Hey i haven’t used my apple desktop for a few years and it is on OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 version and it is so slow. IS there anyway I can factory reset the computer without having issue for rebooting? Is there anyway I can upgrade the operating system?
The newest OS your 2012 iMac can be upgraded to is macOS 10.15.7 Catalina.
But It can also run 10.11 El Capitan, 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra, or 10.14 Mojave.
❗️ – IMPORTANT – If you decide to upgrade to Catalina from 10.14 Mojave or earlier, your older 32-bit apps & drivers won’t work in Catalina or newer! They must also be updated or replaced. Use the free utility Go64 app from St. Claire Software to check your current apps.
Before you think about wiping this Mac, do two very important things:
1) backup any data you want/need to save onto an external drive. You can use Time Machine or even just click and drag your stuff.
2) Create a bootable USB installer for the macOS version you want to install. If all else fails, you will have that to use to reinstall an OS and get the Mac up and running again.
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
With those tasks done, you can now reset the Mac by following this guidance:
• You need to startup the Mac from macOS Recovery mode to erase and reformat the startup disk.
Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support
• Then you'll reinstall macOS. This is where things might get dicey and why should create and have a bootable usb macOS installer at hand.
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
The newest OS your 2012 iMac can be upgraded to is macOS 10.15.7 Catalina.
But It can also run 10.11 El Capitan, 10.12 Sierra, 10.13 High Sierra, or 10.14 Mojave.
❗️ – IMPORTANT – If you decide to upgrade to Catalina from 10.14 Mojave or earlier, your older 32-bit apps & drivers won’t work in Catalina or newer! They must also be updated or replaced. Use the free utility Go64 app from St. Claire Software to check your current apps.
Before you think about wiping this Mac, do two very important things:
1) backup any data you want/need to save onto an external drive. You can use Time Machine or even just click and drag your stuff.
2) Create a bootable USB installer for the macOS version you want to install. If all else fails, you will have that to use to reinstall an OS and get the Mac up and running again.
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
With those tasks done, you can now reset the Mac by following this guidance:
• You need to startup the Mac from macOS Recovery mode to erase and reformat the startup disk.
Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support
• Then you'll reinstall macOS. This is where things might get dicey and why should create and have a bootable usb macOS installer at hand.
How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support
Follow up -
Since your Mac is now running 10.10 Yosemite, it is probably wise to upgrade to 10.11 El Capitan first, before attempting to upgrade any further. I believe there were some firmware updates provided by El Capitan that may be required to move forward from that. You can create a bootable installer for El Capitan by following the guidance linked in my previous post. OS downloads are linked in this guidance, as well: How to download and install macOS - Apple Support
Yes, there IS a way to reset your Mac to factory fresh.
Exactly what year and model is your iMac?
Find that info by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac.
With that info we can tell you what OS you might be able to upgrade to and how best to wipe the computer.
iMac 21.5-inch, Late 2012
Processor: 2.7GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 512MB
iMac 21.5-inch, Late 2012
Processor: 2.7GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 512MB
OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 Desktop slow issue
