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Old 27" stock 2009-2011 iMacs still in use?
- Thread starter zoran
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I have a 2009. It works fine but I use it in target display to a 2020 27" iMac.
Greetings to fellow iMac colleague!
Is there some specific reason why u use it in TDM and not actually use it?
I guess by "stock", you mean booting to the original hard drive? That would be "no", I don't have any "stock" iMacs, that I have not upgraded to an SSD at some point. I have 2 iMacs in that range of 2009 to 2011.
I hesitate referring to them as "powerful", when the USB 2 bus can be "powerfully" slow, by comparison with 2012 or newer.
I hesitate referring to them as "powerful", when the USB 2 bus can be "powerfully" slow, by comparison with 2012 or newer.
Yes, 2011 i7 with 16GB ram. Has capacity for two drives. The OS is on a small SSD and everything else is on a platter.
I have a 2010 27" i7 machine that I still use fairly regularly. Granted it's not stock any longer, having an SSD and 32GB of RAM.
The 2009 iMac has a fantastic screen but it's rather slow so it's better used as a second monitor along with a more up to date (faster) computer.
The 2009 is still stock. I'm pretty sure that the 2010 is stock as well given what I got about the history of the machine.
Mine still has its factory GPU - the whole machine is a little furnace when it's running, I use MacsFanControl to help cool it down a bit, and getting the spinner out of there helps to generate a little less heat inside the machine. Other than that repasting the GPU helps a ton as well.
Mine runs hot in target display mode but it just keeps going and going.We are the last breed guys, and i would be very interested to know how much temperature u each experience on both the CPU and GPU in your iMac
I've still using my Late 2009 27" iMac, but it certainly isn't stock. Was the build to order i7 to begin with, and over the years I've replaced the GPU, Wifi/BT card, changed to SSD and put more RAM in it than its designed limit. Yeah, it works, but is pretty glacial compared to a modern Mac, especially the USB 2 externals. Mac Fans Control allows me to push the cooling, and it stays pretty cool.
I just recently picked up a late 2009 model 10,1 21.5 inch out of someone's trash. I took it home and fired it up. From the the evidence left on the computer it hadn't been used in over 10 years. It still had the original Snow Leopard OS on it. I stripped it down and loaded up High Siearra on it. That was it's last native OS. It was a bit slow, but other than that it all looked good. It was a totally stock machine. Next, with aid of OCLP I upgraded the OS to Monterey and all looked good. This iMac only had 4gb ram. I checked and found out that I could easily max out ram at 16gb. I got on line and order 16gb of ram and installed it. That was really easy. Just remove 3 screws and cover, pull the old modules and replace with the new, put cover back on and all done. Cost was under $20. Next, I again used OCLP to upgrade to Sequoia. This machine works wonderfully. Yes, it is slower than newer machines. Sequoia runs good, but has some limitations. This is a secure and up to date machine running the latest OS and best of all it was free.
I also have a late 2013 21.5 inch running Sequoia. It is a totally stock machine and it runs like a champ.
I also have a late 2013 21.5 inch running Sequoia. It is a totally stock machine and it runs like a champ.
Hello everyone.
iMac 27 mid 2010.
I installed SSD 870 evo for the system. 1Tb for files.
AMD m5100.
I installed Ventura
iMac 27 mid 2010.
I installed SSD 870 evo for the system. 1Tb for files.
AMD m5100.
I installed Ventura
I currently have all Intel computers:
2000 G4 400 PowerMac
2007 24" 2.8Ghz Core Duo Extreme
2011 3.4GHz i7
2019 3.7Ghz i5 6 core
I am a graphic designer specialising in corporate publications.
My first Mac was the Mackintosh LC2 16MHz, now long gone!
From my point of view, the best desktop Mac was the upgradable G4 Powermac as it met Steve Jobs desire to provide the most powerful and flexible consumer computer. I later upgraded the Powermac CPU with an OWC Kit and flashed Nvidia GPU
The G4 Powermac is in mothballs but still works. After boot up it has a unique ability in providing time to make tea before engaging with real work.
I keep the 2007 and 2011 iMacs because I had spent so much time learning/using Adobe software I did not like, or need to enter their subscription payment model. The 2007 Power unit died six months ago.
Both these computers have Adobe Creative Suite 5 and functioned on OSX 10.7 Lion. The 2011 has a 2TB Samsung SATA SSD replacing the HDD and is plenty fast enough for publication work. A time capsule from 2010.
My daily computer is the 2019 iMac upgraded with 2TB WD SN770 2TB Samsung Evo 870. I now use the Affinity Suite as it imports all my Adobe suite files.
As I am not moonlighting for Pixar there is little incentive for me to upgrade a computer. Software/Browser obsolescence is the main motivator. Despite having legacy Firefox, those earlier computers run the browser but obsolete connection certificates result in constant security warnings. Long hardware life testifies to quality build.
Since the 1950’s American commerce has supported inbuilt obsolescence. IT obsolescence occurs at phenomenal speed. Consumers use a wee fraction of their computer power and every new tech feature has the potential to require money to be spent upgrading. I resist the inevitable and like many thinking people upgrade only when absolutely necessary. It seems mad we have so much power available for such menial tasks.
Consider, the LVDC, the computer autopilot which controlled the Saturn V rocket in 1967, was capable of 12190 instructions per second. Today, a modest Intel i5 2600K 4core clocks at 83,000 MIPS at 3.3GHz. (83,000,000,000 points per second)
History records Steve Jobs was enthusiastic about empowering consumers with Apple computers. We are now in a corporate age in which Apple seems to place profits before people. I do not like it, but have learned to live with it. Nevertherless, Apple have a better policy of consumer relationships than most corporations. But the pricing has become blatantly hostile. Apple still make the best consumer computers backed by an excellent customer support system.
Meanwhile, I give a big hand for the old folks with old Apple computers!
Trivia for old computer users:
Q. What is an iPhone?
A. Seventy percent of Apples 2024 $124 billion profit.
2000 G4 400 PowerMac
2007 24" 2.8Ghz Core Duo Extreme
2011 3.4GHz i7
2019 3.7Ghz i5 6 core
I am a graphic designer specialising in corporate publications.
My first Mac was the Mackintosh LC2 16MHz, now long gone!
From my point of view, the best desktop Mac was the upgradable G4 Powermac as it met Steve Jobs desire to provide the most powerful and flexible consumer computer. I later upgraded the Powermac CPU with an OWC Kit and flashed Nvidia GPU
The G4 Powermac is in mothballs but still works. After boot up it has a unique ability in providing time to make tea before engaging with real work.
I keep the 2007 and 2011 iMacs because I had spent so much time learning/using Adobe software I did not like, or need to enter their subscription payment model. The 2007 Power unit died six months ago.
Both these computers have Adobe Creative Suite 5 and functioned on OSX 10.7 Lion. The 2011 has a 2TB Samsung SATA SSD replacing the HDD and is plenty fast enough for publication work. A time capsule from 2010.
My daily computer is the 2019 iMac upgraded with 2TB WD SN770 2TB Samsung Evo 870. I now use the Affinity Suite as it imports all my Adobe suite files.
As I am not moonlighting for Pixar there is little incentive for me to upgrade a computer. Software/Browser obsolescence is the main motivator. Despite having legacy Firefox, those earlier computers run the browser but obsolete connection certificates result in constant security warnings. Long hardware life testifies to quality build.
Since the 1950’s American commerce has supported inbuilt obsolescence. IT obsolescence occurs at phenomenal speed. Consumers use a wee fraction of their computer power and every new tech feature has the potential to require money to be spent upgrading. I resist the inevitable and like many thinking people upgrade only when absolutely necessary. It seems mad we have so much power available for such menial tasks.
Consider, the LVDC, the computer autopilot which controlled the Saturn V rocket in 1967, was capable of 12190 instructions per second. Today, a modest Intel i5 2600K 4core clocks at 83,000 MIPS at 3.3GHz. (83,000,000,000 points per second)
History records Steve Jobs was enthusiastic about empowering consumers with Apple computers. We are now in a corporate age in which Apple seems to place profits before people. I do not like it, but have learned to live with it. Nevertherless, Apple have a better policy of consumer relationships than most corporations. But the pricing has become blatantly hostile. Apple still make the best consumer computers backed by an excellent customer support system.
Meanwhile, I give a big hand for the old folks with old Apple computers!
Trivia for old computer users:
Q. What is an iPhone?
A. Seventy percent of Apples 2024 $124 billion profit.
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Apple Silicon is seriously good but Apple does these crazy configurations that get you hooked (M4 Mac mini for $500 is insanely great processing power and efficiency), and then kill you on the options.
My daily driver is a 2017 iMac Pro and I use it because the screen, speakers and microphones are great and the machine was worth the price for those things alone but it comes with a computer too. I have an M1 Max Studio that I run other things on but the iMac Pro is my favorite system. I make podcasts, do video editing and run my office stuff on it. There's one for sale in Meredith, NH right now for $250 with a 10-core Xeon, 64 GB of RAM and a Vega 64 so there are crazy buys out there.
My oldest computer is from the late 1970s and I use it a few times a week. The funny thing about these is that they cost about 75% of the original cost on the used market. The things that people do to keep them running are mildly amusing as I do these myself.
My current SSD WD Black SN 770 upgraded 2019 iMac runs CPU at 26° to 39° using Mac fan control. I do not produce video. Publication work does not involve high intensity CPU use.We are the last breed guys, and i would be very interested to know how much temperature u each experience on both the CPU and GPU in your iMac
On the 2011 iMac 12, 3.4GHz i7 the GPU Radeon HD 6970 is a dog. AMD seem to have produced a line of defective cards in cluding the HD 6770. Temperature was not a problem but useful life is short. My current HD 6970 GPU is dead.
My 2007 24"iMac 2.4Ghz core duo is still going strong running OSX Lion on SATA SSD.
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Tech specs aside, I think Mac’s generally, and iMacs in particular hold value because their style is so good. Thick or thin profile, the iMac design is elegant, simple and enhances any environment into which it is placed. No gimmicks, no pointless decoration, just pure elegant form which perfectly expressing function.
According to his biographer, Walter Isaacson, at one point Steve undertook calligraphy classes which he enjoyed. From this he appreciated the aesthetic importance of typography. At a time when the printing industry used type sizes out of sync with AngloAmerican inches, Steve standardised 72 points to the imperial inch to make DTP possible. These same standards were used by Adobe to create Postscript.
Those same aesthetic values were continually reflected in the adoption of innovative colourful G3 Macs which made the early beige boxes of IBM and early Macs look utterly boring. Later, White Macbooks and Aluminium iMacs set the aesthetic style for Apple.
I was very unhappy when the Mac Pro cylinder was introduced in black. A deviation that has happily passed. Sadly, Epson, Lenovo and others have remained to sell black accessories and deface the clean light interiors of many design studio’s.