2017 iMac Troubleshooting Question

[butterwm]

I have a 2017 iMac, 3.6 GHz i5, 8 GB RAM, 27 Inch Display, 2 TB Fusion Drive.

I have been having problems with it running excessively slow for over a year now. When I log onto the machine once it’s booted up if I click an icon like Safari it just bounces in the bottom of the screen and can take as long as 60-90 seconds to open Safari. Same with other applications. When I am installing the system updates once they are downloaded it takes over an hour for them to process before the machine restarts to install them. It also shows the keyboard and mouse disconnecting and reconnecting randomly.

I have completely formatted the hard drive and reinstalled a fresh install of Ventura and it still does this. This leads me to believe it is hardware related and not something software related. When I run the Apple diagnostics on the machine it comes back with no errors. I have been scrubbing these forums and it seems the fusion drives they used in this series of the iMac are problematic. Could it be possible for that to be bad/going bad but not register on Apple’s diagnostics?

I went and looked at the new iMac’s today in the store. I like some of the improvements they made (M1 Chip, 16 GB Ram, 4.5K Retina Display, SSD) but also know they are long overdue for an update. Any more suggestions on what I could do to troubleshoot my old one for now or should I be looking towards a new one?

 

[Longplays]

Be aware that a refreshed iMac 27" replacement with a M2 or M2 Pro chip may appear within 2-4 months

I'd use a 2TB Crucial MX500 SSD

I'd bump up RAM to 32GB

 

[butterwm]

Be aware that a refreshed iMac 27" replacement with a M2 or M2 Pro chip may appear within 2-4 months

I'd use a 2TB Crucial MX500 SSD

I'd bump up RAM to 32GB

I was talking to the guy in the store about that. I know that is one of their oldest machines that hasn’t received an update which means it long overdue. They don’t tell their sales people anything so it’s kind of like what you read on here with upgrade speculation. He thought since nothing was announced at the WWDC the next chance might be when they announce the new iPhones. As for what you recommended, I am comfortable changing out the RAM but don’t feel comfortable installing the SSD.

 

[Longplays]

I was talking to the guy in the store about that. I know that is one of their oldest machines that hasn’t received an update which means it long overdue. They don’t tell their sales people anything so it’s kind of like what you read on here with upgrade speculation.

2 months, 1 week from now is the 25th release anniversary of the 1st iMac. So it is likely Apple would take the opportunity to launch the the M2 or M2 Pro models.

He thought since nothing was announced at the WWDC the next chance might be when they announce the new iPhones.

iPhone events are focused on the iPhone and nothing else. iPhones are that important to Apple.

As for what you recommended, I am comfortable changing out the RAM but don’t feel comfortable installing the SSD.

Your Fusion Drive may show signs of imminent failure.

I'd Time machine your iMac ASAP if I was you.

 

[butterwm]

2 months, 1 week from now is the 25th release anniversary of the 1st iMac. So it is likely Apple would take the opportunity to launch the the M2 or M2 Pro models.

iPhone events are focused on the iPhone and nothing else. iPhones are that important to Apple.


Your Fusion Drive may show signs of imminent failure.

I'd Time machine your iMac ASAP if I was you.

If the Fusion Drive was beginning to fail wouldn’t it show up with Apple’s diagnostics or not necessarily?

 

[Longplays]

If the Fusion Drive was beginning to fail wouldn’t it show up with Apple’s diagnostics or not necessarily?

It will show up as HDD slow downs until.... poof... your iMac takes a few hour to boot then errors.

Don't negotiatate yourself from doing a Time machine. If your data's that worthless I'd ignore me.

 

[butterwm]

It will show up as HDD slow downs until.... poof... your iMac takes a few hour to boot then errors.

Don't negotiatate yourself from doing a Time machine. If your data's that worthless I'd ignore me.

Got it..thanks! Also thanks for the tip on the anniversary date of the iMac and I agree that would make the perfect time to announce a new machine. Seems like they are going to go straight from M1 to M3 so that makes the jump a little more significant and worth holding out for. I guess I will backup my current iMac and then see if I can get my old one to limp along for a few more months. We own lots of Apple products and ironically the life span on our iMacs has been the shortest compared to all our other Apple products. Maybe this will change with the M series processors and SSD’s.

 

[Longplays]

Got it..thanks! Also thanks for the tip on the anniversary date of the iMac and I agree that would make the perfect time to announce a new machine. Seems like they are going to go straight from M1 to M3 so that makes the jump a little more significant and worth holding out for. I guess I will backup my current iMac and then see if I can get my old one to limp along for a few more months. We own lots of Apple products and ironically the life span on our iMacs has been the shortest compared to all our other Apple products. Maybe this will change with the M series processors and SSD’s.

If there's a nerd or a computer repair shop near you you can hire em to do the SSD install on your behalf.

While they're inside there you could ask them to dust off any dusty parts so the heat sink fan doesn't work that hard.

Just show them the YouTube video on how to get in there and disassemble.

Your iMac should be good until 2025 if done right. If you apply OLCP patcher you can get a good decade more from it.

 

[Anaximandre]

I have a 2017 iMac, 3.6 GHz i5, 8 GB RAM, 27 Inch Display, 2 TB Fusion Drive.

I have been having problems with it running excessively slow for over a year now. When I log onto the machine once it’s booted up if I click an icon like Safari it just bounces in the bottom of the screen and can take as long as 60-90 seconds to open Safari. Same with other applications. When I am installing the system updates once they are downloaded it takes over an hour for them to process before the machine restarts to install them. It also shows the keyboard and mouse disconnecting and reconnecting randomly.

I have completely formatted the hard drive and reinstalled a fresh install of Ventura and it still does this. This leads me to believe it is hardware related and not something software related. When I run the Apple diagnostics on the machine it comes back with no errors. I have been scrubbing these forums and it seems the fusion drives they used in this series of the iMac are problematic. Could it be possible for that to be bad/going bad but not register on Apple’s diagnostics?

I went and looked at the new iMac’s today in the store. I like some of the improvements they made (M1 Chip, 16 GB Ram, 4.5K Retina Display, SSD) but also know they are long overdue for an update. Any more suggestions on what I could do to troubleshoot my old one for now or should I be looking towards a new one?

Hey!
I have a similar problem with a 2019 2017 model 21.5" iMac retina 4k. I tried for a long time to understand the breakdowns. At an Apple authorized repairer, they thought of a defect in the HDD or the RAMs. quote 274 € but after reassembly always the same problems of starting or blocking the machine. So they predicted replacing the motherboard $ 750. Which they advised me against. They returned the machine to me without asking any fees, everything quite properly reassembled. But the story continues... I searched a lot, a lot, on the internet... and I am convinced today that it is an SMC (System Manager Controler) problem. So when you have this problem: Use the cmd + alt + shift + switch keys for 2 seconds and then restart with the switch; Be careful, the machine will certainly restart without an administrator password! So you lose all protection of your data and all confidentiality! first break, it will ask for the account password. Hoping to have been useful to you! Good luck !
Nota bene: I find the retina screen wonderful, which is why the machine has not gone in the trash!

 

[butterwm]

Hey!
I have a similar problem with a 2019 2017 model 21.5" iMac retina 4k. I tried for a long time to understand the breakdowns. At an Apple authorized repairer, they thought of a defect in the HDD or the RAMs. quote 274 € but after reassembly always the same problems of starting or blocking the machine. So they predicted replacing the motherboard $ 750. Which they advised me against. They returned the machine to me without asking any fees, everything quite properly reassembled. But the story continues... I searched a lot, a lot, on the internet... and I am convinced today that it is an SMC (System Manager Controler) problem. So when you have this problem: Use the cmd + alt + shift + switch keys for 2 seconds and then restart with the switch; Be careful, the machine will certainly restart without an administrator password! So you lose all protection of your data and all confidentiality! first break, it will ask for the account password. Hoping to have been useful to you! Good luck !
Nota bene: I find the retina screen wonderful, which is why the machine has not gone in the trash!

That‘s interesting. I find when it gets bad that powering off the machine and restarting it can help temporarily. That also tells me it is a hardware problem and not a software problem. I feel like with it being a 2017 iMac and it now being 2023 I don’t want to spend a lot of money chasing what the problem can be. I am also hesitant going through the process of changing our the Fusion Drive for a SSD. I am going to go out today and buy a good external drive at the Apple Store and backup all my data. I’m hoping I can limp the machine along for another two months to see if they announce the new iMacs on the anniversary date. If they don’t then I might get the current M1 model. This is our second iMac and both iMac’s we have owned have lasted just under five years. All our other devices (MacBook Airs, iPads, iPhones) have gone much longer.

 

[rpmurray]

First, make a backup of anything important that you have stored on the iMac. Several, if you can.

Second, download DriveDx (it has a free trial) and check the Health Indicators. If anything is wrong with the Fusion Drive it will let you know.

If the drive is failing then get an external drive (an SSD or NVMe) to connect via USB or Thunderbolt and install Ventura on it. See if that works for you. I'm partial to the OWC Envoy FX/SX drives for this.

If later you want to install a new drive internally (better to just replace the Fusion with an NVMe) then you can check iFixit (or YouTube) for videos on the process. You'll want to watch them several times to make sure you understand all that needs to be done. Alternatively, you can take it to a repair shop that does these kinds of upgrades and let them handle it, if you think it's outside your skill set.

 

[butterwm]

First, make a backup of anything important that you have stored on the iMac. Several, if you can.

Second, download DriveDx (it has a free trial) and check the Health Indicators. If anything is wrong with the Fusion Drive it will let you know.

If the drive is failing then get an external drive (an SSD or NVMe) to connect via USB or Thunderbolt and install Ventura on it. See if that works for you. I'm partial to the OWC Envoy FX/SX drives for this.

If later you want to install a new drive internally (better to just replace the Fusion with an NVMe) then you can check iFixit (or YouTube) for videos on the process. You'll want to watch them several times to make sure you understand all that needs to be done. Alternatively, you can take it to a repair shop that does these kinds of upgrades and let them handle it, if you think it's outside your skill set.

Thanks for the tip. I guess this pretty much explains what’s going on which is kind of what I suspected. I am going to buy an external this evening and back up everything. Curious to see if I can milk the machine for a few more months until the new iMacs come out or if I am hosed before then.

 

[Longplays]

Thanks for the tip. I guess this pretty much explains what’s going on which is kind of what I suspected. I am going to buy an external this evening and back up everything. Curious to see if I can milk the machine for a few more months until the new iMacs come out or if I am hosed before then.

You can boot off the external drive.

Although in my experience if the semi-dead HDD gets detected it may cause kernel panic.

BTW do you think it was foul of me to point out that a 2023 iMac may appear in 2-4 months from now?

 

[butterwm]

You can boot off the external drive.

Although in my experience if the semi-dead HDD gets detected it may cause kernel panic.

BTW do you think it was foul of me to point out that a 2023 iMac may appear in 2-4 months from now?

Not at all on the new iMacs. I hate to buy the M1 today if there is going to be a big jump with the new ones and it’s way outdated so quickly.

I still am not comfortable changing out the Fusion Drive for a SSD. I assume that is something the Apple stores are not even willing to do? What is the success rate putting in a 3rd party SSD and with the machine running well and no weird errors or configuration problems?

 

[Longplays]

I still am not comfortable changing out the Fusion Drive for a SSD. I assume that is something the Apple stores are not even willing to do? What is the success rate putting in a 3rd party SSD and with the machine running well and no weird errors or configuration problems?

Booting off external USB drive

Change your Mac startup disk

Change the startup disk of your Mac using Startup Disk settings.

support.apple.com

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

If you want to keep using the 2017 for another year or two, I have a quick, easy, SAFE, and relatively cheap way to get it back where it should be:

Get an external USB3.1 gen2 SSD.
Plug it in, and set it up to be your new EXTERNAL boot drive.
This is easily done and you will enjoy a BIG speed increase.
You can expect read speeds in the 900MBps range from USB3.1 gen2.

I'd suggest a Samsung t7 "shield" in either 1tb or 2tb size:
2tb:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 2TB, Portable SSD, up-to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Water & Dust Resistant, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Extenal Solid State Drive (MU-PE2T0S/AM), Black

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water** and dust* resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe™ achieve soaring sequential read/write...

www.amazon.com

1tb:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, up to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Rated, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Portable External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM, 2022), Black

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water1 and dust2 resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe achieve soaring sequential read/write ...

www.amazon.com

You could use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the SSD.
Both of these utilities are easy to use and FREE to use for your purposes.

Be aware of the dangers of opening an iMac.
You might think you can do the job without problems.
But... then open the case... and things go wrong on you.
Then you've got real problems.

However, all you have to do for "my solution" above is to buy the drive, plug it in, erase it with disk utility, and "clone over" the internal to the external.

Then, you can either leave the internal fusion drive as it is, or "work on it" if you wish.

 

[butterwm]

OP:

If you want to keep using the 2017 for another year or two, I have a quick, easy, SAFE, and relatively cheap way to get it back where it should be:

Get an external USB3.1 gen2 SSD.
Plug it in, and set it up to be your new EXTERNAL boot drive.
This is easily done and you will enjoy a BIG speed increase.
You can expect read speeds in the 900MBps range from USB3.1 gen2.

I'd suggest a Samsung t7 "shield" in either 1tb or 2tb size:
2tb:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 2TB, Portable SSD, up-to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Water & Dust Resistant, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Extenal Solid State Drive (MU-PE2T0S/AM), Black

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water** and dust* resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe™ achieve soaring sequential read/write...

www.amazon.com

1tb:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, up to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Rated, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Portable External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM, 2022), Black

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water1 and dust2 resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe achieve soaring sequential read/write ...

www.amazon.com

You could use either SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to "clone" the contents of the internal drive to the SSD.
Both of these utilities are easy to use and FREE to use for your purposes.

Be aware of the dangers of opening an iMac.
You might think you can do the job without problems.
But... then open the case... and things go wrong on you.
Then you've got real problems.

However, all you have to do for "my solution" above is to buy the drive, plug it in, erase it with disk utility, and "clone over" the internal to the external.

Then, you can either leave the internal fusion drive as it is, or "work on it" if you wish.

Thanks so much and great suggestion. I am not comfortable opening up the iMac after I watched the video tutorial. I bought an external and ran a successful backup of all my files and a Time Machine backup. This gives me a little breathing room for now. I hate to spend anymore money at this point to limp the system along for another year or two. I’m hoping it holds on until the new iMacs come out. If it dies before then I will have to make the decision of buying the current M1 iMac or figuring something else out.

 

[Longplays]

Thanks so much and great suggestion. I am not comfortable opening up the iMac after I watched the video tutorial. I bought an external and ran a successful backup of all my files and a Time Machine backup. This gives me a little breathing room for now. I hate to spend anymore money at this point to limp the system along for another year or two. I’m hoping it holds on until the new iMacs come out. If it dies before then I will have to make the decision of buying the current M1 iMac or figuring something else out.

That's a very sensible point of view.

If I may ask was it inappropriate of me to point out that a new iMac may appear 2-4 months from today and that may be a better use of your time & money?

 

[butterwm]

That's a very sensible point of view.

If I may ask was it inappropriate of me to point out that a new iMac may appear 2-4 months from today and that may be a better use of your time & money?

Not at all!

 

[Longplays]

Not at all!

Great to know. 😇

 

[Richdmoore]

Be aware that a refreshed iMac 27" replacement with a M2 or M2 Pro chip may appear within 2-4 months

I'd use a 2TB Crucial MX500 SSD

I'd bump up RAM to 32GB

Just to dovetail on, I hated the owc adhesive strips in their kits. I ordered ”oem” strips on eBay that were identical to apple’s own strips.

More discussion: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/owc-27-inch-imac-screen-adhesive-strips-vs-oem.2247009/