What to do with an old 2013 iMac?
Its a nice old thing but slow and can't be updated so do I chuck it out?
I'm running Catalina 10.15.7
I can't afford to buy a new one yet though
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iMac 27″, macOS 10.15
Startup Drive
If your Mac has a mechanical hard disk, one thing you could do to speed up startup and application launches would be to get an external USB 3.* SSD, clone your current system to it, and make it your startup disk.
Because your Mac has old-style Thunderbolt 1 ports that use Mini DisplayPort connectors and that run at "only" 10 Gbps, it would not be practical to connect a modern Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 SSD. But even a good USB 3 SSD would run rings around a mechanical hard drive,
RAM
If you have at least 8 GB of RAM now, a lack of RAM probably is not the cause of your slowness problem. Still, your Mac has user-expandable RAM and can take up to 32 GB. There are some cases (e.g., heavy Photoshop workloads, running virtual machines) where having more than 8 GB could make a significant difference.
Software
Microsoft and Adobe have a policy of supporting only the most recent three versions of macOS. Catalina is not one. Catalina is good enough to run the current versions of
Startup Drive
If your Mac has a mechanical hard disk, one thing you could do to speed up startup and application launches would be to get an external USB 3.* SSD, clone your current system to it, and make it your startup disk.
Because your Mac has old-style Thunderbolt 1 ports that use Mini DisplayPort connectors and that run at "only" 10 Gbps, it would not be practical to connect a modern Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 SSD. But even a good USB 3 SSD would run rings around a mechanical hard drive,
RAM
If you have at least 8 GB of RAM now, a lack of RAM probably is not the cause of your slowness problem. Still, your Mac has user-expandable RAM and can take up to 32 GB. There are some cases (e.g., heavy Photoshop workloads, running virtual machines) where having more than 8 GB could make a significant difference.
Software
Microsoft and Adobe have a policy of supporting only the most recent three versions of macOS. Catalina is not one. Catalina is good enough to run the current versions of
FWIW, I have been using Mac minis since 2006 and have never regretted it.
Since your budget is in consideration, you can get them at a much discounted price by going to either:
I would suggest not going with anything older than the Late 2014 model, with the Late 2018 model a better choice as it supports the latest macOS version (Sequoia).
Just use it like you normally do, or trade it in for a newer iMac at Apple Trade In - Apple
I think the trade in value would be lowish so might aswell buy a newer affordable iMac from Amazon such as a used 2019-2020 iMac.
FYI your 27" iMac cannot easily be used as a screen for a new Mac mini.
Once upon a time it was supported by old Mac hardware - 2014 and older - and old macOS software - Catalina and older - but that support ended years ago. It's really no longer a thing.
Thanks for that.
I did think of getting a Mini M2 and use the 27” iMac as screen only, which would speed things up a bit.
Don’t know much about the Minis it just seems like a very good idea having a small box like that as apposed to the old PC boxes I used to have.
Like everything in life it’s all based on finances and now I’m retired I’m not as rich as I used to be!
The 24” iMac aren’t that much smaller than the 27” so maybe get one of those. Decisions decisions !!
Thanks for all the advice.
It is time for a new one!
The next decision is a Mini with seperate monitor or 24"iMac?
Decisions decisions?
How can I upgrade an old iMac running Catalina 10.15.7?
