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crispApple

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 22, 2015
280
109
Wisconsin
hey everyone, I was just wondering if a mid 2009 iMac 20" would be worth the purchase to use it for nothing but light internet and YouTube? I don't need it for much else, just a simple desktop with a bigger screen than my MacBook Air m1. its running OS X El Capitan 10.11.6, 2gb 1067 MHz ddr3 I am seeing these very cheap and was considering buying, any advise would be great thanks
 
hey everyone, I was just wondering if a mid 2009 iMac 20" would be worth the purchase to use it for nothing but light internet and YouTube? I don't need it for much else, just a simple desktop with a bigger screen than my MacBook Air m1. its running OS X El Capitan 10.11.6, 2gb 1067 MHz ddr3 I am seeing these very cheap and was considering buying, any advise would be great thanks
I’ve got one with SSD and 8 gb ram. Unfortunately the machine will choke on 2 gb, and you won’t have fun with a spinning platter hard drive. The fans are loud in comparison to a newer machine, and the old CCFL displays aren’t as bright as the newer LED models.
If you get a 2011-2015 21.5” then you can run those in target display mode and use them as an external monitor for your M1 machine (with the correct adaptor cable).
 
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I’ve got one with SSD and 8 gb ram. Unfortunately the machine will choke on 2 gb, and you won’t have fun with a spinning platter hard drive. The fans are loud in comparison to a newer machine, and the old CCFL displays aren’t as bright as the newer LED models.
If you get a 2011-2015 21.5” then you can run those in target display mode and use them as an external monitor for your M1 machine (with the correct adaptor cable).
good info, thank you. any recommendations of similar machines that will run a little better? I really like the iMac design and Appearance for a desktop machine.
 
Anything with an SSD in it and a suitable amount of ram will run circles around any Mac with a HDD in it. The old spinning HDD drives are very slow and prone to breaking that spinning ARM compared to the newer Macs. If the mid 2009 iMac has the original HDD in it then you should expect to need to replace it.
 
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Anything with an SSD in it and a suitable amount of ram will run circles around any Mac with a HDD in it. The old spinning HDD drives are very slow and prone to breaking that spinning ARM compared to the newer Macs. If the mid 2009 iMac has the original HDD in it then you should expect to need to replace it.
are these specs for an iMac decent or no?

21.5 2009 3.06Ghz UPGRADED 8GB-RAM 512GB-SSD DVD​

 
I just got a Mid 2009 iMac. I put a MX500 SSD in it and it’s got 8Gb ram. Currently running Catalina just fine. It’s not a speed demon but it’s acceptable for its specs.
 
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are these specs for an iMac decent or no?

21.5 2009 3.06Ghz UPGRADED 8GB-RAM 512GB-SSD DVD​


Yeah depends upon price but sure those specs are decent. Keep in mind that a 2009 3.06Ghz processor is not nearly as fast as a 2019 2.3GHz dual-core processor for your average computing daily tasks. GHz can be misleading in that way.
 
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I just got a Mid 2009 iMac. I put a MX500 SSD in it and it’s got 8Gb ram. Currently running Catalina just fine. It’s not a speed demon but it’s acceptable for its specs.
Are you able to browse the web and watch YouTube videos easily? I don’t really care if it takes a while to boot up or even load some apps or things like that. Just need it to be able to surf the web or watch videos without too much interruption.
 
My old 2009 ultimately was quite slow loading webpages, which was one of the reasons I went to a newer model.

I still have it and not too long ago I spent some time removing files from its HD. I had it on my desk next to a newer iMac and when both of them were on at the same time, I was amazed at how crummy the display looked on the 2009.
 
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Are you able to browse the web and watch YouTube videos easily? I don’t really care if it takes a while to boot up or even load some apps or things like that. Just need it to be able to surf the web or watch videos without too much interruption.

Absolutely. I have a 2009 27" iMac w/SSD. It doesn't take long to boot or load apps and handles surfing and video watching amazingly well. Better than many "new" Windows PCs, because it doesn't have any bloatware.
 
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Are you able to browse the web and watch YouTube videos easily? I don’t really care if it takes a while to boot up or even load some apps or things like that. Just need it to be able to surf the web or watch videos without too much interruption.
Yeah, it can browse and watch YouTube. Its very usable for a 12 year old PC. I went with 10.15.7 because I wanted to Airplay to my HomePod stereo setup and I wanted something somewhat up to date. Updating security updates is a pita on unsupported Catalina so I am running 19H15 for the moment.
IMG_0472.jpeg
 
OP:

If you haven't made a decision yet, I have a suggestion:

Don't buy ANY iMac UNLESS it is 2012 or later.
Reason: these will have USB3 (be careful, it's possible some sold in 2012 may still have USB2).

WHY YOU NEED USB3:
With USB3, you can attach an external USB3 SSD and make it the boot drive.
The iMac will run MUCH faster this way.

Otherwise with an earlier iMac, the only way to overcome the slow speed of the internal platter-based hard drive would be to pry it open and replace the internal drive with an SSD.

But having USB3 makes things fast, easy, and less risk of breaking something.
 
OP:

If you haven't made a decision yet, I have a suggestion:

Don't buy ANY iMac UNLESS it is 2012 or later.
Reason: these will have USB3 (be careful, it's possible some sold in 2012 may still have USB2).

WHY YOU NEED USB3:
With USB3, you can attach an external USB3 SSD and make it the boot drive.
The iMac will run MUCH faster this way.

Otherwise with an earlier iMac, the only way to overcome the slow speed of the internal platter-based hard drive would be to pry it open and replace the internal drive with an SSD.

But having USB3 makes things fast, easy, and less risk of breaking something.
cool thank you for the suggestion, I have not gotten anything yet so that helps. is there any iMacs under the $500 usd range that I could get that I wouldn't have to do anything to? and still get reasonable performance?
 
I would only use and upgrade early/mid 2009 20"/21.5" iMac if it was given to me for free.
I bought my 24" early 2009 iMac in my signature (120GB SSD included) for 180$ and have regretted that decision already, even though it runs pretty fast all light stuffs you mentioned above.
Reason: the LCD has reached its age, and I hate the half yellowish, half greyish screen. Always have to use it in dark mode.
Check the LCD carefully if you really want to buy such an old iMac.
 
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OP:

If your budget is constrained, have you considered a 2012 Mac Mini instead?
It's a very usable little "box", with USB3. Ram is easily upgradeable.

WARNING:
There's also a 2014 Mini, but the RAM on these is soldered in.
DO NOT buy a 2014 Mini with 4gb of RAM, it can never be upgraded!
 
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OP:

If your budget is constrained, have you considered a 2012 Mac Mini instead?
It's a very usable little "box", with USB3. Ram is easily upgradeable.

WARNING:
There's also a 2014 Mini, but the RAM on these is soldered in.
DO NOT buy a 2014 Mini with 4gb of RAM, it can never be upgraded!
imac 2010 (mc 509) (hd 5670) ssd256 8ram is it a good buy $250 for learning mac os and browsing the web? I want to use 2-3 years and buy m1 Thank you
 
I still use my Late 2009 27" iMac. It looks the same as current Intel machines. Runs High Sierra. I put 8GB extra in addition to the 4GB it came with for a total of 12GB RAM. I also cleaned out the inside when I replaced the spinning HDD drive with a Samsung EVO. It boots up quick and makes no noise now. Perfect for web browsing and office work. I'll sometimes even use it for Lightroom. For video playback on Youtube, 1080p 24/30 and 720 60fps are no issue. 1080p 60fps causes stuttering.

The ram and SSD upgrade improved the performance considerably. The boot time went from a few minutes to a few seconds.

I use my MacBook Pro for all the serious work, and this iMac for casual use. With the upgrades, this has made holding out for the new updated 27" iMac a lot easier.
 
Consider the price of an old 27" 2k monitor.... It's a good buy.
imac 2010 27" (mc 511)? My friends dissuade me from buying. They say that 2010 (4670 card) is very hot and broken. They say it's an old and bad model. I really like the old design. I do not know what to do.
 
imac 2010 27" (mc 511)? My friends dissuade me from buying. They say that 2010 (4670 card) is very hot and broken. They say it's an old and bad model. I really like the old design. I do not know what to do.

I bought a 2010 27, i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD for $100 two weeks ago. It wouldn't boot at the seller's house so I connected my keyboard, mouse and a bootable external SSD and it booted right up; I added 16 GB of RAM and It's a great machine now. The fans were loud while I was running it so I installed Macs Fan Control and found out that it has a bad HDD thermal sensor so I just set HDD fan speed to minimum.

This system does YouTube, web browsing, Notes, Calendar, Reminders, videos for me and doesn't slow down. I also had a spare infared remote and use it to watch videos from a distance, like a TV set.
 
Hello. I like the look of the imac 21.5 2009 I need to work 10-12 hours a day. (Youtube text browsing the internet. However, I am afraid that the 9400 (256) video card and the display lamp are old and hot and will die quickly. There is no apple repair in my city. Tell me, am I right in my fears? Imac 21.5 2010 (4670/5670) vs 24 (2009) gt 120 is the card more reliable? My friends say that 2009-2011 is a very bad year and hot. The video card is dying from long work. Price 21.5 2009 $ 150 Thank you
 
I don't think you will be happy with anything older than 2012. If it were me, I would spend the money on a display and dock for the MacBook Air.
 
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