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Got new iMac... Can't update to Big Sur or boot into bootcamp?

S

Spinnetti

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 26, 2005
240
90
Kentucky
Anybody else find this?

1. I have windows on a external SSD that I used with my last iMac. It showed up on the alt menu, began to boot into windows, then restarted and doesn't show up anymore.

2. My old Mac was on Big Sur, and I downloaded the profile, but it doesn't show up to install. I can't open photos because I was on Big Sur on my old iMac.

Other than that, its feels pretty underwhelming (27", 8 core i7, 16gig video, 40gig men)- Feels exactly the same as my 2015

Thanks!
 
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Big Sur beta apparently hasn't been released in a version that supports the newest iMac.
Maybe the next beta update will install, perhaps in the next few days.
(Be patient, Big Sur will come to the new iMac, I'm sure!)

I'm also pretty sure that the 2015 iMac 5K did not ship with either an 8-core i7, or a 16GB graphics card -- so not quite the same as your 2015 iMac... :D
 
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Spinnetti said:
Anybody else find this?

1. I have windows on a external SSD that I used with my last iMac. It showed up on the alt menu, began to boot into windows, then restarted and doesn't show up anymore.

2. My old Mac was on Big Sur, and I downloaded the profile, but it doesn't show up to install. I can't open photos because I was on Big Sur on my old iMac.

Other than that, its feels pretty underwhelming (27", 8 core i7, 16gig video, 40gig men)- exactly the same as my 2015

Thanks!
Click to expand...

appleinsider.com

How to make new T2-secured Macs boot from external drives | AppleInsider

Apple's security processor gets in the way when you're trying to use external drives to boot from. Fix this now because if you wait until you need to restart from one, you'll have problems.
appleinsider.com appleinsider.com
 
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DeltaMac said:
Big Sur beta apparently hasn't been released in a version that supports the newest iMac.
Maybe the next beta update will install, perhaps in the next few days.
(Be patient, Big Sur will come to the new iMac, I'm sure!)

I'm also pretty sure that the 2015 iMac 5K did not ship with either an 8-core i7, or a 16GB graphics card -- so not quite the same as your 2015 iMac... :D
Click to expand...

Thanks... that's the point. My top of the line 2015 feels every bit the same as the new one - literally no difference in the user experience AT ALL.

Issue is, my photos library updated in Big Sur, and now I can't open it in Catalina. I know it will resolve, but impatient to wait for it.
 
CheesePuff said:
appleinsider.com

How to make new T2-secured Macs boot from external drives | AppleInsider

Apple's security processor gets in the way when you're trying to use external drives to boot from. Fix this now because if you wait until you need to restart from one, you'll have problems.
appleinsider.com appleinsider.com
Click to expand...

Thanks.. I managed to figure that one out... at first. So when I first tried to boot it said I couldn't and gave a message how to do it. I went into recovery mode and changed boot security and all's well... So then I reboot again, select my windows install and the windows logo comes up like its working right..... then it shuts down. Now I can't even try to boot in boot camp. I'll check the security thing again. The sole reason I got a new one was for bootcamp, so would be pretty ironic if I can't get it working (is there a return window for new Macs?)
 
Spinnetti said:
Thanks.. I managed to figure that one out... at first. So when I first tried to boot it said I couldn't and gave a message how to do it. I went into recovery mode and changed boot security and all's well... So then I reboot again, select my windows install and the windows logo comes up like its working right..... then it shuts down. Now I can't even try to boot in boot camp. I'll check the security thing again. The sole reason I got a new one was for bootcamp, so would be pretty ironic if I can't get it working (is there a return window for new Macs?)
Click to expand...

There is a 14 day return window.
 
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If you made that windows boot drive on a different Mac, you should probably try re-making your windows drive.
 
Update... not exactly sure why, but when I plugged my external T5 SSD via usb C instead of USB A, it worked fine - didn't have to install boot camp from the mac side at all - just plugged in the SSD from my old mac.


Deleted all the old windows drivers, but turns out the new bootcamp drivers will not install. App just hangs. The default windows drivers gives me basic functionality, but no sound, bluetooth etc.
 
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Spinnetti said:
Update... not exactly sure why, but when I plugged my external T5 SSD via usb C instead of USB A, it worked fine - didn't have to install boot camp from the mac side at all - just plugged in the SSD from my old mac. Did need to update the drivers in windows as one would expect, but works fine. on the mac side, the computer doesn't feel any faster, but on the windows side, it is noticeably faster at everything. Now, just the wait for big Sur
Click to expand...

On the macOS side what is it that feels the same to you? I'm assuming running some CPU or GPU intensive actions?
 
When I upgraded from my Late 2013 27” iMac with the 4670 and 780M to my 2019 with the 9900K and Vega 48, I didn’t notice any day to day difference just doing light tasks and browsing the internet. It’s only when I pushed it playing games did the horsepower of the 2019 over the 2013 showed itself. There is a huge difference in performance between the machines, just there haven’t been any slow down with the newer OS’s in doing the light tasks on the 2013 to make the new one feel snappier.
 
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Spinnetti said:
Well, in use, its exactly the same as my 2015. Conversely, in windows, literally everything feels twice as fast.
Click to expand...

The general UI and use of basic apps like Mail and Safari were already snappy and had no delays on my Late 2015 27" as well, so my 2020 feels almost no difference in that regard. But running some tests in Affinity Designer and compiling large projects in Xcode is almost night and day different.
 
Doing 30mph in a Toyota Corolla and 30mph in a Lamborghini are not going to feel any different. However, get both up to speed and you will be blow away.

What I mean is that your 2015 was more than adequately fast enough for your everyday needs, and it was simply idling away doing 30mph day in and day out. You have since replaced it with a much faster computer that is, however, still idling away doing the same 30mph day in and day out, which is why you won't notice a difference. You will notice a huge difference when running demanding tasks such as rendering and/or encoding a video, compiling software, running statistical analysis (aka crunching numbers), etc.

Computers have become incredibly fast in the last 20 years or so, and around 5-10 years ago they've reached a point where they have become so fast that the average human will be unable to tell the difference between a, say, 7 year old and a brand-new computer.
 
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Update

1. Reformatted my T5 external SSD
2. Downloaded the latest windows image directly from Microsoft
3. Bought a new Windows home key directly from Microsoft
4. Re-downloaded bootcamp drivers
5. Used WinToUSB to put the win home image on the T5
6. Installed windows, got all the latest updates
7. Ran the bootcamp drivers installer

Same issue as before, which tells me my original method was probably fine and there's a problem with the driver installer. Grr.
 
Markisss88 said:
Was anyone able to find a workaround for Big Sur Beta for the 2020 iMac ?
Click to expand...

I would not recommend running a Beta version of MacOS on a brand new iMac model. You are really asking for problems. Beta versions of any OS should be installed on a VM or a secondary Mac or PC and not your main machine.
 
ADGrant said:
I would not recommend running a Beta version of MacOS on a brand new iMac model. You are really asking for problems. Beta versions of any OS should be installed on a VM or a secondary Mac or PC and not your main machine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I have it running on my Macbook Pro and its pretty stable for the most part. Honestly, these days, its pretty hard to lose data unless you really dont know what you're doing.
 
I believe the 2020 iMac can't be upgraded to Big Sur yet because the Big Sur betas do not contain a few resources required to run the new iMac.

You're just going to have to wait a while.

However, as ADgrant said in #17, you DON'T want to try fooling with Big Sur as your "boot OS" just yet...
 
Fishrrman said:
I believe the 2020 iMac can't be upgraded to Big Sur yet because the Big Sur betas do not contain a few resources required to run the new iMac.

You're just going to have to wait a while.

However, as ADgrant said in #17, you DON'T want to try fooling with Big Sur as your "boot OS" just yet...
Click to expand...

Yeah I wouldnt make a bootable drive from everything I have read up to this point. Hopefully in Beta 6 we get it! Appreciate the responses!
 
Markisss88 said:
Thanks for the advice. I have it running on my Macbook Pro and its pretty stable for the most part. Honestly, these days, its pretty hard to lose data unless you really dont know what you're doing.
Click to expand...

For me "pretty stable for the most part" isn't good enough for a machine I use to get stuff done. Then again, I probably won't be installing Big Sur until Xcode requires it (probably sometime in Q1 of 2020).
 
ADGrant said:
For me "pretty stable for the most part" isn't good enough for a machine I use to get stuff done. Then again, I probably won't be installing Big Sur until Xcode requires it (probably sometime in Q1 of 2020).
Click to expand...

Yeah great point. Depends on what you're using the machine for, most of my applications work perfectly but I totally get where you're coming from.
 
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