Is it worth upgrading my mid 2010 27" iMac?

[mikbik]

I have a mid 2010, 27”, iMac w/ a i3Core. I bought it new from Apple and it’s been a fine machine for all these years.

I’m running El Capitan 10.11.6. It has the stock 1TB SATA HD.

The HD is just under half full. I’m using 2 memory slots w/ 2GB in each. I have 2 slots empty.

I use it mainly for Internet access and email. I do some minor photo editing, mostly just cropping with Photos.

I access my banking occasionally, but don’t store any passwords on my machine.

No gaming.

I have a 2011 version my MS Office that works for me, no heavy Doc-ing or Excel-ing, some light stuff here and there, but no pro level stuff.

The only thing that doesn’t seem to work these days is iTunes. I hadn’t used it much lately, but in trying to resurrect my iTouch I found that I can’t modify my playlists with iTunes. I think iTunes has changed, but I’m not sure how of if that’s an issue with my old Touch.

I’ve been using a 3TB external drive for back up, I do have docs and photos I’d hate to lose. I’ve been using Time Machine for backup duties. I plug in the external SDD every few weeks to back up, sooner if need be.

I found some memory cards and an SSD at OWC for what seems reasonable price.

I’ve opened my iMac at least once, and feel I could do the swap myself.

I’d like to keep what I have since it fills my needs. I don’t have an iPhone, iWatch or iPad so I don’t need the whole connectivity thing.
I’d like to keep my legacy Office, I don’t want to have to buy a subscription. (I suppose I could learn Pages/Numbers if i absolutely have too, but I like what I have).

How long will what I have last anyway? I don’t have lots of apps that need to be upgraded.

What is the consensus here?

Would this be worth project? Is it a good or bad idea to attempt this?


Thanks,
mike

PS. Will I be able to access my remote HD with my 2015 MacBook while I open up my iMac?

 

[Rod]

I may be wrong here but it's my understanding that upgrading your internal drive and memory will not allow you to upgrade the Operating System beyond what you have already. That is determined by the CPU/GPU and other major circuitry.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

That iMac will last as long as it will last. It could easily go another 10 years if taken care of properly. If it works for you, by all means stick with it. Your biggest concerns are security, since you are potentially vulnerable to exploits that will never see a patch. This shouldn't be a huge problem for you for the near future. If Safari is not up to date (current version is 15.2), then I'd recommend switching to another browser. Brave, which is based on Chrome, is a great alternative.

If that HDD is original, you should consider replacing it. It's not a matter of "if", but "when" it will fail. You can give yourself a very nice performance boost by switching to an SSD. My last Mac was a 2010 iMac and I did the job myself. There are some concerns with swapping that drive out though. Using a drive without Apple's custom firmware on it will cause the fan to go full speed all the time. You can manage it with software, but a better alternative is a special cable from OWC that solves the problem. Also, swapping out the drive isn't super easy, and in particular there's one cable that has a crazy fragile connector that snaps easily. If you plan to do it, watch some videos and be well prepared.

 

[mikbik]

I may be wrong here but it's my understanding that upgrading your internal drive and memory will not allow you to upgrade the Operating System beyond what you have already. That is determined by the CPU/GPU and other major circuitry.

That's fine with me. I'm OK with El Cap. Thanks.

 

[mikbik]

Lifebeach, thanks. My unit is in a back bedroom with no big dust issues and stays pretty clean. I have a bigger worry of physical security, which isn't really that big a problem. I don't keep anything that sensitive on my computer. Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think a remote hack would net much.

FWIW, I use Firefox and keep it updated. I use DuckDuckGo for searches.

I watched the OWC video of the swap and it seems fairly straight forward, but thanks for the tip about fragile connectors. I know old plastic can be a problem.
I'd read before about the special cable to avoid the fan issue, so I'll order one of those.

I'm in no hurry, so will go slow. Probably my biggest worry is remembering to keep the door to my office closed while doing the job so the cats don't come in and 'help'.

Thanks again.

 

[jasongoldworthy]

Lifebeach, thanks. My unit is in a back bedroom with no big dust issues and stays pretty clean. I have a bigger worry of physical security, which isn't really that big a problem. I don't keep anything that sensitive on my computer. Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think a remote hack would net much.

FWIW, I use Firefox and keep it updated. I use DuckDuckGo for searches.

I watched the OWC video of the swap and it seems fairly straight forward, but thanks for the tip about fragile connectors. I know old plastic can be a problem.
I'd read before about the special cable to avoid the fan issue, so I'll order one of those.

I'm in no hurry, so will go slow. Probably my biggest worry is remembering to keep the door to my office closed while doing the job so the cats don't come in and 'help'.

Thanks again.

I don't know if your aware of this or not.

but you could upgrade to High Sierra on that machine.

I would consider more ram tho. 4GB isn't a lot today. plus you can go up to 16GB / 32GB depending on your budget

and an SSD as suggested again depends on what you want to do.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

I don't know if your aware of this or not.

but you could upgrade to High Sierra on that machine.

I would consider more ram tho. 4GB isn't a lot today. plus you can go up to 16GB / 32GB depending on your budget

and an SSD as suggested again depends on what you want to do.

This is a good point that I overlooked (I've soooo lost track of what the order of the "names" are!). High Sierra most certainly is a bit more current with security than El Capitan would be. I would also at least double the RAM to 8GB if you do any upgrades.

 

[mikbik]

Thanks everyone. I'll be ordering parts later today from OWC. SSD, the biggest RAM I can fit and the special cable to the SSD.

I'll do some research about moving to High Sierra.

Thanks again.

 

[jasongoldworthy]

Thanks everyone. I'll be ordering parts later today from OWC. SSD, the biggest RAM I can fit and the special cable to the SSD.

I'll do some research about moving to High Sierra.

Thanks again.

you will be fine moving to high Sierra and all your old apps will work as they did before.

let us know if you get stuck or need any further help.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Lifebeach, thanks. My unit is in a back bedroom with no big dust issues and stays pretty clean. I have a bigger worry of physical security, which isn't really that big a problem. I don't keep anything that sensitive on my computer. Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think a remote hack would net much.

FWIW, I use Firefox and keep it updated. I use DuckDuckGo for searches.

I watched the OWC video of the swap and it seems fairly straight forward, but thanks for the tip about fragile connectors. I know old plastic can be a problem.
I'd read before about the special cable to avoid the fan issue, so I'll order one of those.

I'm in no hurry, so will go slow. Probably my biggest worry is remembering to keep the door to my office closed while doing the job so the cats don't come in and 'help'.

Thanks again.

There's no need to max out your RAM given how you are using your iMac. 8GB should be more than enough, especially with the SSD upgrade. Do 16GB if you really have a burning desire, but honestly it'll be overkill. Also, i wouldn't just add new modules. Remove the old ones and get matched pairs to guarantee they play well together.

 

[Jonzjob]

Our late 0209 iMac 21 ½ is running High Sierra and has been for a while, but we have just updated to a new iMac 24 and had a 1tb SSD fitted, just to be sure we don't run out of space.

Reason? Because High Sierra isn't supported any more, no updates or fixes. I have stuck a 2tb SSHD in the old iMac and upped the memory to 8 gig and if it weren't for the possible security side of things there wouldn't have been any reason for us to lash out on the new machine, but it's a cracking bit of kit!

About the only ***** I have with the new jobbie is that Apple have only stuck 2 USB C connectors in the back so hubs are a necessity.