Should I upgrade my 2010 27" iMac?

[tgilbrea69]

I have a perfectly functional mid 2010 27" iMac with 16GB of ram. It is running High Sierra. It works perfectly. My only complaints are the fan noise (can be an issue recording narration for a podcast) and the fact that the start up takes forever (however, after it gets through the process, it runs like new).

I don't really feel like I am missing out too much on Catalina, but having a solid state drive does appeal to me.

Any thoughts??

 

[velocityg4]

An SSD will certainly make it feel much faster. Just bear in mind you'll need a Thermal Sensor kit for that model.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD09/

I'm not sure if the same holds true for an optical bay adapter.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMCL0GB/

For the 3.5 bay. You'll also want a 3.5 adapter for proper mounting.
https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Adapter-Mounting-Bracket-Interface/dp/B01LZWX6PD/

 

[Conutz]

It‘s old, don’t waste your time & money on upgrades, rather save and start your research for a new model. You could do a clean install which should fix your boot up time though. Fans are probably due to dust buildup in the cooling ducts - not sure whether compressed air would work without opening it all up, although removing the display is relatively easy on that model.

 

[sugargliderdude]

you could get an SSD and put it in an external enclosure and boot from that... it will speed boot times and apps working, see how that goes

You don't need to buy new, I am considering getting a 2014 iMac for occasional use.

As for Catalina, it's still a mess, bug wise, so you're not missing anything at the moment.

 

[piimacmn]

Two and a half years ago I paid an Apple Authorized Service provider to take out the 1 TB HD from my late 2009 27" iMac11,1 and put in a Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB. I wasn't going to take a chance on messing things up. Pricey then and not like the 850 EVO price today! The thermal sensor isn't connected, but I use Macs Fan Control app which works extremely well for my usage. I've run High Sierra with AFPS for over a year with no problems. Two weeks ago I bit the bullet and converted to Mojave 10.14.6 using the wonderful work of the geniuses at Mojave for Unsupported Macs. I'll keep this configuration for the foreseeable future since I use 32 bit apps, I like having a DVD and a handy SD card slot, and my old Firewire drives hook up directly. Having a 5K display and Thunderbolt 3 on a new Mac would be nice, but for my needs, I'm pretty happy. Maybe you could do the same for a LOT fewer $s than a new Mac would cost. At least you could upgrade to Mojave, but the fan noise would remain!