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Need an Update

J

jwc6160

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 17, 2011
101
1
I am rocking a base 2007ish Mac that is driving me crazy. Just slow in about every way. I want to upgrade, but don't want new models to come out right behind me. I am not a heavy user so I should probably wait right? Anything (free or cheap) that I can do while I wait to speed things up?

Thanks
 
What version of the OS are you using?

Have you ever defragmented the internal drive?

If not, it should be done. Over the years, you get more than just fragmented -files-.
The free space on the drive becomes hopelessly fragmented, as well.

Is the internal drive close to full yet?
 
jwc6160 said:
I am rocking a base 2007ish Mac that is driving me crazy. Just slow in about every way. I want to upgrade, but don't want new models to come out right behind me. I am not a heavy user so I should probably wait right? Anything (free or cheap) that I can do while I wait to speed things up?

Thanks
Click to expand...
OS X does not need to defrag, the previous poster clearly is not aware of this. Defragging a HD is something from the 1990s and before, it has not been necessary even on Windows machines for at least 7-8 years!

If you still have the base 1GB of RAM and are using a version of OS X later than 10.4.x then you may see a small performance gain by upgrading the RAM to 4-6GB. However considering the machine is almost 9 years old, I don't see the value in doing so.

No one here knows for sure when new models will be introduced, Apple does not announce that information. You can get an estimate by looking at past models release dates but remember that is only historical information and does not guarantee anything.

That being said, the right time to buy any computer is when you want or need it. Don't worry about newer models being released, it simply doesn't matter.
 
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Interesting. So you don't think it would be worth waiting a couple months for a potential refresh? I would think there would be the potential for the newer models having "better" features and performance that what is available now that would be worth the wait. Again, I am looking for something on the lower end.

I get that the best time to buy is when you need one though. Thanks
 
jwc6160 said:
Interesting. So you don't think it would be worth waiting a couple months for a potential refresh? I would think there would be the potential for the newer models having "better" features and performance that what is available now that would be worth the wait. Again, I am looking for something on the lower end.

I get that the best time to buy is when you need one though. Thanks
Click to expand...

If you can wait I would suggest waiting. Apple may introduce the 4 channel SSD, that is used in the MacBook Pro, in the next iMac. That SSD is crazy fast. I am going to wait until the September time frame because of that possibility.

In the meantime, try a clean install of OS X. You could try create a new partition on your internal hard drive, install OS X on the new partition and boot to the new partition. If the system seems more responsive then a clean install will help. When you are done, boot back to the primary partition and delete the new partition. This is a way to test a clean install without affecting what you have installed now. Just a thought.
 
Last edited:
"OS X does not need to defrag, the previous poster clearly is not aware of this. Defragging a HD is something from the 1990s and before, it has not been necessary even on Windows machines for at least 7-8 years!"

I am aware of the claim that "OS X does not need to defrag". That is only a half-truth.

The Mac OS -will- re-concactenate -some- files of certain sizes, but not all of them.

More importantly, it is not just the "files" on a drive which can become fragmented.
It is the FREE SPACE -between- the files that grows fragmented over time.

Look at an older drive with a defragging utility, and you will clearly see this.

The problem with such "fragmented free space" on older HDD's is that the OS has to "go looking" for space as it writes temp files, maintains swap files, etc.

When a platter-based drive is defragged, all the free space is re-concactenated "behind" the files, into one contiguous space. No more waiting as the drive (and OS) have to sort through literally thousands of "free space fragments" to find a location large enough to handle disk writes.

One doesn't need a defragger to re-concactenate a drive.
This can be done by:
1. Cloning the drive to a backup drive using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper
2. Booting from the backup
3. Re-initializing the source drive
4. RE-cloning the contents of the backup BACK TO the source drive.
This will re-group all the files together at the head end of the drive, with all the free space behind it...
 
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jwc6160 said:
Interesting. So you don't think it would be worth waiting a couple months for a potential refresh? I would think there would be the potential for the newer models having "better" features and performance that what is available now that would be worth the wait. Again, I am looking for something on the lower end.

I get that the best time to buy is when you need one though. Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, an updated iMac would be "better" but you would also be missing out on at least 3 months of utility/enjoyment out of the 5k one that is out now. 3 months would be the least amount of time you would be waiting as well. That is if we base it on the fact that they updated this line in October of last year. It doesn't help that there haven't been many rumors on here about iMacs other than they may make a rose gold one.
 
NMSUballa said:
Yes, an updated iMac would be "better" but you would also be missing out on at least 3 months of utility/enjoyment out of the 5k one that is out now. 3 months would be the least amount of time you would be waiting as well. That is if we base it on the fact that they updated this line in October of last year. It doesn't help that there haven't been many rumors on here about iMacs other than they may make a rose gold one.
Click to expand...

Personally, if you've managed to live with it since 2007, I'd wait another couple of months as opposed to always going for the instant gratification.
 
I'm of the opinion that you might as well wait a couple months if you can get by with your current imac. You'll feel better about your purchase when the time comes.
 
richpjr said:
Personally, if you've managed to live with it since 2007, I'd wait another couple of months as opposed to always going for the instant gratification.
Click to expand...

If the 2007 is driving him crazy then he would receive a ton of utility from a 5k iMac that is out now. He just has to decide if that enjoyment is greater than or less than a thought of there being a spec bump in a few months. A skylake iMac does sound pretty sweet though.
 
NMSUballa said:
If the 2007 is driving him crazy then he would receive a ton of utility from a 5k iMac that is out now. He just has to decide if that enjoyment is greater than or less than a thought of there being a spec bump in a few months. A skylake iMac does sound pretty sweet though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you can always play the game that something better will be released no matter what you purchase, but I'd rather buy at the beginning rather than the end of a product version cycle, especially when there should be some nice upgrades in it.
 
Fishrrman said:
"OS X does not need to defrag, the previous poster clearly is not aware of this. Defragging a HD is something from the 1990s and before, it has not been necessary even on Windows machines for at least 7-8 years!"

I am aware of the claim that "OS X does not need to defrag". That is only a half-truth.

The Mac OS -will- re-concactenate -some- files of certain sizes, but not all of them.

More importantly, it is not just the "files" on a drive which can become fragmented.
It is the FREE SPACE -between- the files that grows fragmented over time.

Look at an older drive with a defragging utility, and you will clearly see this.

The problem with such "fragmented free space" on older HDD's is that the OS has to "go looking" for space as it writes temp files, maintains swap files, etc.

When a platter-based drive is defragged, all the free space is re-concactenated "behind" the files, into one contiguous space. No more waiting as the drive (and OS) have to sort through literally thousands of "free space fragments" to find a location large enough to handle disk writes.

One doesn't need a defragger to re-concactenate a drive.
This can be done by:
1. Cloning the drive to a backup drive using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper
2. Booting from the backup
3. Re-initializing the source drive
4. RE-cloning the contents of the backup BACK TO the source drive.
This will re-group all the files together at the head end of the drive, with all the free space behind it...
Click to expand...

Interestingly, I used to follow approximately the same procedure to defrag and sort out VMS disks, back in my DEC days. I think I can still remember some of the commands, but basically it was, as you say, (1) make an image on tape, (2) initialize the old drive, (3) restore to it.

$ BACK/IMAGE/FULL/VERIFY . . . . oh yeah. Those were the days.
 
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