Effjayess Loc: NE,Pennsylvania

I have a late 2012 IMac that works just fine. Large drive and all stuffed up with ram when they were in store upgrade able.It runs Mojave and is at the point where it is not able to take any further iOS updates. I use it for archiving my photos and paying my bills. Other that that I am not doing anything fancy or complicated with it. Once in a while it comes out of sleep mode with the message that it “ re started due to a malfunction, report or ignore” Otherwise it works just fine. I am 66 years old and am planning on retiring in 7 months. My question is: while I’m still working, Should I buy a new machine now to hopefully be my last machine and at least be upgradable for years to come? Or: Keep what I have being that I have no problems with it. My fear is it will just quit someday. I have an external terabyte drive and would hope to just clone it to a new machine. What is the opinion of you Mac users out there who have experience with long life machines. I thank you all in advance for time you take to respond.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

I have the same machine, without the RAM upgrades. I am running Catalina 10.15.7 and it works perfectly. But I do re-start it every day because some programs will not run well if I let it sleep overnight. I do plan on getting a new one, if they put the M1 chip in the 27" version soon. My Capture One 22 pro runs well, but I do not edit video.

SalvageDiver Loc: Huntington Beach CA

I have a 2014 MPB and it works just fine for most tasks, and I can work it out hard ocassionally.

If you buy another one, at your age, I find it highly unlikely that the would be your last one. But who knows.

If you decide to keep this one, I would suggest making a few changes to your system.

1) Replace the HDD with a high quality SSD. This will make a huge difference in performance.

2) Upgrade your operating system to a newer version to get the newer security features. While Apple doesn't support the upgrades, there is an application allows you to install the newer operating systems on older machines, called "OpenCore Legacy Patcher". Info can be found by google searching.

3) Resetting your SMC (System Mgmt Controller) and PRAM/NVRAM. These have cleared up problems for me in the past. The periodic wake-up sounds like an app is scheduled to do something periodically, but can't for some reason.

Hope this helps
Mike

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

New iMacs are not upgradeable. The technology is too highly integrated and optimized. Buy with a 5 to 7 year life span in mind.

The main issue with your 2012 iMac is waning support for operating and software system updates, especially SECURITY updates.

Apple has switched to their own “systems on chips” and has dumped Intel. This has many benefits! But support for Intel hardware will go away at some point.

First, find out:

Does your current *software* run natively on the M1 and M2 family of Macs, using the most current MacOS? If not, is there an upgrade path you can afford? Are there substitutes for any applications that are obsolete?

Are your scanners, printers, and other peripherals supported on the current operating system and M1/M2 hardware? If not, are there third party software drivers for them?

MOST 64-bit Intel software for Macs will run in Rosetta 2, the excellent and FAST Intel software emulator Apple includes with the new Macs. MOST mainstream software has been recompiled for M1/M2 Apple Silicon series Macs. Nearly all new software is M1/M2 only.

https://isapplesiliconready.com/

Personally, I’d wait to hear what Apple releases through the end of this year. Supposedly, a new 27” iMac is on the way, plus a new Mac Mini and a new Mac Pro, and possibly other updates/refreshes.

Do not buy the base configuration of the iMac 24” or the M2 MacBook Air or 13” M2 MacBook Pro.

Get at least 512GB of storage and 16GB memory in whatever Mac you intend to keep five years or more.

If you have older peripherals, you’ll need either a hub or Dock or various adapter dongles.

For great insights into the new Macs, follow MaxTech on YouTube. Luke Miani, iJustine, 9-to5 Mac, iCaveDave, and Everyday Dad are other good reviewers. Actually, there are 15-20 other good ones…

Just Shoot Me Loc: Ithaca, NY

Apple would like to see us upgrade about every 6 months. That being said do you have other machines in the house to use incase of catastrophic failure? Burkphoto is correct with the 5 to 7 year life span but most people get more miles out of them. Between my wife and I each with desktops, laptops, iPads and iPhones were approaching the computing power of NASA. I don't usually replace my equipment until it stops operating the way I intended it to operate when new. In case of failure I am well backed up. Your needs may be different.

Ron

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I resemble those remarks. We keep our Macs a long time, and usually relegate older machines to lesser tasks.

Our 2010 Mac mini was retired a couple of years ago when it stopped receiving security updates, and its lack of support for Metal Graphics made it useless for the latest Lightroom Classic. It's mothballed, now, in reserve to run old versions of MacOS and old software.

Our 21.5" iMac from 2013 was slowing down in 2018. In 2019, I upgraded it to a 2TB SSD from the stock 1TB 5400 RPM spinning drive, and doubled the RAM from 8GB to 16GB, using a kit from OWC and their excellent "how to" video. It is a decently fast machine, still quite capable, but will be abandoned when the next MacOS is released. It ceased being upgradeable at MacOS 10.15.x, so my wife uses it for email and web browsing.

A year ago today, I bought myself a Late 2020 M1 MacBook Air with 1TB storage, 16GB unified memory, and the 8/8/16 core processor. I bought it from Apple Refurbished, so it was a good deal. I added a 27" 4K monitor for image and video editing, a small, portable dock, and I'm good for several more years. This is the best computer I've ever used, for dozens of reasons.

Our twins grew up with Power Mac G4 towers that my company was recycling after five years. I upgraded them as far as I could, and we got another seven years out of them as student computers. One of them still works, but we only use it to update a couple of files in PageMaker. It stays off the network.

Effjayess Loc: NE,Pennsylvania

Thanks to all of you who answered. I guess I have lots to think about. No local apple store around here. I’m in NE Pa. So it’s a drive to Phil. or Jersey unless a direct online purchase. But I’m armed with more info now, thanks all!

Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania

Apple on occasion will have a refurbished 27” iMac for sale at really decent prices, that’s where I buy my iMacs. My last purchase was a 2019 27” Imac, 2tb fusion drive. I ought it in 2021. Excellent machine and came with 1 year warranty.

Mister H Loc: Michigan

Sadly the all in one 27” was dropped. I waited to long (this year) to find it unavailable. Settled for the 24” with as much memory as I could get. They offer a 27” display and pair it with a Mac laptop, Mac mini or Mac Pro. Did see them at Costco or other online sites, but little or no pre configuration. You get what they’ve got.

Just Ducky Loc: Ohio/Florida

I upgraded to a new MacBook Pro with an M2 chip. If you are thinking about doing this, be certain the programs you use will run on that chip. Since it is so new, many programs are not available yet although they may be in the future.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Could keep this for current software running off-line, (assuming software like photo editing, etc.) & get one of the new cheapest M1 models for internet/security reasons. Roseta should run the older software? Y/N?

Effjayess Loc: NE,Pennsylvania

I like the 27”. If I did switch to a laptop is there any way to use my existing 27” as a monitor only for the laptop? I seem to remember a post once where someone did that.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Don't buy a Mac at those places if you expect to have a choice of memory, storage, and processor!

The very best ways to buy Macs are in the Apple Store ONLINE, and the Apple Refurbished Store ONLINE. Those are the only places you can reliably configure a Mac with the storage and memory and processor specs that make sense for your next five to seven years. The best deals are in the Refurbished online store, but you have to wait for what you want to show up there. I saved $250 on my M1 MacBook Air by buying a refurb. The ONLY difference is that it came in a plain white box. Same warranty, same accessories, same performance. It's a year old now. I have no issues with it. Zip, zero, nada.

The 27" IS in the pipeline, and my understanding is that it will be a higher end model than the 24", with a big difference in power between them.

The transition from Intel has been very, very smooth. The supply pipeline issues due to the pandemic have frustrated Apple's growth and transition plans, however. Models that might have been released months ago are rumored to have been scrapped or delayed. The Mac Pro, for instance, was expected earlier this summer, but might not show up for several quarters. It will be worth the wait, supposedly.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm on the same machine right now. If you keep getting error messages, it could need work that might not be worth the cost. Did you know that it's very easy to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS? I've done it on this one.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

If you decide to get a new one, I would suggest the M1 MacBook Air.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The caveats about software running on Rosetta 2 are:

1) It must be fully 64-bit code.

2) It must not be an X86 emulator (Parallels Desktop 16 and earlier, or VMWare Fusion, both of which run Windows and LINUX on Intel Macs, along with MacOS).

Apple effectively "banned" 32-bit applications with MacOS 10.15.x. The last version that runs 32-bit applications is 10.14 Mojave. The first time you run a 32-bit app on 10.14, it throws up a nag warning that you're trying to run something that will be unsupported with the next release. It will run, but they wanted you to tell the lazy developers to get off their butts and update their apps.

They've made 64-bit Apple Silicon processors since 2013 (the iPhone 5S with A7 chip). The first Macs with 64-bit processors were PowerPC machines starting with the Power Mac G5 tower. So developers have had quite a while to work on 64-bit code!

Again, check this website for more information: https://isapplesiliconready.com