How well has your old iMac held up?

[talmy]

I've had more problems with functional obsolescence than hardware failure.

17" G5 iMac, purchased 12/04, died in 2011 when power supply capacitors failed (a known issue with computers in that era). Gave to friend who replaced the caps. It's still running in light duty use.

20" C2D iMac, purchased 11/06, gave away 2/10. Had display failure when I had it (fixed under Applecare). Had hard disk failure since.

1 4 year old iMac and 2 3 year old iMacs (27" and 24") all still running, no repairs.

 

[MacAlien]

2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 20" mid 2007 iMac. It started acting like an old man starting back in Feb-ish. And the graphic card is dying a slow death. Otherwise, it's performed pretty flawlessly. I'd bought a new computer a while back but decided to go to Belgium instead. Only big gripe I've ever had about this computer is the fact it's one of the few iMac whose back was shut by Apple, preventing users from being able to open it to clean out dust and such without hauling some overpriced torque screwdriver or some such. So anxiously awaiting to replace this thing.

 

[d0nK]

You haven't tried using a 4 or 5 year old PC recently, have you?

My 2008, £800 custom-made hackintosh PC gets a geekbench score of 8000+ and runs slick and fast. Most people here on MacRumours think that a Dell is the only PC ever made, lol.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

I bought a refurbished iMac from Apple in 2008, and it's still my main machine for work. (I'm self-employed.) It's slowed down a bit, but nowhere near what my Windows machines did in just two or three years.

I'm running SL and don't have any need to upgrade to ML except to use iCloud so my calendar can sync with my iPad and 2012 MBA. If I do upgrade to ML, I first would max out the RAM, which is currently 2 GB. The 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo still has enough horsepower for everything I do (e.g., Word, iTunes, Opera and Outlook open simultaneously).

I configured my 2012 MBA with 8 GB RAM on the belief that it would last at least as long as my iMac has.

 

[d0nK]

early 2006. DVD died 2-3 of years back, harddrive was replaced 2 years ago.

I get major screen flicker.

If I turn it off - which I don't anymore - it sometimes struggles to power up (think a power supply issue). When I moved house in July it wouldnt switch on for 3 weeks.

I have an MBP which has allowed me to hold out for the forthcoming iMac, but the current one is definitely on its last legs

Sounds like some capacitors may need replacing.

 

[swordfish5736]

24" mid 2007 still running strong. Hard drive died in 2010 but haven't had any other issues.

I'm contemplating going to 6gb of ram but undecided if its worth the $100+

 

[EphraimShay]

10yr old 1Mac G4 still going well

1Ghz, 768MBytes RAM, 17in screen, 80GB HD - all original, all working fine, albeit grinding to a halt with many websites and fat software. Love the adjustable screen. Will sadly upgrade soon.

 

[bluewooster]

This thread makes me a bit nervous! I've owned computers since 1992 and tend to buy a new one every 4-5 years. They've all been Windows based towers and from a variety of vendors (in fact, I usually buy the cheapest one I can find!). Quite honestly, I've never had a hardware issue arise that I can recall - I don't think I've even had a hard drive go)

I fully intend to buy an iMac - the wait has only strengthened my resolve. But I'm actually considering Apple Care now - I've never bought insurance on a product before and usually mock friends who do but I think I had better in this case!

Of course, I imagine it would be mostly the people who have had problems who respond to this thread. Didn't someone post a thread on reliability of Macs (maybe consumer reports?) some time back. I can't find it currently and can't recall if the consensus was good or not!

Edit: sorry - found it! (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1430818/

 

[bobright]

wow so a lot of them failing in some way or another after 4 years

interesting

 

[echomango]

I have a 2006 and mid 2007 imac. Both have been running CS3 and doing very well. I need to upgrade solely due to rendering speed. The files I am using now are just too big and that is understandable. The 2006 got a new HD about 2 years post purchase under apple care. It went out after being transported via car for 350 miles. (this could very well have been my fault) The 2007 has never hiccupped. I love them both but am eagerly awaiting the new ones.

 

[robanga]

Have a 20" iMac mid-2007, other than upgrading the ram to 6GB with OWC, I have never touched the machine. Family uses it daily. No hard drive issues and runs Mountain Lion great.

 

[barnyard]

My 2008 3.06ghz Core2Duo iMac died with a logic board failure 6 weeks ago. since then, I've been holding out for the new one.

 

[dwarnecke11]

My 2010 i7 can't really be called old... I can say it still runs absolutely like new. No screen discolorations or dust, Western Digital HD is quiet as ever.

My last mac, a G4 Mac mini, lasted me nearly six trouble-free years. I sold it for 200 bucks!

 

[Roller]

My '06 iMac still runs perfectly, if more slowly than recent models. The only problem I had was a bad logic board battery, which I replaced myself. I also have an '09 iMac that has been flawless to date.

 

[user418]

2010 21.5" i3 3.2ghz with 16gb of ram in it still runs like a top. I use it for several hours a day in my music studio. I've never had a problem with the device. If I had it to do over again I would have picked the 27" model for the extra screen real estate.

I am VERY satisfied with my iMac.

My situation exactly. My only issue is deciding on when to replace the 1TB Seagate hard drive under the Apple Replacement Program. It has not given me one minute of trouble so far.

 

[GR33NIE]

24" mid 2007 still running strong. Hard drive died in 2010 but haven't had any other issues.

I'm contemplating going to 6gb of ram but undecided if its worth the $100+

Probably not unless you are doing any really heavy activities, go with 4GB

 

[flopticalcube]

wow so a lot of them failing in some way or another after 4 years

interesting

Heat is really the problem. iMacs are more prone to heat problems than fan-filled, free-flowing tower computers. Hard drives and GPUs are the two biggies usually. The HD2600 and 8800GS GPUs in particular have had issues.

 

[GR33NIE]

Early 2008 intel iMac here 20'', still running like a dream but I am waiting to see what they do next with the iMacs. Mine has gone from Leopard>Snow Leopard & now Mountain Lion

If it's not a significant enough change for me I'm going to up the RAM on my current machine and install an SSD, it will fly (not literally)

 

[CoMoMacUser]

But I'm actually considering Apple Care now - I've never bought insurance on a product before and usually mock friends who do but I think I had better in this case!

Before you do, check out the terms of your credit card(s). Some will automatically double the base warranty, so repairs in year two would be covered. Then it's a question of whether AC is worth the money for one additional year of coverage.

 

[scottsjack]

This thread makes me a bit nervous! I've owned computers since 1992 and tend to buy a new one every 4-5 years. They've all been Windows based towers and from a variety of vendors (in fact, I usually buy the cheapest one I can find!). Quite honestly, I've never had a hardware issue arise that I can recall - I don't think I've even had a hard drive go)

I fully intend to buy an iMac - the wait has only strengthened my resolve. But I'm actually considering Apple Care now - I've never bought insurance on a product before and usually mock friends who do but I think I had better in this case!

Of course, I imagine it would be mostly the people who have had problems who respond to this thread. Didn't someone post a thread on reliability of Macs (maybe consumer reports?) some time back. I can't find it currently and can't recall if the consensus was good or not!

Edit: sorry - found it! (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1430818/)

Based on my experience it's just crazy not to buy AppleCare. As an example the iMac I mentioned earlier is just less than three years old and does not have AppleCare. The local Apple Store quoted me about $475.00 for a 1TB HDD and optical drive replacment.

My Mac Pro, which has AppleCare has developed a chirping in its GPU. AppleCare was about $180 or so at B&H, the GPU is $400.00.

 

[PantherJeep]

I have experience with two modern-style iMacs and they have both been decent machines. The older of the two is a 2005 iMac G5 iSight 20" 2.1GHz that I just retired from regular service about two months ago. It was my personal web and media server, running 24/7 for five of the seven years I've had it. The only major failure it experienced was a dead hard drive around the year 3 mark (which was a royal pain in the ass to replace, which sold me on AppleCare going forward from that point LOL). It is still in occasional use as a convenience workstation and music player for the garage.

The other is an early 2008 iMac 20" 2.4GHz. It is still in service as a light-use desktop unit. It experienced an AirPort card failure about a month after purchase, but has been rock-solid ever since.

Based on my experience with these machines, I'd say they hold up pretty darned well and I would definitely consider buying one again.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Matte screen still rocks

My 2006 24in iMac with the matte screen is still in perfect condition, but it is really sluggish running 10.7 and Lightroom 4. Let's just say I can't wait for he new iMac!

 

[swordfish5736]

Probably not unless you are doing any really heavy activities, go with 4GB

I put 3gb in when I got the machine new in 07. So 4gb probably wouldn't make that big a difference.

If I decide I'm keeping the machine for awhile longer and not replacing it with a 2012 model then ill probably do 6gb of ram and an SSD

 

[bobright]

Heat is really the problem. iMacs are more prone to heat problems than fan-filled, free-flowing tower computers. Hard drives and GPUs are the two biggies usually. The HD2600 and 8800GS GPUs in particular have had issues.

I appreciate the input, yeah most of my PC's like I said have gone at least 5+ years so this makes me a little nervous. If the hard drive fails is it possible to replace it yourself and a easy fix? Does it void warranty?

I don't like that you have to take it in to be serviced for every little thing - makes me nervous at the thought of strangers snooping through my stuff pictures etc

 

[mgartner0622]

I've had good luck with a last gen PowerPC G5 iMac from 2005. A few years back I gave mine my visually impaired brother who still uses it to this day. Only thing I've done is upgrade the RAM from 512MB to 2.5GB, the maximum.