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How well has your old iMac held up?

B

bobright

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 29, 2010
4,817
34
I will be a first time Mac owner hopefully very soon with the new iMac release around the corner. I am looking to spend a good amount of money on one and HOPE I can at least get a good 5 years or so life out of it. I have got that out of all my previous PC's hopefully can get around the same out of a Mac.

How has your guys held up over the years?
 
My mid 2007 is still going and is fine for most of the things I want to do today. It's not actually stopping me from doing anything, although some of the things I want to do are slower than I would like. I also think that the next o/s update will not be guaranteed on this model. But, it runs Mountain Lion fine and if other priorities came up, I could stick with what I've got. I'm here because I want a new iMac, probably with a bigger display. I'd probably be looking for it to last just as long.
 
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
 
Last Great White

I also have a 2007 iMac, the last white-cased model. Mine works very well, although I haven't updated OS X since 10.5.8, but that's because of a specific feature change in subsequent versions. I'm looking forward to getting a new iMac for a few upgrades, larger screen, and just because SOON I can. :)

I'm sure that your experience with an iMac will prove addicting. Apple products are proof that "you get what you pay for." Enjoy!
 
I am likely to buy a new iMac too, but I have to say that I feel more conftable with the tower solution.

I am MAC user for 3 years now from a laptop, and i feel it not enough fast (even with ssd and so), and I need a desktop computer.

But the fact that is not really upgradeable and mainly is the heat issue for playing sometimes makes me doubt about. With the tower model after 3 years still the screen can be updated and some components.

Dont know yet.
 
bobright said:
I will be a first time Mac owner hopefully very soon with the new iMac release around the corner. I am looking to spend a good amount of money on one and HOPE I can at least get a good 5 years or so life out of it. I have got that out of all my previous PC's hopefully can get around the same out of a Mac.

How has your guys held up over the years?
Click to expand...

My mid 2007 24" iMac is still operating like new. I've found that following Apple's instructions for maintaining it such as running Software Update often and updating the OS as needed. I've upgraded from Tiger to Leopard to Snow Leoard to Lion and now Mountain Lion, all by following Apple's instrucitons. The only modification I've done to the hardware was upgrade to 6GB of RAM (the max for my model). IMHO 5 years is a reasonable expectation.

BTW you will go through a learning curve coverting from a PC, most of that will be trying to break old habits of trying to get the Mac to run OK by treating it like a MS Windows box. Avoid antivirus or other "improvment" software and let OS X run as it was intended to, it doesn't need to be tweaked, reinstalled or anything else. If you let your machine just run it will reward you. Almost all the problems users on this and other tech support forums have can be traced back to the user downloading or otherwise tweaking the system outside Apple's recommendations.
 
That depends on what you plan on using it for. If you're talking about simple things (e.g. web browsing, email, iTunes, Office), then a 5 year old iMac will work perfectly fine today. My late 2006 Macbook, with an SSD, does all of those things quite well and feels almost as snappy as a new machine. If you mean more graphics/cpu intensive things, well that's different.
 
My parents have a iMac 2006 Core Duo, & It's still working perfectly..
 
I have had experience with 4 iMacs so far. The newest one was purchased for my daughter last year as a refurb and is working with no issues. My sons' iMacs where purchased new in October 2007. One had the infamous "freezing iMac" problem with a faulty GPU card and was serviced in November of that year. 3 years later the HD of the other iMac began to fail so I replaced both with 1TB drives. They have since been sold on. My daughter's original iMac, late 2006 model purchased as NIB in late 2007, now belongs to my father. It has developed an issue with the graphics card that occasionally causes the machine to freeze on reboots. I replaced the hard drive in that machine as well in 2010.
 
my 2009 27" iMac is going strongly. Replaced the hard drive for an SSD as soon as I got it in 2009, and upgraded to 16GB RAM. Not had one issue with it :)
 
I have a 2005 iMac G5 20'' that still works great. This was my first Mac.

It runs Leopard and the hard drive was replaced a couple years back, but it has no issues. I gave it to my mother and she uses it daily. For her purposes, it works just fine.

Even as a user of Mountain Lion, it still feels current. Albeit missing a few visual cues and minor features. Possibly my biggest "hope" for the 2012 revision would be the return of the removable back. I know this is unlikely. I just loved being able to service the computer on my own…


5213323776609644.JPG
 
Hey gang, been watching this thread closely. I have a 2008 Imac 21" that has been fantastic, trouble free and a joy to use. I'm not sure if it's developed an issue, but I've recently tried, on 2 occasions, to install 2 programs and each failed to open when launched. Both looked to be compatible with my os. Other than these 2 occasions, it's been trouble free.

It's still running Leopard 10.5.8 as I've never updated it. I was thinking about maybe taking it in and having apple update to the newest operating system, but then I started to think I'm better off just buying a newer imac as this one is nearing 5 years old, and it's due for a hard drive failure, or possibly something else.

I was reading online and it doesn't look that hard to just do an erase/re-install of the current operating system, something I'd never try myself on a pc. Looks doable for a non-techy such as myself.

Do you think it's time for an upgrade or should I just dump a bit of $ into em ole imac? Thanks in advance.

Steve
 
Model: Mid-2007 Aluminum 2.4GHZ Core 2 Duo 24"
Mods: Upped to 4GB RAM
Born: March 23, 2008
Died: October 15, 2012
Cause of Death: Hard Drive failure
Other notables: Screen imperfections becoming evident, particularly on a plain-white background like the startup screens.

A hobbiest could fairly easily extend the life of my system a couple more years. I plan to sell it to one. :)
 
Payton said:
I have a 2005 iMac G5 20'' that still works great. This was my first Mac.

It runs Leopard and the hard drive was replaced a couple years back, but it has no issues. I gave it to my mother and she uses it daily. For her purposes, it works just fine.

Even as a user of Mountain Lion, it still feels current. Albeit missing a few visual cues and minor features. Possibly my biggest "hope" for the 2012 revision would be the return of the removable back. I know this is unlikely. I just loved being able to service the computer on my own…


Image
Click to expand...

I have to agree with Payton, my 2005 G5 iMac (which is now my son's computer) still works great. My biggest frustration has been that I can't install a new OS newer than Leopard, and most of the current software isn't written for the PowerPC, e.g. Chrome, Pro Tools, Logic, etc. All this is to say that your Mac will likely last longer than you think, but the supporting software and peripherals may not -- which means to keep it going, you'll need to be more resourceful looking for hacks and other alternatives.
 
2008..24" iMac..on 24/7..running Lion..4 GB ram..320 HDD...runs fine..only 1 or 2 crashes since I bought it..no hardware issues...a few software issues...will keep it until it dies..then give it honorable burial...
 
Held up very well

Agreed....with Apple you get what you pay for. I have a late 2009 21.5" iMac that runs like new today. Just as a side note, I am using a 2001 Powerbook G3 as a web/print server to this day. it still runs along with no issues!
 
Should we really be praising iMacs just for lasting 4-5 years ? Surely we should expect that from any computer, especially a desktop? I mean, it's not as if you're throwing it down the stairs every day (I hope).

A decade and over with no problems (other than outdated software and specs) should show good longevity for a computer.
 
Late 2007 iMac running snow leopard, never had a problem. Also, the older things in my sig are still running. My g4 MacBook is retired to family, along with an eMac I gave to family soon after getting it (couldn't stand the fan noise), both still in regular use.

All my computers have worked.
 
mslide said:
That depends on what you plan on using it for. If you're talking about simple things (e.g. web browsing, email, iTunes, Office), then a 5 year old iMac will work perfectly fine today. My late 2006 Macbook, with an SSD, does all of those things quite well and feels almost as snappy as a new machine. If you mean more graphics/cpu intensive things, well that's different.
Click to expand...

Running most of the CS3 suite and Maya 2012 on my late 2006 2.1ghz iMac and it's doing just fine :)

I did replace the hard drive with an SSD and that made a huge performance difference.
 
BigMac182 said:
Should we really be praising iMacs just for lasting 4-5 years ? Surely we should expect that from any computer, especially a desktop? I mean, it's not as if you're throwing it down the stairs every day (I hope).

A decade and over with no problems (other than outdated software and specs) should show good longevity for a computer.
Click to expand...

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

I've got a 21.5 in 10,1. Initially the iMac would fail to boot but would be OK after a clean OS install. Now the HDD is so dead it doesn't even show up when I boot via FW800. The optical drive also died. It went from occasionally ejecting a disk to always ejecting any disk it's presented with. Finally the screen has a strong bluish cast on the top third which fades into a strong yellow cast in the lower third. However, the middle third looks pretty good.

In a more traditional computer, like my Mac Pro, you pop in another HDD, easily replace the optical drive (usually with a better one), or get another monitor (also usually a better one). Of course in an iMac it's a different story.
 
Late 08 24" 3.06 CTD iMac, here.

HD failed in about 8 months, now it's in for repair again (looks like the video card has failed).

I hate the fact that the whole machine has to go away for repair when something goes wrong and for this reason I sword I'd never buy an iMac again ... with a tower you can just whip off the side and easily replace a faulty component, at home, by yourself.

However ...

1: No signs of a new Mac Pro for a loooong time?!

2: The rumours of this new iMac design have got my senses tingling!

That feeling when you pull the (beauty) of a machine out of the box is unforgettable ... they really are lovely machines - when they work :cool:

----------
scottsjack said:
In a more traditional computer, like my Mac Pro, you pop in another HDD, easily replace the optical drive (usually with a better one), or get another monitor (also usually a better one). Of course in an iMac it's a different story.
Click to expand...

... couldn't agree more.

----------

Bottom line is that the iMac looks great, but the failure rates appear to be much higher than machines from other manufacturers.

Maybe Apple should change their brand of Cellotape and glue?

Joking (but never a truer word than that said in jest!).
 
iMac (24-inch Early 2008) Hard drive failed maybe about a month after i bought it. Then Power Supply failed. Then they replaced it with a new unit and all has been well.

:eek:
 
I have a Late2009 i7 that has held up phenomenally well.

But this is getting absurd. I have 14 devices attached via USB, 16GB RAM, replaced the 1TB Seagate with a 3TB WD FASS and now have 19TB of directly attached storage.

I have been putting off splitting the duties between a 'desktop' (general use/gaming) and a server (Mini Server) for long enough.

Is that a train or is Apple finally providing Ivy Bridge on the desktop?
 
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