Setting up my first Mac - Does it matter what OS I use?

[de anza]

Hi, I just got my first Mac. I don't know anything about Macs.
This is a used computer with High Sierra 10.13.6. Will it be free to update my OS? Why are there so many different OS for Mac? What OS should I choose? I will be using this mainly for Capture One photo editing, and may do some light film editing on this coputer.

Thank you in advanced!

 

[de anza]

Hi, I am new to Mac Computers. I just got a used Mac from a purchase on eBay. Is there a way to determine how much it has been used? a sort of milage indicator? How to tell when it needs a new hard drive or anything else I should be aware of? I am going to update the OS from High Sierra 10.13.6 so I thought I would check before I wipe out the old data.

Thank you!

 

[gilby101]

One "milage" indicator is the exact model of Mac. This is because old Macs may well not be supported by current or even recent versions of macOS. Click on Apple (top left) and select About this Mac.

 

[gilby101]

It is one OS, just different names. Updates have been free for a long time. The last paid update was OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). But for each Mac model, updates are only supported for a limited time (5 to 7 years). So yes it does matter which version. In general go for the most recent macOS supported by your Mac.

Word of warning: Have you confirmed that your Mac is not locked in any way to the previous owner? Test: Can you create a new Apple ID and login to it successfully?

 

[de anza]

It is one OS, just different names. Updates have been free for a long time. The last paid update was OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard). But for each Mac model, updates are only supported for a limited time (5 to 7 years). So yes it does matter which version. In general go for the most recent macOS supported by your Mac.

Word of warning: Have you confirmed that your Mac is not locked in any way to the previous owner? Test: Can you create a new Apple ID and login to it successfully?

Thanks for the answer! Actually when I turned the computer on it entered set up, so I created my log in. Here is my system report, do you think this system could handle the latest OS?



Model Identifier: iMac18,3


Processor Name: Intel Core i7


Processor Speed: 4.2 GHz


Number of Processors: 1


Total Number of Cores: 4


L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB


L3 Cache: 8 MB


Memory: 32 GB


Boot ROM Version: 509.0.0.0.0


SMC Version (system): 2.41f2


Serial Number (system): D25WJ0KNJ1GP


Hardware UUID: 7CAB20C6-060B-5FE9-BE9E-C97D39316B5D

 

[de anza]

One "milage" indicator is the exact model of Mac. This is because old Macs may well not be supported by current or even recent versions of macOS. Click on Apple (top left) and select About this Mac.

I am not sure what you mean, I know it is an old Mac, The Seller said it was a 2018 model. I just want to see if there is a way to determine how much it has been used in order to decide how reliable it will be in the future and for how long I should use it for.

Here is the system info:

Model Identifier: iMac18,3


Processor Name: Intel Core i7


Processor Speed: 4.2 GHz


Number of Processors: 1


Total Number of Cores: 4


L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB


L3 Cache: 8 MB


Memory: 32 GB


Boot ROM Version: 509.0.0.0.0


SMC Version (system): 2.41f2


Serial Number (system): D25WJ0KNJ1GP


Hardware UUID: 7CAB20C6-060B-5FE9-BE9E-C97D39316B5D

 

[heretiq]

According to Apple, your device is a 2017, 27” I5 iMac that can run the latest MacOS Ventura (Ref: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201634):

 

[de anza]

Thanks!

 

[gilby101]

The Seller said it was a 2018 model ....

Probably purchased in 2018, the model was first released in 2017 (as @heretiq has said). There was nothing between the 2017 27" iMac and the 2019 27" iMac (which I have).

Memory: 32 GB

That's good. It might have had only had 8 GB RAM. And the i7 4 core cpu is good for some years. Capture One should run fine.

In terms how useful your particular Mac will be, what is the disk? It might be:
1) Hard disk > slow (Not on your model?)
2) SSD > fast
3) Fusion Drive (a mix of small SSD and a hard disk) > medium speed.

About this Mac > Storage and (I think) that will tell you what type of disk as well as size.

I will be using this mainly for Capture One photo editing

Is your Capture One the latest version or is it old? If old it may not run on latest macOS.

The graphics card might be 4 GB (Radeon Pro 570, Radeon Pro 575) or 8 GB (Radeon Pro 580) GDDR5. The larger, faster will be better, but you probably won't notice too much.

Is there a way to determine how much it has been used? a sort of milage indicator? How to tell when it needs a new hard drive or anything else I should be aware of?

There really is not much. Apple doesn't make it easy to assess wear and tear. If it runs ok and with the fan not getting excited under light load that is good.

You might want to check how much fluff is stuck in the incoming air vents at the bottom. Not easy to do much about it except for a light vacuum when turned off. A thorough clean requires taking the Mac apart - and, believe me, you don't want to be doing that!

If you want to delve deeper, you can explore how hard the disk/ssd has worked. But that requires add-on software like DriveDX which can extract counters from the drive to indicate potential problems with the HDD or SSD. You could download and run as a trial just long enough to see the current state. I suggest you don't worry about this unless you have a Fusion Drive (very small SSD plus HDD), in which case it is a good idea to check up on the condition of both the SSD and HDD. If your Mac is SSD only, it is very unlikely to have used up a significant part of its life time.

 

[gilby101]

According to Apple, your device is a 2017, 27” I5 iMac

i7, not i5.

 

[Fishrrman]

2017 iMacs are nice Macs.
For an OS, I'd run either Mojave (10.14) or Monterey (12.x).

 

[de anza]

Probably purchased in 2018, the model was first released in 2017 (as @heretiq has said). There was nothing between the 2017 27" iMac and the 2019 27" iMac (which I have).

That's good. It might have had only had 8 GB RAM. And the i7 4 core cpu is good for some years. Capture One should run fine.

In terms how useful your particular Mac will be, what is the disk? It might be:
1) Hard disk > slow (Not on your model?)
2) SSD > fast
3) Fusion Drive (a mix of small SSD and a hard disk) > medium speed.

About this Mac > Storage and (I think) that will tell you what type of disk as well as size.


Is your Capture One the latest version or is it old? If old it may not run on latest macOS.

The graphics card might be 4 GB (Radeon Pro 570, Radeon Pro 575) or 8 GB (Radeon Pro 580) GDDR5. The larger, faster will be better, but you probably won't notice too much.


There really is not much. Apple doesn't make it easy to assess wear and tear. If it runs ok and with the fan not getting excited under light load that is good.

You might want to check how much fluff is stuck in the incoming air vents at the bottom. Not easy to do much about it except for a light vacuum when turned off. A thorough clean requires taking the Mac apart - and, believe me, you don't want to be doing that!

If you want to delve deeper, you can explore how hard the disk/ssd has worked. But that requires add-on software like DriveDX which can extract counters from the drive to indicate potential problems with the HDD or SSD. You could download and run as a trial just long enough to see the current state. I suggest you don't worry about this unless you have a Fusion Drive (very small SSD plus HDD), in which case it is a good idea to check up on the condition of both the SSD and HDD. If your Mac is SSD only, it is very unlikely to have used up a significant part of its life time.

Thanks!

 

[orionquest]

Find out what OS your software supports best, not the other way around. Having said that I wouldn't run Apple's latest OS version (ventura) as they usually are still fixing stuff. Monterry or Mojave would be good choices.

 

[gilby101]

Having said that I wouldn't run Apple's latest OS version (ventura) as they usually are still fixing stuff. Monterry or Mojave would be good choices.

All macOS version have bugs. Ventura has bugs which still might be fixed. Monterey and Mojave have bugs which will never be fixed.

 

[orionquest]

All macOS version have bugs. Ventura has bugs which still might be fixed. Monterey and Mojave have bugs which will never be fixed.

Yes obviously, that is the point why bother with a system which is still adding or fixing bugs, when you have a perfectly usable previous OS to use without possible workflow issues.

Since I've updated to Monterey I've done nothing to my OS but use the apps, if I was using Ventura I would have had several updates and who knows what else with apps. Seems pointless to me to waste time juggling around with updates when you can do it in 1 shot.