I am in the process of wipeing the hard drive of the above mentioned iMac. It has 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 Ram and 1TB Fusion Drive. I know it is old and I want to install an appropriate aged Mac OS. I would welcome advice to what version of MacOS would be best. I will be giving it to an elderly friend for emailing, web browsing, and little else.I have kept on numerous flash drives most of each years OS although I'm not sure if they will work now for this project. Thank you for any replies.
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Repurpose 2012 - 27 inch iMac
- Thread starter holty
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That machine originally came with Mountain Lion but can run later versions of macOS all the way to Catalina. I would probably go with High Sierra as it's still supported for security updates. Mojave and Catalina require APFS formatting which is not the best for a Fusion drive.
I'd suggest 10.12 "Low Sierra".
It's the last version of the Mac OS that ran entirely in "HFS+".
Suggestion:
If you're going to "wipe and install fresh", BEFORE you attempt to do this, I recommend that you:
a. open date & time pref pane
b. DISABLE auto time updating
c. SET BACK your Mac's clock to Jan 1, 2018
d. REBOOT from the USB installer and try to install this way.
WHY you want to do this:
There were problems with older versions of the installers having expired certificates (or something along that line), thus causing the install to fail at some point.
By "setting the clock back", you avoid these errors.
Just remember to set things right AFTER the install and initial setup...
It's the last version of the Mac OS that ran entirely in "HFS+".
Suggestion:
If you're going to "wipe and install fresh", BEFORE you attempt to do this, I recommend that you:
a. open date & time pref pane
b. DISABLE auto time updating
c. SET BACK your Mac's clock to Jan 1, 2018
d. REBOOT from the USB installer and try to install this way.
WHY you want to do this:
There were problems with older versions of the installers having expired certificates (or something along that line), thus causing the install to fail at some point.
By "setting the clock back", you avoid these errors.
Just remember to set things right AFTER the install and initial setup...
Thanks chscah & Fishrrman for your responses. I was partially aware of the install process as outlined by Fishrrman, however is it also required to disconnect from the internet as well ??
"I was partially aware of the install process as outlined by Fishrrman, however is it also required to disconnect from the internet as well ??"
Well, what I would do is:
- Try WITHOUT the internet connect first.
BUT
- If that doesn't work, try WITH the connection...
Well, what I would do is:
- Try WITHOUT the internet connect first.
BUT
- If that doesn't work, try WITH the connection...
I have the same 2012 model 13,2 iMac, originally with the 1TB fusion drive and 8GB of RAM. I upgraded the RAM to 24GB and separated the 121GB Apple blade SSD from the 1TB HDD. I cut down my music and movies to less than 20GB, so there is now 69GB left free on the SSD. I am running Mojave 10.4.6 with the SSD and 1TB HD formatted as HFS+ (you can do that also on High Sierra). No problems at all, and it is fast enough for the light work I do. The only hassle is having to keep an APFS external clone, in order to get system updates. Carbon Copy Cloner makes that all possible, copying back and forth with an external USB 3.0 drive is very fast indeed. If you want to avoid the new APFS format, go with "Low" Sierra, and run Malwarebytes often as Apple no longer supports security updates on that system.
The 2012 iMac is still a very capable machine. I have the same 2012 27" iMac and I run Mojave on it just fine. If you have a heavy install or many things installed then the 1TB fusion drive can get a bit slow. When I did a fresh install then the system was very quick as opposed to when I recovered from a time machine backup that was around +600GB or so.
You might also want to add more RAM, even an extra 8GB (2x4GB) should be cheap and is easy to install on the 27" by opening the door on the back.
My 2012 27" is the 3.4GHz i7/32GB RAM and I just recently opened it up and swapped out the 128GB Blade SSD/1TB HDD fusion drive setup for the official Apple 768GB Blade SSD and a Crucial 500GB 2.5" SSD combo. Now even my heavy Time Machine restored backup runs fine.
The only thing I'd be worried about running an older macOS version would be the lack of security updates. High Sierra still receives updates, but anything older doesn't receive updates I believe.
I'm fine with Mojave on my iMac as it is my secondary Mac. (My 2019 15" MBP connected to a 32" 4k Monitor is my main Mac and runs Catalina.)
You might also want to add more RAM, even an extra 8GB (2x4GB) should be cheap and is easy to install on the 27" by opening the door on the back.
My 2012 27" is the 3.4GHz i7/32GB RAM and I just recently opened it up and swapped out the 128GB Blade SSD/1TB HDD fusion drive setup for the official Apple 768GB Blade SSD and a Crucial 500GB 2.5" SSD combo. Now even my heavy Time Machine restored backup runs fine.
The only thing I'd be worried about running an older macOS version would be the lack of security updates. High Sierra still receives updates, but anything older doesn't receive updates I believe.
I'm fine with Mojave on my iMac as it is my secondary Mac. (My 2019 15" MBP connected to a 32" 4k Monitor is my main Mac and runs Catalina.)
I see no reason whatsoever not to run Catalina on a 2012 iMac with 1TB Fusion Drive. Keep in mind this is the old-style Fusion Drive with 128GB SSD, not the newer one with a measly 28GB. Catalina will fly on this thing and won't be noticeably slower than on a 2015 or even 2017 iMac. That way you can be sure your friend will be getting almost three years of security updates. Sierra is already out of support, High Sierra will be dropped in Late 2020, and Mojave in Late 2021.
My two cents: 10.15 Catalina will be the most hassle-free experience for both of you.
My two cents: 10.15 Catalina will be the most hassle-free experience for both of you.
I have the same machine (13,2), upgraded to 32 GB RAM. My 1TB Fusion drive works just fine, but I use a Samsung T5 external SSD now. I run Catalina 10.15.3 and it runs perfectly and is still very responsive and stable. No reason not to run it as far as I can tell. I've always upgraded the OS asap and it's been great.
How do you connect the Samsung T5 drive? I have heard some people have issues using thunderbolt 3 with the Thunderbolt 1 ports on this machine. Other reports say Apple's TB3 to TB2 adapter is the only one with the quality required. What is your experience using that drive as a startup disk?
Thanks for that. What can you tell me about the process that an SSD drive goes through when it does not have trim enabled? I know trim is not available with a USB drive. I have heard several opinions, but I assume the state of the garbage collection etc., depends on the firmware and controller employed. I am now using a Plextor M5P in a USB 3.0 Transcend case. It is reasonably fast for an older model in that USB case, getting about 350 and a little over 400 MB/s, respectively, for writes and reads. (The internal Apple 121GB SSD blade gets about 250 and a little under 400 MB/s, respectively, for writes and reads.)
Someone told me to leave the USB 3.0 drive connected, so the garbage collection routines can run while the drive has no program accessing it. However, I have no idea if that is right or even just partially right.
davidlv --
So long as you keep a decent percentage of the USB3 SSD "free" (say, 20gb), I don't think TRIM is going to be an issue for you.
I booted and ran my 2012 Mac Mini for more than 6 YEARS from a USB3 SSD, and TRIM was never a problem.
BUT... you have the internal 128gb SSD "blade" running as a "standalone" SSD, is that correct?
If so, THAT should be "your boot drive" for the computer, as it will be faster.
But you want to keep it "lean, clean and mean", so keep large libraries (movies, music, pictures) stored elsewhere. The internal HDD is a good-enough place for that stuff.
TRIM should be enabled on this as it's an Apple drive.
And... you'll want SEPARATE BACKUPS for both internal drives.
As always, I recommend that these backups be created with either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
So long as you keep a decent percentage of the USB3 SSD "free" (say, 20gb), I don't think TRIM is going to be an issue for you.
I booted and ran my 2012 Mac Mini for more than 6 YEARS from a USB3 SSD, and TRIM was never a problem.
BUT... you have the internal 128gb SSD "blade" running as a "standalone" SSD, is that correct?
If so, THAT should be "your boot drive" for the computer, as it will be faster.
But you want to keep it "lean, clean and mean", so keep large libraries (movies, music, pictures) stored elsewhere. The internal HDD is a good-enough place for that stuff.
TRIM should be enabled on this as it's an Apple drive.
And... you'll want SEPARATE BACKUPS for both internal drives.
As always, I recommend that these backups be created with either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.
Yes, I do have the internal 128gb SSD "blade" running as a "standalone" SSD, formatted as a HFS+ drive. Tests show that writes are about 100 MB/s slower on the blade, compared with the USB, 250 and a little under 400 MB/s, respectively, for writes and reads. I am going to (waiting on delivery now) try booting from a thunderbolt 3 external drive connected via an Apple TB 3 to TB2 adapter (have seen conflicting reports for success/non-success on that). Now, the Apple blade has 67GB and a little more free. The USB drive (SATA III Plextor 256GB M5P) has almost 200GB free, and it is formatted as an APFS.