How can I improve the performance of my old iMac?

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Level 1

6 points

How can I improve the performance of my old iMac?

My iMac is old ¡Mac (21.5- inch, Late 2013)Processor 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core 15. it’s will be slow I know . Any idea if I can do add ons to improve speed . I basically use for accounts and my photos. No games or fancy work. Storage currently 798.61 GB available of 999.86 CB. Software Catalina 10.5.7. I hope to use for 1 more year before I get rid of it. Any suggestions to improve speed? Any suggestions will be appreciated.TK

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 5, 2024 1:41 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

padams35

Level 4

3,639 points

Mar 5, 2024 3:18 PM in response to Senior51

21.5" iMac, 1TB HDD, slow. Very common story. The 5400rpm 1TB HDD Apple shipped as the default storage device simply isn't able to keep up with Catalina and newer.

I would suggest purchasing an external USB-3 SSD and reinstalling MacOS onto that to create an external boot drive. Look for something that ships with both a USB-A cable (for your current iMac) and a USB-C cable (for use with your next mac). Once you have an SSD see: Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community

Alternatively since you were planning to get a new mac in a year anyway just go ahead and upgrade to a new/newer system now.

If you would like a second opinion please install Etrecheck, run the diagnostics, and post a copy of the report using the 'additional text' posting option.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

149,360 points

Mar 5, 2024 4:57 PM in response to Senior51

A 2013 iMac is very obsolete at this point meaning it will not run current versions of Mac OS. So that means spending any time or money on it may not make sense. For about $1200 you can buy a Mac mini and a new display and have a system that is orders of magnitude faster than what you own. Have you considered that approach?

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Answer 3

Senior51 Author

Level 1

6 points

Mar 5, 2024 4:35 PM in response to Senior51

Thank you Jack - as a non- savy computer senior, reading through your helpful instructions sounds pretty scary for me to do it myself. I think it best for me to get a computer wizard to help me put your instructions together . In your opinion, you think the speed for this oldie 2013 computer can walk faster heh ! Thank you again Jack .

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How can I improve the performance of my old iMac?

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