You didn't tell us what size the iMac is, or what kind of drive is inside.
If it's a 21" with a platter-based hard drive inside, it's going to be slow.
Apple doesn't tell you that before you buy it. Modern versions of the Mac OS run SLOW on platter-based hard drives. Unfortunately, there's no way to speed up things when running from this drive.
You CAN "make the iMac faster", but you'll need an external USB3 SSD that is set up to become "the new boot drive".
I can't remember if this one has USBa or USBc ports on the back?
Can someone clarify?
I would suggest a Samsung t7 drive. 1tb (same as the internal) will do the job.
If you have USBc ports, use the USBc connecting cable (it may yield faster speeds than a USBa cable).
Another way to do it:
- get an "nvme" blade SSD -- 1tb should do (many available, buy for price)
- get a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure -- again, many available
The drive just snaps into the enclosure. Some enclosures just snap closed, no screws needed.
Here's what you need to do once you have the SSD:
- Connect the drive to the Mac.
- Open disk utility
- Go to the view menu and choose "show all devices" (VERY important step)
- Click on the icon for the EXTERNAL SSD and click "Erase"
- For the format, choose APFS, GUID partition format
- Erasing takes only a moment, quit disk utility when done.
Next:
- I'd suggest that you try cloning the contents of the internal HDD to the SSD.
- Although I usually use CarbonCopyCloner for this, I'd suggest you try SuperDuper first, because I believe it makes the cloning process simpler if you're using OS 11 or later.
- SuperDuper can be found here:
It should be free to use "as is" for now. You don't need to buy it.
- Open SuperDuper and select the internal drive as "the source".
- Select the external SSD as "the target" (the clone)
- Let SD do its thing, it will take a little while.
When the clone is done:
- Open the startup disk preference pane
- Do you now see the external SSD as a "bootable drive"?
- If so, click the lock and enter your password.
- Click on the icon for the external SSD to select it, then close system preferences.
Then:
Reboot.
Do you get a faster boot now from the SSD?
If so, you're done!
