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Apple to Mark Several iMac Models as Obsolete Later This Month

thosmatthews said:
I have an i7 2013 27”. Upgraded the RAM twice up to 24. Put Big Sur on.

I bought on release month with the idea I’d upgrade after 5 years. Going into year 9, very happy with this purchase. I might be able to squeeze out a perfect 10!
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That is great to know. I plan on keeping using mine for at least another 5-7 years. So this is very heartening.
 
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mrr said:
I am very upset that my 5k 27” Retina iMac can no longer be upgraded to Ventura. It is still a great computer and would have years of service left only if Apple choose to keep supporting it. This planned obsolescence is not good for the environment.
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Oh, it's planned alright... but I prefer to call it FORCED obsolescence! Because, eventually, you will be FORCED to upgrade to a new Apple device (computer, iPad, iPhone, etc.), one way or another. But what choice do we have? If you want to play in Apple's sandbox, you gotta play by their rules!
 
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Proudly working on a late 2013 iMac 27’, and until not long ago was using a 2010 iMac as an external display. If only I could get a new M2 iMac and use the 2013 as an external monitor. Please Apple please
 

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Tbh 7 years is a long time in Mac years.

Doggies 🐶 have 7 to our 1 , I guess macs have similar lifespans 🤦
 
George Dawes said:
Tbh 7 years is a long time in Mac years.

Doggies 🐶 have 7 to our 1 , I guess macs have similar lifespans 🤦
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I use my ‘fully loaded’ 2009 iMac still as a secondary computer. It’s been on 24/7 since I got it from launch. Upgraded the components I could. Screen won’t stay on so I use an external monitor. It still works despite not being supported for years. Seems to be on life support as ironically Safari is outdated but Chrome isn’t. Google Drive is dropping support soon too. Just saying it’s possible! Still have the first retina iPad (2012) for my toddler. It’s the heaviest iPad ever made! 😂
 
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mtngoatjoe said:
Obsolete?! My Late 2012 iMac begs to differ! It still runs impressively well. I remember paying quite a bit for it with the best CPU and graphics I could configure it for (somewhere north of $3k), but it was worth every penny.
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I'm in the same position.

Still using my late 2021 27" iMac and it still works fine. I loaded it up with 32 GB of ram and it can still handle demanding photo editing. However, I will need to upgrade soon as Adobe requires newer versions of OSX to update Lightroom and Photoshop. I'm limited to Catalina and really don't want to go third-party to update to newer versions of OSX.

I wish Apple still sold 27" iMacs that allowed for owners to upgrade RAM on their own. It costs way too much money to buy a Mac these days due to having to right-size the amount of RAM at purchase rather than upgrade afterwards.
 
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I have a 2015 retina iMac. For my work (online publishing) it's the best computer I've ever owned. Minus some minor screen retention issues that have popped up in the last year, and the fact that I have a stupid fusion drive in it versus a full SDD, it's still more than enough computer for me. The reality is, minus the thermal and overall speed and battery gains of Mac silicon computers, unless you're on the bleeding edge, computers these days really should be lasting more like 10+ years as far as I'm concerned. Going forward, I'll probably buy a new mini and a Mac display or a lower end studio sometime next year, and try to get that 10+ years out of it. What I don't love is the direction the software is going. For laptops, I'm waiting out on a M2 Pro 14 and then getting the base when they have price drops like at Best Buy. But honestly, what I'm most looking forward to is starting to work on a few year old think pads, and throwing linux on it. I love the user replaceable everything on the T line, and software wise they are very similar if you pick the right flavor. Also, from an environmental ethical standard, keeping old stuff alive and working is way better than the landfill.
 
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jm31828 said:
I have the 27" 2017 iMac as well, and I swear it feels like I just bought it (to be fair I bought it new on black Friday 2019, so it was a slightly older model then)- how can we be approaching the end of support already? lol

It's been a great machine.
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Yep, I bought mine brand new from Apple in January 2018.It's still working fine and pretty snappy.I'll probably keep it for a few more years, even after they stop support.
 
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David1964 said:
Yep, I bought mine brand new from Apple in January 2018.It's still working fine and pretty snappy.I'll probably keep it for a few more years, even after they stop support.
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Yeah, same here. Mine still boots in about 15-20 seconds on Big Sur, and sure some apps are a bit laggy to launch because of the lack of a full blown SSD, but once apps actually launch everything is snappy- I plan to keep this for quite a few years, and as you said even once it's not supported.
 
Dr Kevorkian94 said:
I installed Ventura on my Late 2015 5k iMac and apart from a sleep/wake issue it runs fine. Replaced the fusion drive with an ssd and maxed the memory to 32gb. I hope to keep running it/frankenstein-ing it till it craps out. Works great for general use and most of my work is using cloud compute so I can use it for work as well. I understand Apple wants us to apple silicon but in the current env who has ~$2000+ to just drop on a new machine? The current iMac would probably suit my needs now but if i wanted to future proof/start a serious side hustle its a pass, hopefully a “pro“ version of the iMac is in the works.
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Dr Kevorkian94 said:
Hi, Dr. K: Would you check to see what current firmware version you're running on your late 2015 27" iMac? I've the same computer with OS 12.6.1. My firmware's stuck at its original 170.00.00.00. I'm considering installing Ventura using OCLP but worried that problems might arise from this firmware issue. Also, if anyone else has this computer and is on Ventura, I'd appreciate knowing your current firmware version. Thank you!
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petitpiton said:
Wish I could use my Late-2014 27" iMac as an external display for an Apple Silicon Mini... That would be better for the planet surely than junking it as obsolete and buying 2 boxes!
(btw I know it's not possible)
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Couldn't you perhaps use it as an extended desktop via a screen sharing app? It might be a bit laggy, but for more static content it would be fine (calendars, reference images, pages etc), with the main work doing on a directly linked main/external screen.

e.g. https://tidbits.com/2022/03/16/luna-display-turns-a-27-inch-imac-into-a-5k-display/
 
I’ll have to get back to you later today, I’ve always my Mac up to date so I’m not confident it’s the original.

Edit its: 499.40.2.0.0
 
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Marx55 said:
All-in-one (AIO) desktop computers like the iMac should not be allowed. You throw away an expensive display that is working perfectly. And worse of all, you cannot use Display Target Mode with latest iMacs. Is Apple protecting the environment or is this programmed obsolescence?
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possibly this is why they phased out the 27" iMac
tho I believe they should be allowed since they work fine
 
thosmatthews said:
I have an i7 2013 27”. Upgraded the RAM twice up to 24. Put Big Sur on.

I bought on release month with the idea I’d upgrade after 5 years. Going into year 9, very happy with this purchase. I might be able to squeeze out a perfect 10!
Click to expand...

I just added Ventura to this machine. I’m totally amazed at how it still runs like almost new. Maybe I’ll get more than 10 years.

I was most surprised to find that universal control works on it too, which was one of the pulls for me to upgrade.

Unfortunately continuity camera seems to stall FaceTime when I try and use that, but I almost never use my iMac for calls anyway, so no big deal.
 
thosmatthews said:
I just added Ventura to this machine. I’m totally amazed at how it still runs like almost new. Maybe I’ll get more than 10 years.
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This is an unsupported machine, right? If so, how did you manage to install Ventura on it?
 
PBMB said:
This is an unsupported machine, right? If so, how did you manage to install Ventura on it?
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That’s right, I was languishing on Catalina (I think) for a couple of years until I found Open Core Legacy Patcher: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

It’s incredible that they can get these machines to run the new software. I do understand why Apple stop updates and then support, but I’m sure glad for the guys that made this patcher!
 
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Miha_v said:
Can't believe these computers still look so damn good, everlasting design IMO
(typing this on a 2017 iMac ;))
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A Mac user since the mid eighties... the 27" iMac Retina is simply the best Mac Apple ever made. IMHO Apple really messed up on not having an updated version after the 2020 model.
 
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thosmatthews said:
That’s right, I was languishing on Catalina (I think) for a couple of years until I found Open Core Legacy Patcher: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

It’s incredible that they can get these machines to run the new software. I do understand why Apple stop updates and then support, but I’m sure glad for the guys that made this patcher!
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Because apple is in the business of selling computers not software.
 
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