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…

This reminds me of the poor ladies who dipped the radium paint brushes into their mouths to paint watch dials so they'd glow in the dark :-( (The Radium Girls - a wonderful historical fiction book: Hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive — until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.)
I wonder if the "safe" arsenic wafers caused any such long-term effects. Thanks for the post.

Although this sounds like one of those word game puzzles, there are ways for a player to score without ever reaching first base.

For example, the batter bunts, and the 3rd baseman throws his glove at the ball, knocking it foul. Under the rules, the batter is placed on 3rd base.

Yet another possibility is that the bonus player rule was in effect in the 9th inning (some minor league double headers are 7 innings long, like major league games were during the pandemic), so the player who scored was the bonus player who started at 2nd at the beginning of the 9th inning, the second extra inning.