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Slowest POS of all time.
- Thread starter jquest68
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gwhizkids
macrumors G5
And you miss the whole point. The OP isn’t really interested in a fix. He just keeps posting the same question over and over and ignoring the same advice given. Reinforces my initial reaction.
Get off your own high horse.
MRxROBOT
macrumors 6502a
Really, that was you point? Yet, there was no mention of that in your reply. All I gathered from your post was that the OPs title triggered you. Nevertheless, neither one of us is helping anybody with this back and forth. If you wish to continue, have at it, I'm out.
surfzen21
macrumors 65816
MRxROBOT
macrumors 6502a
lol
All I did to my 2011 iMac was add an SSD and upgrade the RAM from 4 to 8GB. It's not my main machine any longer, hasn't been for a long time actually, but it is still very usable. For basic tasks like office or web surfing, it feels nearly as quick as my M2 Pro Mini. Adding an SSD is a game changer for anybody using an HDD for their OS.
surfzen21
macrumors 65816
100%
This is almost exactly what I did to my 2010 MBP 4->8gb of ram and an SSD was a game changer. I use my old HHD as storage and stuck it where the optical drive used to be.
As I said, maybe in another thread, I use it to surf the web when I'm sitting on the couch and it works perfect for that.
Those upgrades made it feel like a new computer.
AlexMaximus
macrumors 65816
Somehow the link doesn’t work. OWC has a good iMac opening tune up kit with SSD, cables, instruction and gaskets to exchange your HDD with a new SSD.
spyguy10709
macrumors 65816
I work in a computer repair shop.
If you brought this thing in to me - I'd sell you an SSD upgrade, long before mentioning anything to do with RAM. 8GB is plenty as far as that goes - it's the mechanical, physical spinning hard drive (ie - a record player) that's making your iMac feel last-century.
You can either go DIY with an external USB Solid State Drive (as everyone else has recommended -- it's something that you can do on your own) or pay a technician like me $200-500 to install one internally.
Disassembly of your model of iMac is difficult and time consuming - I'd go with the USB SSD if this was my own machine, personally - for both cost and complexity reasons.
If you brought this thing in to me - I'd sell you an SSD upgrade, long before mentioning anything to do with RAM. 8GB is plenty as far as that goes - it's the mechanical, physical spinning hard drive (ie - a record player) that's making your iMac feel last-century.
You can either go DIY with an external USB Solid State Drive (as everyone else has recommended -- it's something that you can do on your own) or pay a technician like me $200-500 to install one internally.
Disassembly of your model of iMac is difficult and time consuming - I'd go with the USB SSD if this was my own machine, personally - for both cost and complexity reasons.
MacDownunder
macrumors regular
Um I'm not sure this is strictly correct. I, until recently, was running a 2009 Chesse Grater with SSDs and that ran extremely well using OCLP, my wife's 27" has had an SSD transplant and it runs extremely well, heck my old 2011 27" also has SSD and it runs really well, I have a 24" iMac (2008) also with SSD and it runs surprisingly well to (needed for old wide format printer). Every Mac I have installed and SSD into to replace a HDD has been used for many years after the "OMG this Mac is so slow" cry for help.
I think you can see the pattern - SSD will give all machines a significant performance increase in real terms - not just spec sheet terms that we see with modern machine relative to old(er) machines.
SSD is the biggest bang for buck upgrade to any machine that this can be done to that has a spinning disk PERIOD
FWIW I currently run a MacMini M2 Pro (couldn't justify a Studio) and M1 Air as a daily
It's pure frustration. When my computer takes forever to load a page, drop-down menu, or view a document instead of opening it, frustration sets in and then I start cursing at it and calling it a POS. I don't know anything about computers. All I know is that you turn it on, open up Safari, and start looking a websites. This should be a simple task and shouldn't take forever to load. That's why I get frustrated.
I don't know anything about SSD or HDD. I really don't want to sell my computer because I love the size but I need to do something to make this work better. I want to work with PS or Ai without any problems.
Yes, I know. I don't know anything about SSD or HDD, if I should take it to a repair shop or do it myself.
No, I'm definitely not a Mac hater. All my products are from Apple. I just don't have the money to keep buying the newest models. This Mac cost me a lot of money that I didn't have so I get frustrated when it acts like a dial-up connection.
Timpetus
macrumors 6502a
Totally understand your frustration. I agree with others on this thread, the external SSD is going to achieve the vast majority of the speed upgrades that are possible for your machine, while costing far less than any of the other options. Many perfectly serviceable options under $100, just depends on how much space you need. Good rule of thumb would be to just get the same size SSD or larger than the HDD your iMac came with, that way you can simply clone it to the SSD and none of your files would need to be accessed from the slow drive. The internal drive can then be repurposed as a backup, or as long term archive file storage. I would still suggest looking for a deal on some more RAM if you can swing it, but that's far less essential than getting set up to boot from an external SSD instead of your HDD.
Fishrrman
macrumors Nehalem
Jeeeshh.
I can tell you what to do, with a few clicks of the mouse, that will give you good performance again.
But as others here have said, you are given advice and then refuse to act upon it.
Maybe your best option at this point is to get a new or Apple-refurbished Mac with an SSD inside.
Your best option with the 2015 iMac is to get an external SSD and make it the new boot drive.
Anyone can do this.
It will cost you about $80.
Why don't you give it a try?
I can tell you what to do, with a few clicks of the mouse, that will give you good performance again.
But as others here have said, you are given advice and then refuse to act upon it.
Maybe your best option at this point is to get a new or Apple-refurbished Mac with an SSD inside.
Your best option with the 2015 iMac is to get an external SSD and make it the new boot drive.
Anyone can do this.
It will cost you about $80.
Why don't you give it a try?
MRxROBOT
macrumors 6502a
I don’t think it is. If it is to you, there are loads of videos and articles outlining the same thing. Find a video or article that does make sense to you. It’s really not much different than installing the OS on the internal drive. Have you even attempted or did you give up before even starting? Where are you having issues?
Luckygreek
macrumors regular
Everyone that's encouraging you to either run an external SSD or an internal SSD is spot on, as I similar 2015 iMac (and another 2019 running Sonoma from an external NVMe.2 1 TB Samsung 990 PRO via Thunderbolt, and it is a rocket), as for yours here's some benchmark tests from the 2015 with an internal Samsung 870 SSD and a 1 TB "spinner" I think the results speak for themselves there really is no comparison between a traditional HD and an SSD.
I don't think my computer will run any other OS other than Monterey. I managed to keep all my files on a flash drive. So the computer is running decent but still slow in other things. I can try to watch some videos on SSD stuff.
MRxROBOT
macrumors 6502a
The video is for Monterey and Big Sur. You will be fine following the instructions provided while installing Monterey. I would sooner rather than later move your entire OS to an external SSD. Think about this, your computer is from 2015. That is 8 years old. That means the HDD is also 8 years old. Consumer HDDs are expected to have a lifespan between 3-5 Years. I would make the small investment in an SSD and not worry about my HDD crashing soon.
"HDDs fail in one of three ways. They fail very soon after installation due to factory defects, they randomly fail at any point in time for unknown reasons, and they fail after a period due to wear and tear. If your drive doesn’t fail immediately, then, you can expect it to last the three to five-year estimate." Mark Coppok, referencing a BackBlaze study of 25,000 HDDs.
You're HDD has lasted twice it's expected lifespan, how much longer do you think you have? Since this is a professional use computer, I'd make sure you have a robust backup plan in place because chances are you're going to need it sooner than later.
The best thing you can do right now, short of opening up the computer which seems to be out of your technical skill level, is purchase an external SSD for the OS AND make sure you have a good backup solution in place.
nathan_reilly
macrumors 6502
Your computer did not ship with Monterey (launched 2021) so it can definitely run other versions, but that is beside the point. You put your personal files on fast storage but you are still dependent on the slow storage inside the computer, which sounds like it is in the process of failing.
If Illustrator is stored on slow/damaged storage but is opening a file that is stored in fast storage, the slow storage is still going to slow things down.
You need the system files (Monterey, Illustrator) to be stored on a fast storage device. As well as your personal files. Everyone here is telling you the right stuff to do. You do not need to open up your iMac (which is a super challenging project to the uninitiated) but you do need to familiarize yourself with formatting a drive and installing MacOS. Nobody is going to do that for you. If you don't want to do it, sell your computer and buy another one. DIY takes some concentration/education but it saves $$. Your choice.
Luckygreek
macrumors regular
Here's some very reasonable prices from Amazon, under $60 dollars, and a dramatic increase in the speed you're looking for, and it doesn't get much easier cloning (Carbon Copy Cloner & he has a trial period) your current drive to an external SSD, select your external SSD as your "startup disk" reboot, and you're off to the races, and you don't have to crack open your iMac.
SAMSUNG 870 EVO SATA SSD 500GB 2.5” Internal Solid State Drive, Upgrade PC or Laptop Memory and Storage for IT Pros, Creators, Everyday Users, MZ-77E500B/AM, Black
>The latest 870 EVO has indisputable performance, reliability and compatibility built upon Samsung's pioneering technology. Enjoy professional-level SSD performance which maximizes the SATA interface limit to 560/530 MB/s sequential speeds*, accelerates write speeds and maintains long-term high p...
www.amazon.com
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Clearly you’ve never used an iMac with a spinning drive. They all inevitably compete to earn the award for the slowest POS of all time.
As others have suggested. Just get a typical external SSD. It’ll make a huge difference.