I just purchased my first Mac computer. Always was a PC guy, but I wanted to try this for my photography. I bought the top model with 512gb SSD. I know it’s all relative to what programs you want to run and new programs coming out. I plan on using photoshop and Lightroom that’s about it. That’s all my pc really has but it is getting slower. Had it about 3 years. For the price I’m hoping I can go quite a bit longer on the Mac, so that leads me too my question of how long has yours lasted you and have you noticed a significant slow down over the years with new programs and updates coming out for software?
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how long has your iMac lasted you?
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My Imac is a late 2009..... so 9.5 years or so.
It’s still got a lot of kick left in it? I would think it would be significantly slower with new more demanding software.
My current one, about four and a half years. Not slower at all, really, but higher fan speeds.
The iMac I have in my closet has worked since around 2000 and still works, but I wouldn't recommend using it as a daily-driver... It has gotten a lot slower, and won't work with modern web pages at all, but I don't really think it'd be fair to expect it to...
Also have a 2003 iMac in my closet; Sort of same story, but with a lightweight Linux it can do a few modern tasks still.
The iMac I have in my closet has worked since around 2000 and still works, but I wouldn't recommend using it as a daily-driver... It has gotten a lot slower, and won't work with modern web pages at all, but I don't really think it'd be fair to expect it to...
Also have a 2003 iMac in my closet; Sort of same story, but with a lightweight Linux it can do a few modern tasks still.
I've had my 2008 iMac for 11 years, and it still runs great. No real problems so far. Of course it's not as speedy as it used to be, but still very usable.
Also have a late 2009, which I purchased used many years later. Still runs perfectly fine, but for some reason the screen gives me headaches...
Also have a late 2009, which I purchased used many years later. Still runs perfectly fine, but for some reason the screen gives me headaches...
iMac late 2013, bought 5 years ago, heavily used, working well, unlike pcs that I had in the past (though to be fair they were alot cheaper).
Technically, it'll be 10 years this year. I bought a 2009 iMac at launch, it's still being used as a day to day computer for my parents.
Been using a late 2012 Mini (it was one of the good ones with 4 core 2.6ghz i7 and fusion drive with 128GB SSD. I added ram to get it up to 16gb). So over 6 years. Never really intended to keep it this long. I thought of it as sort of 3 year, then upgrade, kind of purchase. It still handles most day-to-day stuff pretty well. Some of the newer photo editing stuff that uses the gpu makes it really sho its age. It's still working OK but I'm getting SMART errors on my drive and I'm upgrading to a 2019 iMac which should arrive by the end of the week.
I get a new Mac at work every four years so I'm not sure. This is my first personal iMac. But I can answer for my friend, who upgraded from a 2009 iMac, so about 10 years. I doubt I will ever go that long for daily use, but I plan on keeping this 2019 iMac in the family. I think it will be a great family computer for my kids someday. I do plan on teaching them how to use and appreciate Macs. I gave my daughter her first lesson the other day on how to use a mouse-based UI to set typography and she is 5 and she picked it up fairly quickly. They currently use iPads for about 30-45 minutes per day. The iPad is pretty locked down. I'm hesitant to get them Macs until they are in high school if Macs are even a thing by then (God forbid) because I don't think I can lock them down as tight. The internet is really freaking scary for kids nowadays. But I would let them use the iMac in a family space for doing schoolwork such as research papers that require lots of multitasking with windows side by side. Maybe by then the iPad will be better suited for tasks you can do on a Mac but who knows. I think a big display is still superior.
What makes you think a Mac built with the exact same Intel CPU, the exact same DDR4 memory, the exact same GPU, and the exact same SSD will last any longer than a PC? If your PC is getting slow and unusable after just three years it can only mean one of two things:
a) hardware failure
b) user failure by trying to "optimize" and "tune" Windows into oblivion
Hardware can fail on a Mac, too, and if you managed to bring Windows to a screetching halt chances are you'll do the same with macOS trying to "optimize" and "tune" it. Neither Windows nor macOS require any sort of third party optimization. Quite the contrary: the more you optimize and tune, the more you break.
Long story short: a 3 year old PC is not old yet. Heck, until recently Apple used to sell iMacs with two year old hardware, Mac Minis with five year old hardware, and to this day they are selling Mac Pros with hardware released more than six years ago.
a) hardware failure
b) user failure by trying to "optimize" and "tune" Windows into oblivion
Hardware can fail on a Mac, too, and if you managed to bring Windows to a screetching halt chances are you'll do the same with macOS trying to "optimize" and "tune" it. Neither Windows nor macOS require any sort of third party optimization. Quite the contrary: the more you optimize and tune, the more you break.
Long story short: a 3 year old PC is not old yet. Heck, until recently Apple used to sell iMacs with two year old hardware, Mac Minis with five year old hardware, and to this day they are selling Mac Pros with hardware released more than six years ago.
My 2007 duo-core has been through 2 kids and still works. It's relegated to mostly mine craft at this point, but it is still going strong. Only thing that has broken over time was the superdrive.
Mine is from 2012. Had to bring it once for a dead HDD in the fusion drive (never again!), another couple of critical hard drive scares down the road but other than that, alive and kicking pretty strongly still. I’m just wondering if Apple will discontinue support for my iMac when 10.15 hits this year....
Macs tend to last pretty long. I will be upgrading to the 2019 iMac, coming from a 2011 MBP (which of course was slower than the iMacs at that time), which still runs all newer versions of software I've been using over this period of time. Strangely, it even runs Lightroom and Adobe stuff (CS 6
) fast "enough", while many people complain about how slow LR is (ok, exports take their time, but editing is definitely not sluggy). What is slower of course are new functions the programmers add (like HDR stuff or panorama stitching), that e.g. utilize the GPU or benefit from more CPU cores, but the basic editing functions are perfectly usable on this "old" machine. Of course there are exceptions, like On1 Photo RAW, which was pretty unusable in the 2017 version, but has been improved a lot-and it was also slow on newer machines. And surely I never tried editing 4K video on the MBP.I've always heard that a Windows machine will get slower over time as you install more software, because the system becomes increasingly inefficient (a clean install every 3 years or so helps, apparently)-mind, that's only what I've heard. This is definitely not true for Mac OS. What is annoying with Mac OS is that over the past years they have been pushing out a new OS version every year, with shiny new functions I really don't need in most cases, instead of making the software more reliable and efficient (my personal opinion!!, and experience of friends and coworkers). And they tend to force their programmers to need to adapt the software to new OS versions, which of course is good from a security standpoint, but sucks if a program stops working you have been relying on for quite a while, just because it's no longer updated.
This is why I am running two partitions on my current Mac, one with OS 10.11 (for running Office 2008, which I need for my job, and Adobe CS 6), and one with 10.12, because the latest version of Capture One will not work with older OS versions... sorry for this little rant. I guess in spite of these "annoyances" (which arise from me e.g. not willing to pay the Adobe "tax", so also a personal problem) Mac OS overall is still more reliable than Windows, and luckily I can install older OS versions in virtual machines, which will let me run my old software on my new machine, too.Long story short, your new iMac should be good for at least 6-8 years, even if Apple comes out with a new hardware architecture in the next 1-2 years. They have done that twice in the past and made sure the transition was manageable for their user base. You already have done the wise thing and ordered an SSD-in my 2011 MBP I could install one myself, and it has sped up the workflow extremely. Now put some RAM into that iMac and you're good to go. Have fun with your new computer!
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I just replaced a late 2012 27incher, so 6 years and 4 months. Unfortunately the Display has gone on it. The rest of the computer is totally fine and I've been able to use it via screen mirroring. Apple EOLs parts at the Apple store for computers after 6 years, so I just missed out on getting a replacement screen. I think I'm going to try and find a display online and replace it myself as it seems difficult but not impossible and now it doesn't matter if I stuff it up as I got my new piece of kit yesterday.
I have a late 2013 iMac, maxed out CPU/GPU and 1 TB SSD, when I bought it except added more RAM (from OWC) after purchase. I still have my older late 2009 iMAC (maxed out as described above), that I use as a 2nd monitor sometimes. Am looking at updating to a 2019 iMac later in the year when they hit the refurbished section (July?).
But jackass is forever; so try and be a little more welcoming to a newbie and little less of a condescending tool.
I have a late 2013 27" with the 3.5 i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB Fusion drive, and 780M. It still works very well. I can edit 1080p footage with color grading in Premiere and it might take a little time to render, but it does it well.
I'm upgrading because I've been running into its limits. 4K footage isn't easy. Multicam edit with 4K sources is making educated guesses on what it looks like and then rendering and hoping everything was actually focus and looks good.
Apple offered $490 for trade in. I'm selling it to my mom for $450 instead. For the everyday tasks she needs a computer for, I imagine this should still be working fine for her ten years from now.
My brother in law still uses the 2010 iMac that I sold him.
I'm upgrading because I've been running into its limits. 4K footage isn't easy. Multicam edit with 4K sources is making educated guesses on what it looks like and then rendering and hoping everything was actually focus and looks good.
Apple offered $490 for trade in. I'm selling it to my mom for $450 instead. For the everyday tasks she needs a computer for, I imagine this should still be working fine for her ten years from now.
My brother in law still uses the 2010 iMac that I sold him.
I’ve got a late 2009 iMac running. Since I got my iPad Pro just before Christmas i’ve used the iMac less and a less.
The iMac is still running all though the hard drive is showing its age - especially booting takes a long time. I’m thinking about putting in a ssd. Other than that I’ve only added more ram - 12 GB in total.
When I bought it in 2009 I bought the highest possible configuration so it would last me longer. I didn’t expect it to last 10 years though...
I only use for light use and some recreational photo and video-editing. For professional use it would need a ssd in stead of the 7200 rpm hard drive.
The iMac is still running all though the hard drive is showing its age - especially booting takes a long time. I’m thinking about putting in a ssd. Other than that I’ve only added more ram - 12 GB in total.
When I bought it in 2009 I bought the highest possible configuration so it would last me longer. I didn’t expect it to last 10 years though...
I only use for light use and some recreational photo and video-editing. For professional use it would need a ssd in stead of the 7200 rpm hard drive.
Typing this on a 2007 Core 2/4GB machine. Replacing the hard drive with an SSD a few years ago brought it back to life, and for general use, it's fine.
Allowing the dust to settle on the 2019 iMacs, before moving on to one, or a mini.
Allowing the dust to settle on the 2019 iMacs, before moving on to one, or a mini.
DLL hell is a thing of the past. It was a thing with Windows 95, 98, and ME. But starting with XP and SysWOW it's been nothing but an urban myth. It simply doesn't exist, and it hasn't for almost 20 years. Plus, Windows never ever got junked up on its own, not even in the 95/98/ME days. Never did, never will. You can run Windows for 20+ years and never encounter any issues regardless of whether it's connected to the internet or not.
How am I being a jackass and a condescending tool? I am simply pointing out the fact that buying a Mac is most likely not going to solve the problem. If in fact his/her PC is FUBAR after just three years then his/her Mac will most likely become FUBAR just as fast.
Older iMacs tend to last awhile as long as Apple didn't use cheap drives or GPUs in them and then deny you a repair under the extended repair program because your serial number was outside of the range that they deemed impacted. Newer Macs are pieces of crap designed to fail after three years.
I have a mid-2011 iMac with a 2.8ghz, quad-core i7 chip in it. It still works and does what I ask of it but I can see the hard drive is slowing down and Apple isn't making the newest OS available to the machine any longer. After eight years I can't complain. My new 2019 with the 3.7ghz six-core i5 chip and 1TB SSD is on its way.
Like some over here also still running a late 2019 iMac. It still has the original HDD which is on it's last legs all of a sudden. I could go upgrading it to a SDD but settled down for a brand new 2019 iMac which will arrive next week or so.
9 1/2 years ago I wouldn't have thought this baby would still be running. Every penny well spend.
9 1/2 years ago I wouldn't have thought this baby would still be running. Every penny well spend.