My 2012 iMac is dead. Tech said it is a hardware issue. Can this be repaired? Any idea on cost if it can be repaired?
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My 2012 iMac is dead, tech said likely a hardware issue. Can my iMac get repaired?
- Thread starter Allan Wade
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Repair an old iMac is expensive and in the majority of cases you can buy for the same price a more recent refurbished or a second-hand iMac.
Anyway to help you give us more details about your model and the hardware issue (motherboard, power supply, screen, storage, thermal paste etc).
Well, dead and hardware issue could be anything.
Sure, whatever it is. Would be repairable. But cost could be a cheap RAM stick to multiple faulty components. Did the tech say what the hardware issue was? if you paid for a diagnosis. They should have provided you with an estimate and told you what was faulty.
Sure, whatever it is. Would be repairable. But cost could be a cheap RAM stick to multiple faulty components. Did the tech say what the hardware issue was? if you paid for a diagnosis. They should have provided you with an estimate and told you what was faulty.
I am not sure a 2012 iMac is worth repairing at this point. That said, it does depend what is wrong and what the cost or repair is. I recently paid Apple $200 to replace the battery in a 2014 15" MBP that my daughter mostly uses to access Google classroom with Chrome (it makes a very nice Chromebook) and that also came with a new keyboard and top case.
In your case, Apple won't repair a 2012 iMac and parts may or may not be available (it is obsolete according to Apple).
Exactly, @ADGrant — Macs usually go on the obsolete list after seven years and then new parts are no longer made, so repairs become difficult. And if you don’t know what the fault is, any DIY repair is made that much harder. There are people on the forum who have the electronics knowledge to do that kind of thing but it’s not exactly common.
Maybe now is the time to spring for a new M1 iMac and join the Apple Silicon revolution?
Maybe now is the time to spring for a new M1 iMac and join the Apple Silicon revolution?
What, specifically, is wrong with it?
What happens when you press the power-on button?
As others have said, it's probably not worth it to "repair" an iMac that's now 10 years old.
Any money you spend isn't guaranteed to get it running again, and then, it may last only a limited number of days longer. Best to put that money towards a replacement.
If there's any way possible, it's time to start looking for a new Mac.
Or... possibly an Apple-refurbished Mac, which are good deals.
What happens when you press the power-on button?
As others have said, it's probably not worth it to "repair" an iMac that's now 10 years old.
Any money you spend isn't guaranteed to get it running again, and then, it may last only a limited number of days longer. Best to put that money towards a replacement.
If there's any way possible, it's time to start looking for a new Mac.
Or... possibly an Apple-refurbished Mac, which are good deals.
That is true however independent shops will work on older equipment and depending on the issue may be able to repair or even upgrade so that it is usable again.
In general I agree that a 2012 iMac is probably not worth the cost to repair, but it all depends on the individual situation and as others have also mentioned, we aren't provided much information here, what is the configuration of this iMac, to begin with? And when the OP says "Tech said it is a hardware issue", who is this "Tech"? Is this someone at an Apple Store or independent shop?
Impossible to answer unless we actually know what is wrong with it; but if it is beyond RAM or the Storage then at the 10 year mark definitely don't get it fixed; it just makes far more sense to throw that $ at a new system. That said, I'm seeing a lot of clients keeping their Apple laptops a full 10 years at this point, and their desktops as long as 12 years; so if the repair is really, really cheap, like a bad stick of ram, then you may be lucky and get a couple more years out of it if you are truly not in a position to invest in a new machine.
The tech did not know what was at fault, he simple told me it was a hardware issue. The iMac started slowing down a few weeks ago. After talking with the tech guy, issues got worse, could not boot up. Then when I tried several times to boot up small black script suddenly flooded the screen and it has never powered up since. I did get a new 24” iMac, but I am still interested if the old iMac is worth fixing. BTW the tech guy was not an Apple employee, but he represented Apple as a tech.
At first it can be a storage failure. I assume HDD is dead and you need to replace it with a more recent SSD.
The fact that it has never powered up it can ben a power supply failure or a burned thermal paste.
The iMac is still reparable but it's not worth due to cost to repair, you can buy a more recent iMac for the same price.
Anyway if you're able to DIY, you can fix it with only the price of a new SSD.
Any chance to convert the dead iMac 27” to use it as a monitor only? i am sure the screen is okay.
Use your iMac as a display with target display mode – Apple Support (UK)
Target display mode is a feature available with certain older Mac models.
OP:
Try this on the old iMac.
1. Press the power on button and immediately hold down (and keep holding down)
Command-OPTION-R
2. This is "internet recovery". If you're using wifi to connect, you'll need your wifi password.
3. The internet utilities take a while to load, be patient "as the globe spins".
4. Do you get to the internet utilities?
5. If you do, open disk utility.
6. Check to see if disk utility has a "view" menu. If it does, choose "show all devices".
(if there is no view menu, ignore step 6)
7. Look on the left, the topmost item should be the internal drive. Click on it.
8. What do you get?
Try this on the old iMac.
1. Press the power on button and immediately hold down (and keep holding down)
Command-OPTION-R
2. This is "internet recovery". If you're using wifi to connect, you'll need your wifi password.
3. The internet utilities take a while to load, be patient "as the globe spins".
4. Do you get to the internet utilities?
5. If you do, open disk utility.
6. Check to see if disk utility has a "view" menu. If it does, choose "show all devices".
(if there is no view menu, ignore step 6)
7. Look on the left, the topmost item should be the internal drive. Click on it.
8. What do you get?
That got me in to macOS Utilities. It is prompting me to Select 1 of these:
Restore from time machine
Reinstall macOS
Get help online
Disk Utility
I would first use the Disk Utility to check if the hard drives are ok. If so, then it could be some sort of software problem and reinstalling the OS would be your next step.
I'd start off by seeing if you can access the hard drive or whatever storage the computer has. If you launch Disk Utility, it should show you which devices it can find. If you have some data on the machine you want to take a backup of, now's the time. You should hopefully be able to connect a USB storage device and copy anything off that you need. You'll have to resort to the Terminal for this (you won't be able to access the Finder).
Then, like Bodhitree says, try reinstalling the OS.
Then, like Bodhitree says, try reinstalling the OS.
Quit this approach.
I would suggest another approach for diagnosis.
Option 1.
1. Create a Mac OS USB installer. High Sierra or Mojave.
2. Boot your iMac 2012 from the USB.
3. If your iMac can boot from the USB installer, attach another external SSD to the second USB port. Install Mac OS to that SSD.
4. Boot from the external SSD.
5. If your iMac boot fine from the external SSD, then the internal SSD is dead and needs replaced.
You can also skip step 1,2,3 above and go straight to step 4, if you have an SSD with Mac OS pre-installed. Put it to an USB enclosure and do step 4 above.
Boot to internet recovery.
Launch disk utility.
Try "first aid".
What kind of "report" do you get?
Post it here.
If you can boot to internet recovery, your iMac IS NOT "dead".
If you can run disk first aid, we can determine the condition of the SSD.
It's possible you can get it running again with a re-install of the OS.
Otherwise, it may still be possible just to "get your old data off of it", and transfer some or all of it over to the NEW iMac...
Launch disk utility.
Try "first aid".
What kind of "report" do you get?
Post it here.
If you can boot to internet recovery, your iMac IS NOT "dead".
If you can run disk first aid, we can determine the condition of the SSD.
It's possible you can get it running again with a re-install of the OS.
Otherwise, it may still be possible just to "get your old data off of it", and transfer some or all of it over to the NEW iMac...
Last edited:
I made it thru first aid. It went pretty quick:
Verified file system
Volume could not be undoubted
Performing fsck_hfs-fn/dev/rdisk 2s1
Checked non journaled HFS plus volume
Checked extents overflow file
Checked multi-linked files
Checked catalog hierarchy
Checked extended attributes file
Checked volume bitmap
Checked volume information
The volume macOS base systems appears ok
File system check exit code is 0
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Call me? 317-727-7869
Verified file system
Volume could not be undoubted
Performing fsck_hfs-fn/dev/rdisk 2s1
Checked non journaled HFS plus volume
Checked extents overflow file
Checked multi-linked files
Checked catalog hierarchy
Checked extended attributes file
Checked volume bitmap
Checked volume information
The volume macOS base systems appears ok
File system check exit code is 0
Restoring the original state found as mounted.
Call me? 317-727-7869
if you are ambitious and willing to open it up, you could try this.
Clever DIY project hacks old iMac into a Studio Display
An intrepid Apple expert set out to convert an iMac on its last legs into a useful external monitor with the same general design and functionality as a
www.cultofmac.com