What to do with a couple of old iMacs?

[the8thark]

Hello everyone.

I have two old iMacs and would like to ask what I can do with them. So they do not become e-waste. I do not want to take them to the garbage tip. Is there a use for them?

1. 2011 iMac.
My daily driver for 10 years. But the video card just died in it so it is RIP. I have had the HDD taken out to keep using in an external enclosure.

What can be done with the dead iMac? Any suggestions?

2. 2012 iMac
27 inch, i7, 1TB HDD, 1GB GPU.

This is the replacement for the above dead iMac I bought on ebay. I bought it cheap just to hold me over till the M1 Pro iMacs release.

My question is do you have any suggestions of what to do with this iMac, after I get a M1 Pro? Would replacing the HDD with an SSD and then using it for . . . I do not know what, be a good idea? Or just pointless as it’s money wasted on an old iMac?

I just want to find a use for them that is not paying council tip fees to dump them.

Thanks.

 

[Amethyst1]

What can be done with the dead iMac?

The video card can be replaced. Or sell it as-is for parts.

Would replacing the HDD with an SSD and then using it for . .

A SSD is definitely going to speed it up. Would you have a use for it then?

I just want to find a use for them that is not paying council tip fees to dump them.

If you don’t have a use for them, others may. Sell them on e.g. eBay, donate the 2012 model to a family member, friend, person in need for a working computer, school, library, charity etc.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hello everyone.

I have two old iMacs and would like to ask what I can do with them. So they do not become e-waste. I do not want to take them to the garbage tip. Is there a use for them?

1. 2011 iMac.

2. 2012 iMac

My question is do you have any suggestions of what to do with this iMac, after I get a M1 Pro? Would replacing the HDD with an SSD and then using it for . . . I do not know what, be a good idea? Or just pointless as it’s money wasted on an old iMac?

I just want to find a use for them that is not paying council tip fees to dump them.

Thanks.

1. The iMac 2011 can be sold for parts, or repaired (GPU, SSD) and sold as a working device.
2. The iMac 2012 can be used as a secondary display for your M1 pro, or you can sell it as well.

 

[EugW]

2. 2012 iMac
27 inch, i7, 1TB HDD, 1GB GPU.

This is the replacement for the above dead iMac I bought on ebay. I bought it cheap just to hold me over till the M1 Pro iMacs release.

My question is do you have any suggestions of what to do with this iMac, after I get a M1 Pro? Would replacing the HDD with an SSD and then using it for . . . I do not know what, be a good idea? Or just pointless as it’s money wasted on an old iMac?

You could run that 2012 iMac off a USB 3 SSD.

My understanding is the screen is tightly stuck on with adhesive, so it's harder to get into it than older models.

 

[mapleleafer]

Apple will recycle them.

 

[Roman78]

I just installed Big Sur on a 2011 iMac with a replaced GPU and of course SSD. But those GPU's getting more expensive from month to month.

 

[Amethyst1]

2. The iMac 2012 can be used as a secondary display for your M1 pro,

That requires Thunderbolt Target Display Mode (unless you had e.g. Luna Display in mind), which doesn’t work with M1 Macs as the source. No idea if M1 Pro/Max are different.