USB 3 / SATA ones. The first OWC page below says that "Aura Pro X2 SSDs can only be installed in 21.5-inch iMac models that came with a factory-installed SSD or Fusion drive." (I think that means that Apple left off the SSD connectors on 21.5" models that came with just a factory-installed HDD. So if you have a 21.5" model, you would be out of luck, and if you have a 27" model, you'd probably want to check with OWC whether the same proviso applies to it.)

OWC Solid State Drives For iMac 21.5-Inch (Late 2013 - 2019)

OWC Solid State Drives For iMac 27-Inch (Late 2013 - 2019)

If your Mac can take blade SSDs and you get one, you will need to upgrade to High Sierra or later before installing that SSD, to update the iMac's firmware, so that it can work with the drive.

What is the max RAM I can put in this unit, I assume it is DDR3

If it is a 21.5" model, there are two sealed-in memory slots, and the maximum is 16 GB. If it is a 27" model, there are four user-accessible memory slots, and the maximum is 32 GB.

Either way, only use RAM from Other World Computing or Crucial that those sites' memory selector tools say works with your particular iMac.

OWC Memory Upgrades For 21.5" iMac (2012 - 2013)

OWC Memory Upgrades For 27" iMac (2012 - 2013)

Should I image the original drive somehow, either with the iMac or from my PC with something like Macrium Reflect, then copy to new drive before I put it in?

Use Time Machine: Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support.

If I just put new blank drive in, can I boot it up and download the latest Mac OS available? I think I did this with one of my kids Macbooks years ago. This would be my preference, if possible (clean install from scratch)

Yes. Boot Recovery mode, format the new SSD using its version of Disk Utility, then install the latest macOS version that Mac can run. After it installs you will be asked if you want to transfer content from the Time Machine backup.

I don't know if you can use the SSD pulled from your HP. Samsung "EVO" series SSDs do not enjoy a good reputation among Mac users. It might not work due to the fact Apple expects to install firmware updates with which it may not be compatible. To eliminate all doubt purchase an SSD from Other World Computing as MacMikeInOK wrote.

Same goes for memory. Buy it from OWC because they actually test it for specification compliance. Don't use just any PC memory. Whereas PCs can alter their memory bus speeds to cope with substandard RAM, Macs are intolerant of RAM that does not actually meet its required specifications.

Bottom line to remember is Macs ≠ Windows PCs in many respects.

What is the max RAM I can put in this unit, I assume it is DDR3

Read Install memory in an iMac - Apple Support. Scroll down to your exact model. Study the footnotes. Unsupported memory configurations can cause unexpected things to happen now or in the future.

Should I do anything else while I have the glass off? I heard there is an internal battery for startup RAM or something like that in these units, so probably good time to replace that.

Yes. It's easily replaced, and at ten years near its EOL if it's not there already.

Linux is also an endeavor worth pursuing. I have Macs a lot older than that running Linux versions quite nicely, even with ancient spinning hard disk drives and paltry memory.

The RAM you ordered in substandard and should not be used! iMacs are EXTREMELY fussy and demand high quality RAM. Most experienced users only buy Crucial.com or MacSales.com RAM. I strongly recommend cancelling your RAM order and buying from either of these sources.

Why, these sources simple. High quality RAM with lifetime warranties, extremely competitive pricing and the best customer service available. In short there is NO reason to buy elsewhere.

I recommend this kit for your 2013 27" iMac https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/1600DDR3S32S/

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Late 2013 iMacs came with some version of Mountain Lion or Mavericks, but I would not suggest installing anything earlier than High Sierra (except as a stepping-stone to get to High Sierra / Mojave / Catalina).

If you install Catalina,

• 32-bit applications will break
• iTunes will go away, replaced by separate apps: What happened to iTunes? - Apple Support
• You'll be able to get current versions of Firefox, LibreOffice, GIMP, and the commercial Affinity V2 suite, but
• You still won't be able to run applications from Microsoft, Adobe, and the like

There's no way to install a current version of Safari on your machine, so you might want to install a second browser, such as Firefox.

High Sierra or Mojave can run Firefox 115 ESR.

It no longer gets new features, but will get "critical security updates" until September 2024.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-users-macos-1012-1013-1014-moving-to-extended-support

Catalina can run the current version of Firefox.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

To answer the easy question, you can have up to 32GBs of RAM.

Another opinion is investing any time/money in a 10 year old computer is a losing proposition. The computer cannot run current versions of Mac OS so you are limited there and at 10 years old it is now considered obsolete by Apple meaning parts are no longer available. Also, parts are likely brittle inside of it so any time you open it you risk damaging a cable or connection you cannot replace.

Finally, working on a 2012 and later iMac is tough, you might want to look over some how-to videos to see if this is something you really want to do.

If it were mine, I'd cut bait and move onto a newer computer if you or she wants a working Mac.

X2 for what rkaufmann87 has said.

The only reason I can see for accomplishing the mods you've described would be for the "fun" of digging inside a computer that's not really meant for user upgrades. There will be issues involved as far as adding any software apps to it, as they'd most likely need to be 32-bit....and Apple changed to 64-bit many years ago, so no software publishers would be offering anything new for it. Not being familiar with MacOS at all would make what you're describing quite challenging, IMHO.

I would recommend sourcing any needed components from Other World Computing, as they maintain a very good database of what will work with that iMac.

MacMikeInOK wrote:

There will be issues involved as far as adding any software apps to it, as they'd most likely need to be 32-bit....and Apple changed to 64-bit many years ago, so no software publishers would be offering anything new for it.

Late 2013 iMacs have no problem running 64-bit applications. Their CPUs support 64-bit applications, and all of the versions of Mac OS X / macOS that run on them will run 32-bit and 64-bit applications. With the exception of Catalina, which will only run 64-bit ones.

They are incompatible with current versions of macOS and many current macOS applications, but that's because the latest version of macOS they can run (Catalina) is two versions behind the oldest member (Monterey) of "the most recent three" (Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma).

My generation has an expression for the proposed upgrades, "Throwing money down a rathole".

Glen_St....best of luck upgrading that Mac. It does sound like an interesting project, that's for sure! Keep us posted on your progress and total costs.