Opening 2012 iMac 21.5 " What to upgrade?

[Wickintime]

I'm about to open my late 21.5" imac (again) to upgrade the wi-fi card to make it Big Sur compatible. I will also upgrade to 16Gb RAM. I've already fitted an SSD.

What else should I consider? Should I be replacing thermal paste etc?

I want it to last another 3 years or so, so I'll consider anything that is reasonably cost effective.

 

[Juicy Box]

You should probably post your current spec and upgrades you have done. Also, how long ago you did them.

I'm about to open my late 21.5" imac (again) to upgrade the wi-fi card to make it Big Sur compatible.

I heard about this. What is it about the current wifi card that makes it not compatible with Big Sur?

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'm about to open my late 21.5" imac (again) to upgrade the wi-fi card to make it Big Sur compatible. I will also upgrade to 16Gb RAM. I've already fitted an SSD.

What else should I consider? Should I be replacing thermal paste etc?

I want it to last another 3 years or so, so I'll consider anything that is reasonably cost effective.

If 16GB maxes out that iMac (and I'm pretty sure it does), then, yeah, that's pretty much a must. I'd replace thermal paste if you can. If there's a bigger SSD that you can now afford, I might do that too. Then again, if you're having to shoehorn a new WiFi Card to get the latest macOS running, I wouldn't throw too much money at it. Either that or I would just give thought to turning it into a rather capable Windows 10 PC and getting a new Mac to replace that iMac (as a Mac). That's what I'm doing with an old 2012 13" Retina eventually (first my mom and stepdad are likely going to borrow it to use Catalina on as an interim replacement to their 2011 minis which will be left in the cold for security updates pretty soon).

You should probably post your current spec and upgrades you have done. Also, how long ago you did them.

Seconding this.

I heard about this. What is it about the current wifi card that makes it not compatible with Big Sur?

No driver updates from the manufacturer. At least, that's what it is on 2013 iMacs. Not sure if it's the same for Ivy Bridge Macs or if Apple is doing something else in Big Sur that won't work with Ivy Bridge Macs.

 

[19SK91]

upgrade the wi-fi card to make it Big Sur compatible.

Can you share what card you bought/you'll buy? Because I'm planning to do the same but have no idea which one to buy.

 

[Wickintime]

Thanks for the responses. My imac is a late 2012,(13.1) 2,7GHz i5 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 512 MB graphics, 8Gb RAM and a Crucial MX500 SSD. It does not have the 802.11ac wifi so I'm trying to find suitable wifi card. On the Big Sur thread, those who have the Beta working with the 2013 iMac appear to have working wifi and this card (Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac) seems to be ok. That's not to say there won't be other issues but it's a start!

How straightforward is replacing the thermal paste?

 

[44quattrosport]

Did it today with my Late 2012 21,5 (bought with 240GB SSD, i7, 16GB RAM EUR 199,-).

This Card from AliExpress is fine...

€ 27,87 BCM94360CD

€ 27,87 34%OFF | WIRCARD Dual band 1750Mbps BCM94360CD 802,11 AC WIFI drahtlose Bluetooth 4,0 bcm94360cd native karte Abwurf für Hackintosh Mac OS

€ 27,87 34%OFF | WIRCARD Dual band 1750Mbps BCM94360CD 802,11 AC WIFI drahtlose Bluetooth 4,0 bcm94360cd native karte Abwurf für Hackintosh Mac OS

a.aliexpress.com

€ 5,42 Repair Kit

€ 3,06 | NEUE Klebestreifen Aufkleber Band/Werkzeuge Reparatur Kit für iMac A1419 A1418 21.5 "27" 2012-2017years LCD Bildschirm klebestreifen

€ 3,06 | NEUE Klebestreifen Aufkleber Band/Werkzeuge Reparatur Kit für iMac A1419 A1418 21.5 "27" 2012-2017years LCD Bildschirm klebestreifen

a.aliexpress.com

 

[Wickintime]

Thanks 44quatrosport, just the endorsement I was looking for!

 

[loby]

Will upgrading the wifi allow install of Big Sur or does the OS recognize the model on install and automatically reject. Curious...

 

[loby]

Thanks for the responses. My imac is a late 2012,(13.1) 2,7GHz i5 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 512 MB graphics, 8Gb RAM and a Crucial MX500 SSD. It does not have the 802.11ac wifi so I'm trying to find suitable wifi card. On the Big Sur thread, those who have the Beta working with the 2013 iMac appear to have working wifi and this card (Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac) seems to be ok. That's not to say there won't be other issues but it's a start!

How straightforward is replacing the thermal paste?

Replacing the thermal paste has its challenges, for you have to tear apart the complete system to get to the CPU and GPU. I plan on doing this to upgrade to a i7 CPU from the i5, but looking on YouTube etc. basically you have to take the whole system apart to get to the CPU (and Gert to the memory).

Upgrading to 16 GB of RAM is also a nice option if you are going to go for thermal paste replacement anyway. Since you have teared apart the system to get to the CPU, the memory is an easy upgrade after. I bought the display tape as well and had the same idea that "Once Only" in opening the iMac and all of the upgrading etc., Cleaning out the air flow etc.

 

[Wickintime]

This will be the second opening so I am quite aware of all the inconvenience! With the proper tools and a degree of patience it is quite straightforward. Having a video on 'freeze frame' on another screen during the process helps enormously. It's really the other way round in terms of priorities. I intend to upgrade the RAM, so I may as well do the thermal paste at the same time as everything will be accessible.

One of the great benefits is cleaning out the ventilation path. I did a 2011MBP for a friend a couple of weeks ago (RAM/SSD). The fan wasn't bad but when I lifted it out, you would not believe the fluff and lint which was obstructing the heatsink matrix outlet. No wonder the fan was running most of the time. It's virtually silent now!

 

[loby]

Do you have a good video to watch about replacing the thermal paste? I found an ifixit about replacing the CPU, but like to have a video to watch actual process. Thanks for sharing if you have one.

 

[loby]

Do you have a good video to watch about replacing the thermal paste? I found an ifixit about replacing the CPU, but like to have a video to watch actual process. Thanks for sharing if you have one.

Meaning a video that is for the iMac 2012 late to get to the CPU...kind of hard to find one..

 

[Wickintime]

I didn't follow a video, but ifixit have a step by step guide. I used ArcticSilver 5 and read the stuff on their site too.

It's all back together again and running well. The big surprise was when I removed the fan. I had the screen off about 18 months ago when I did the SSD and I also cleaned the fan. This time I opened the fan unit itself and could not believe how dirty it was inside. The face of the fan that you see when you open the back is only about 1/3rd of the fan depth. When you open the unit there is another double depth set of blades there as well, out of sight from the front. Mine had 8 years of gunge and crusty grime caked to the blades!

Running quietly now and only 1400rpm on the fan control!!

 

[loby]

I didn't follow a video, but ifixit have a step by step guide. I used ArcticSilver 5 and read the stuff on their site too.

It's all back together again and running well. The big surprise was when I removed the fan. I had the screen off about 18 months ago when I did the SSD and I also cleaned the fan. This time I opened the fan unit itself and could not believe how dirty it was inside. The face of the fan that you see when you open the back is only about 1/3rd of the fan depth. When you open the unit there is another double depth set of blades there as well, out of sight from the front. Mine had 8 years of gunge and crusty grime caked to the blades!

Running quietly now and only 1400rpm on the fan control!!

Thanks for the tips, will clean out the fan while I am at it. Appreciate the advice.

 

[macguru8]

Hello loby. How is the Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac wifi and bluetooth working with Big Sur? What version of Big Sur are you using? My iMac is a late 2012,(13.1) 2,7GHz i7 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB graphics, I have to open it to change the flash storage drive and would like to upgrade the wifi and bluetooth card. Thank you

 

[loby]

Hello loby. How is the Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac wifi and bluetooth working with Big Sur? What version of Big Sur are you using? My iMac is a late 2012,(13.1) 2,7GHz i7 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB graphics, I have to open it to change the flash storage drive and would like to upgrade the wifi and bluetooth card. Thank you

iMac 2012 is not compatible with Big Sur unfortunately. It is stuck on macOS Catalina. Runs well on it with no issues.

Make sure to replace the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. Makes a world of difference.

 

[macguru8]

iMac 2012 is not compatible with Big Sur unfortunately. It is stuck on macOS Catalina. Runs well on it with no issues.

Make sure to replace the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. Makes a world of difference.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[Juicy Box]

Hello loby. How is the Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac wifi and bluetooth working with Big Sur? What version of Big Sur are you using? My iMac is a late 2012,(13.1) 2,7GHz i7 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB graphics, I have to open it to change the flash storage drive and would like to upgrade the wifi and bluetooth card. Thank you

iMac 2012 is not compatible with Big Sur unfortunately. I

Officially it is not supported, but there have been people using work arounds to install Big Sur on the Late 2012 iMac. People have reported that Big Sur runs great on it.

 

[macguru8]

Thanks. I have been using Big Sur with barrykn/big-sur-micropatcher since it was available. My 2012 iMac 27" work flawless with Big Sur, thanks to barrykn/big-sur-micropatcher. I will give a complete update when I add the updated wifi card. Thanks everyone for there help.

 

[macguru8]

Hello, I have installed the Broadcom BCM94360CD 802.11ac wifi and bluetooth in my late iMac 2012,(13.1) 2,7GHz i7 with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB graphics. I replaced the Mushkin REACTOR 1TB 2.5” Solid State Drive with a SAMSUNG 870 EVO 1TB SSD. I replaced the bad OWC 500GB Aura Pro 6G Solid State Drive with a Samsung T5 1TB SSD for an Apple MacBook Pro 2012-2013 / iMac 2012-2013.

I used BenSova Patched Sur v0.1.0 Beta from a USB and installed Big Sur 11.2.3 onto the Samsung T5 1TB SSD.
The WiFi card was recognized during the installation so I could add my Apple ID to finish the process.
Upon the completion of the installation, I ran multiple speed test. The speed test performed no different than my 2015 iMac 27” i7.

My download speed was constant at 480Mbps. My ISP is charging me for 400Mbps download. Thanks everyone for your help and time.