How well has your old iMac held up?

[bobright]

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

This is what I don't like I mean all my family pictures, anything personal on it is all game to be snooped on when taken in for repair right? Is there anything that can be serviced by yourself or is it to complicated and/or void warranty?

I see from the replies a lot have broken down in a few years hmmm

 

[Animalk]

This is what I don't like I mean all my family pictures, anything personal on it is all game to be snooped on when taken in for repair right? Is there anything that can be serviced by yourself or is it to complicated and/or void warranty?

I see from the replies a lot have broken down in a few years hmmm

I wonder if you create a Guest user account with minimal privileges for the techs to use will it prevent them from obtaining your personnal data?

 

[thestickman]

2010 21.5" i3 3.2ghz with 16gb of ram in it still runs like a top. I use it for several hours a day in my music studio. I've never had a problem with the device. If I had it to do over again I would have picked the 27" model for the extra screen real estate.

I am VERY satisfied with my iMac.

 

[iSayuSay]

I've been owning iMac for 1.5 years now. Overall it's a great performer, spec wise. When it works.

But it's more likely you'll have occasional problems with the machine, especially the display. I have this smudged and dirty screen every couple of months. It keeps coming back and just won't go away even with several LCD replacements.

And also I have my HDD failed, and internal video flex cable flawed causing several KPs and crashes. My previous PC boxes never have this, not on their first 2 years at least.

iMac all in one design, as beautiful as it is, is asking for problems and need to make some compromises. Plain and simple physics. Taking in the whole machine for minuscule problem is one of them.

Point is, iMac is a great machine when it works, but I'm sorry to say that this is not a machine for me in the long term. My next desktop purchase won't be an iMac. It has to be a MacPro or equivalent.

Meanwhile I'm going to enjoy this machine until AppleCare runs out.

 

[harlex]

The problem is Apple has the name and service and you pay for this. It also has a large legal bill and you pay for this and it is a very very greedy company and was uncharitable.

The product is great, but of course PC's are also great, they also depend on the job they have to do i.e a slow dual core or even an i3 4 core would not cut the ice trying to edit with effects a full H264 movie.

I use both PC and iMac although sold my one in May of this year thinking the new one was coming out in June so I am waiting for the new model.

I think Win 8 is really going to be good and I think it will be a great operating system performance boost.

For the future I have heard that Apple is going to give up Intel and make its own CPU's and this begs a huge huge question and that is will you be able to bootcamp windows onto its platform for those including myself who use windows based programmes as Apple likes to keep everything in its own ecoworld.

 

[antithema]

Well I had the basic model of iMac late 2006 model that I bought around April 2007. It was my 1st Mac and 1st Desktop pc I owned. I mostly worked on it with Windows XP initially and the 7 doing cad, office things and movies).
I had no major problems apart from some minor ones from the graphics card that was not supported from Windows 7 (found a solution in a few days). I had loads of stuff connected (scanner, printer, hard discs, external dvd drive etc). Apart from the memory upgrade I replaced the HDD with a 1TB one (the initial HDD was still fine but just wanted to upgrate).
It was still decent, fast and responsive but finally sold it a few months ago in order to replace it with a new iMac or Mac mini with external monitor (if they upgrade it to quad core).

 

[/V\acpower]

My opinion, if you are going for longevity, i guess investing in a "UPS" (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is a good idea.

Basically it protect your computer from sudden voltage drops (like when there is a black out or some appliance on the same electric network drain more current for a short period of time.) which can be as damaging as a sudden peak in voltage.

 

[Cockney Rebel]

This is what I don't like I mean all my family pictures, anything personal on it is all game to be snooped on when taken in for repair right? Is there anything that can be serviced by yourself or is it to complicated and/or void warranty?

I see from the replies a lot have broken down in a few years hmmm

Exactly (re security issues).

I managed to use a MBP to access the iMac's hard drive via Target Disk Mode and I formatted it (zeroed out - where you write zeroes over the entire HD so that data cannot be accessed again) before it went away for repair.

Of course ... make sure you make a full backup before you do this.

I know you can upgrade RAM in iMac's without voiding the warranty but good question ... I'm not sure about where you stand if you open up the machine to perform any repairs? However, if you are in warranty I would definitely get a qualified person to undertake any repairs as it can be quite tricky (search YouTube for iMac repairs ...).

Like I said in my post ... I'd much prefer a Mac Pro, solely for the reason of future repairs, but the machine is waaaaaay out of date!

I have also/am considering going down the Mac Mini route but they only have integrated graphics (and do not even come with keyboard & mouse - is Apple having a laugh??) but with the iMac you get so much more bang for your buck.

I love the iMac, I really do (was my first Apple product ever, and introduced me to the brand) but the all-in-one aspect really concerns me, especially as mine has had to go in for repair on two occasions, and on the first occasion it had to go back to the repair company 5 times in total due to errors during the repair process!

What are you going to do? Are you going to get one of the new iMacs when they are released?

As much as I hate to say it, I am seriously considering it ...

 

[edk]

still using my early 2006 imac. The only issue it has is a blotch in the corner of the LCD. (replaced once and the same problem occurred).

I'd continue using it.. if it weren't for the SW lockout Apps such as Lightroom and parallels etc all want dual core going forward, so I guess I'll need to update soon

 

[iMcLovin]

I've had my early 2009 iMac without any problems all the way along. Only reason im buying a new one is because I need more juice.

 

[R1PPER]

My 2011 imac is starting to struggle now im down to my last 200gb I have 8 gigs of ram. But if i try to work on a large photoshop file open illustrator and maybe one other...it crumbles. Very frustrating considering how new this machine is. Runs Starraft 2 well. But Dayz in bootcamp is laggy. Im thinking sell it and go top end 2012/3 imac

 

[mtnman2001]

Tired 07

My 2007 model is rather tired as it barely handles Aperture and Photoshop as it is so slow opening, processing or even closing. The 320gb drive was quickly out lived as file sizes have gotten larger. At any rate I'm looking to replace with a new iMac next week as I've been waiting 4+ months for a newer model.

 

[Micky Do]

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

Yes. that will be a power supply issue. I had it with my first Mac Mini (early 2005), but the power supply had to work hard. At the end of a power line, often without enough voltage to kick fluorescent lights into action, a standard UPS and no earth system, it was busy.

When the HDD packed up in 2009 replacing it, and the power supply, plus some other issues were going to cost half the price of a new Mini, so I went new.

The mains power to the area has been improved, I have installed an earth, and I now use a UPS with Auto Voltage Regulation (AVR). Now the power supply that came with the 2009 Mini is having an easier time, and is bearing up OK.

I have had no issues. I have had 4GB of RAM added, but am still on the original HDD.

 

[Nandifix]

I'll tell you in a couple of years when I have been using my 2012 iMac everyday

 

[Adam7]

iMac life..

My medio 2010 21.5" iMac with 8GB RAM is flawless; never had any hardware issues. That was different with previous models; I owned an iMac G5, which had cooling problems, among other things, and on an early alu-iMac the HD failed after 2 months(!). One phone call and Apple simply sent me a new iMac, and took the other back. It was my only hardware failure ever. Can happen; good service (Apple online Store).

Even if a hardware set-up is perfect, failures cannot be ruled out, and risk generally increases with age. But kept well, dust-free, properly maintained; I figure an iMac should give you at least 8 years of good service if you don't need things to go fast in the later years...
Over the years, since my first iMac in 1998, I have come to the conclusion that buying new, or nearly, and selling again after 3-4 years, gives the best balance between depreciation, reliability and still owning a fast PC that can run the latest OS.

My recently acquired macBook Air with 256GB SSD is wonderful: my next iMac will definitely have SSD too.

 

[whbunn]

Sept. 2007 24' iMac still humming along. HD died in March 2012, new larger drive much faster than OEM.

I have been very pleased. However, when next iMac comes out I plan to upgrade IF it has USB 3 instead of USB 2.

 

[jollino]

Model: Late 2006 2.16 GB Core 2 Duo 20"
Mods: Upgraded to 3 GB RAM (can't see past that, so no point in going with 4)
Born: November 2006
Died: still working
Cause of Death: replacement with 2012 iMac!
Other notables:
1. Darker corners (lower left and upper right), only really noticeable on solid bright backgrounds, not really in everyday usage2
2. decreased hard drive performance (but may be also due to extensive use and data fragmentation as the HDD is almost completely full and there's little room for autodefrag)
3. one memory slot got fried for no reason in September 2008. Went to work with the iMac happily crunching downloads, came home to find it dead. Logic board was replaced free of charge under AppleCare, would have cost me €700 otherwise.

 

[cooky560]

Model: Mid-2010 Core i3 3.06Ghz 21.5"
Mods: Upped to 16GB RAM
Born: Aug 2010
Died: -
Cause of Death: -
Other notables: Now on HD 3 and this one is showing signs of needing replacement, I just don't seem to get on with Seagate Drives

 

[woodworker]

I bought my iMac in August of 2007 and it's still rocking. I could use more ram and storage and faster would be nice, but it still acts basically the same as when I got it -- which includes a super loud superdrive that sometimes sounds like a rocket is trying to take off.

If you can get a fairly victimless 5 years out of an Apple, then I feel they are definitely worth the money.

 

[bigcat318]

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.

A decade? You can't be serious. The laptop (Dell) I bought for college barely made it through the year without developing issues and I didn't even take it to class.

If I was using the computer I had 10 years ago I'd have a Gateway with 256mb of ram. It would be useless. Nobody should plan for a computer to run for 10 years.

 

[Macky-Mac]

I had a G3 iMac that I used for business for 5 years. It was still working when I updated to a G5 iMac that I then used for 5 years. It was still working fine but software updates on business software lead me to replace it with my current iMac, which is still working fine after 2.5 years

 

[Mr. McMac]

My '09 24" iMac still works with no issues yet which surprises me. Why? because it runs very hot, especially the harddrive, a 1tb Western Digital Caviar Black. It's not uncommon for it to reach 55 degrees C, and I'm not even pushing my iMac hard.

Would I buy another iMac in it's current non-user serviceable configuration? No way. I'm going to stick with the Mac Mini's unless Apple comes out with a headless iMac (user serviceable) or mini tower.

 

[MacSignal]

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?

Not well in my case. After working with over a half dozen 2009-2011 MBP's, a pair of 2012 MBA's, and a 2009 Mac Mini, my singular Apple hardware failure is a suddenly dead 15 month old 2011 iMac 21.

Get AC and definitely plan on selling before it runs out.

(un)Reliability and prior QC problems aside, I think the a lot of the beauty of the design is lost when you have to start hanging external devices off of it because there are few practical options for internal expansion or upgradability. That would also make it less attractive as a five year prospect IMO.

 

[TMRaven]

My G5 iMac lasted me 5 years, so that's about in-line with what I wanted to get out of the computer, however the last year or so it was really struggling because I was encoding videos and I couldn't watch hd flash on browsers.

Now I got the first version of the 27 inch iMac, so I guess it's been nearing 3 years now, and my daily tasks are considerably more complex and taxing. Asides from a failing hard drive that I can get swapped for free now thanks to Apple's extending of that program, the only thing I see being a bottleneck on this computer is the gpu for gaming. For everything else though, I can see this computer easily lasting me 2 more years, if not more.

 

[rangers12]

I have a late 2009 21.5 Imac- had no problems in the three years that I have owned it. I also have the last of the g5 imacs, a 1.9 ghz that is now in my kitchen.

Thinking of upgrading when the new imacs come out next week but I have still been thinking of a hackintosh- only because of the ability to upgrade/tweak it.

Still, can't complain with literally no problems over the last 5 years. My late 2008 macbook's hard drive died a year ago, but that just required swapping out the drive.