iMac or Mac Mini?

This is not a group chat channel for discussing any and all issues. Your original question on buying suggestion has been fully addressed. Please start separate discussions on issues with your iMac and this latest one with your Lacie drive. Thank you.

Yes, it is normal.

If you intend to use it for storage of videos and photos etc. it does not need to be secure.

It's only sensitive material like banking details that require security and those should be kept on your computer's main drive which is password protected.

Many people are obsessively paranoid about security yet blithely give away far more useful info on social media.

AppleGirl331 wrote:

No lagging. I am just tired of some of the repetitive strange things it has been doing. Seems to have some odd behaviors that I can not get rid of with Malware or Anti-virus software. I do wonder if I inadvertently downloaded some bugs when saving some TT videos to my Mac this summer. My iPhone is acting up as well. ANY suggestions as to software to check for viruses ir something that may be causing this on both my iPhone and iMac? I have cleaned out the TT clips and run the two programs, but nothing has changed.

You’ll need to be more specific about the issues and pop-ups.

I fully expect there are sketchy downloaders available for TikTok and other media, as well.

It is unlikely those apps are causing issues elsewhere, though; across multiple platforms.

Issues across platforms usually have common causes, such as network problems.

And while it’s possible for media files to be a path for exploitation, most of us are not worth that. It’s usually easier to phish or to scam us, or some other and less expensive pathway.

If you want folks here to look at the Mac configuration, please download and run (free) EtreCheck, and when the run completes share the report to the clipboard. Then open a new reply here, and press the additional-text button that looks like a printed page to get a text input box big enough to paste the hardware and software configuration report here, and paste and post that report here. And provide some specific details on the particular symptoms or concerns.

AppleGirl331 wrote:

NordVPN (inactive), AdBlock (active)

”Coffee shop” VPNs badly solve a problem that hasn’t existed in a decade or so, and badly solve it in a way perfect for collecting personally-identified metadata.

Outside of specific tasks such as geo-shifting for website testing or content delivery network (CDN) testing and related, the overhead of adding a second and weak layer around the existing end-to-end TLS-encrypted connection is seldom a useful addition to local security.

Various “coffee shop” VPNs don’t properly disconnect themselves, and can remain active when apparently shut off. If things get wonky with a “coffee shop” VPN around, remove it entirely, restart, and test again.

Some of the ad blockers have been having issues on occasion, so if Safari gets wonky, shut off the ad blockers and test again;

"NordVPN (inactive), AdBlock (active)

I recently removed MalWare app.

Both are REALLY bad news and should be uninstalled ASAP. They do not need to be running (only installed or downloaded to your computer) to cause problems. Please uninstall per the developers instructions.

Thank you for all the info here.

My 2017 intel quad 27 inch imac has a hard drive problem- my own delving in mac support, 90 min chat and 45 m in at genius bar has yielded diagnosis kaputt- $500+ to redo hard drive.

I am considering piecing together the mac mini scenario. In looking at this same issue for my even more ancient imac transition, if I go mac mini, I need monitor, mouse, keyboard and external hard drive cable transitions for those I already have , and a camera for a new monitor. I would get a new SSD back-up drive too. AM I MISSING ANYTHING?

I have had macs for years, and this is first hardware/hard drive fail. Usually the transition has been apple new OS won’t work on old model.

As you noted you already have a mouse and keyboard.

You can get a perfectly good Philips 27" 1080p monitor for around £110 and the Logitech 270 webcam (£20) is excellent . . . much better than the iMac cameras. It's only 720p but it still gives a sharper looking image than many 1080p cameras.

A 1TB SSD or 1TB NVMe and enclosure from a "recognised" maker will cost around £60 - £70.

One thing to be aware of is sound quality. The mini's speaker is very low quality and volume and most users will find it unsatisfactory.

Also the audio in monitors that contain speakers is generally not very good though better than the mini's.

If high quality audio is a must you can get a Bluetooth speaker for around £20 Anker Speaker

As hcsitas mentioned, SSD is probably overkill but their prices have dropped and they are not that much more expensive than HDDs.

PS Don't forget you can always use a TV in the absence of a dedicated monitor.

Thanks for that opinion. It is a cost factor, but I have saved $500+ with the mini, and the ssd is only about $60 over the Toshiba. I have over 1.5 TB of images that I will access off an external drive to supplement the back-up drive. I have 30 years of back-up drives and various things saved a second time and the number of drives with more parts that have failed suggests to me for my uses they aren't reliable- 3 of 10 have failed after 6-8 years- across WD, Lacie, Seagate, Sandisc. Maybe that is expected or not bad, but not good enough. I travel a lot and am away from wi-fi for weeks, and my Samsung 2TB with a rubberized exterior working off my MacBook air has been wonderful for 2 years. While this one for the mini likely won't travel, the moveable parts internal drive of my iMac failed, not the internal ssd.

Yes, that's what it comes down to, along with convenience and being sure all the peripherals will play nicely with the mini option. I did decide on getting the mini, and hope those M4's last another ten years....and that I can Frankenstein all the peripherals with the right cords and adapters! Thanks to all who put me at ease I could do this.

You're welcome.

Get a repair estimate from Apple first - it’s free. Most likely a bad power supply.