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Is it time to consider a new iMac?

I am a freelance graphic designer and am having a hard time deciding if it is time to in fact me looking at a new machine. While it might sound silly, I'm looking for some honest feedback. I have an iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.6.3), 4 GB RAM. Some days it still seems to run pretty well and other days - ugh, like watching paint dry!!! Because I am freelance and work from home, I take getting a new machine seriously because of cost vs income. I've had my current machine 5 years. On a typical day I run the following apps (most opened up all the time throughout the day with the exception of Mail & Firefox as needed): Mail, Firefox, Text Edit, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Distiller, InDesign and Suitcase Fusion. I just restarted my machine yesterday and did a verify & repair permissions under disc utilities. I just seem to be experiencing more "hangs" as I call them when I got to open files or go to search something on the internet, etc. Any input greatly appreciated!

Since cost/return is such an issue you should check to make sure that all of your current applications will run on a new Mac with Yosemite, any apps written for PPC won't. Check here https://roaringapps.com/apps?index=a

THere's a lot of information about your current setup missing in order to make an informative decision but at the VERY least you should update your OS X for security reasons alone. 10.6.8 is the most recent version of Snow Leopard and if you're really running 10.6.3 you're missing out on several fixes and security updates. Another thing to consider is adding more ram. You don't provide enough information but your iMac is probably an early 2009 model that can be upgraded to 8gb of ram.

How much total and free hard disk space do you have? A too full hard drive can cause slow downs and eventually won't even start.

I would upgrade to a new iMac in your position. While you could certainly do a few things to get a bit more life out of your existing iMac, such as adding additional RAM, you would still remain locked in to older processors, GPU, and slow USB 2 and Firewire interfaces. So I think a new iMac is the way to go.

That being said, it now comes down to what you would budget, and how to spend that budget. You can buy new, or you may want to consider a purchase from Apple's refurb store:

Apple Steals & Deals: The Best Deals on Almost-New Macs 01/18/2015

The above is an example from last Sunday (I check the refurb store once a week for deals).

So if you can provide a budget number, I think we can help with suggestions for how to spend it.

Tom

Well,

For starters, you need to finish updating OS X Snow Leopard to OS X 10.6.8. Backup your system and important data, before updating your Mac.

Check your Mac's internal hard drive free space. You need to maintain, at least 15-20 or more Gbs of free hard drive space.

Next, if your Mac is only 5 years old , chances are it can take more RAM than 4 GBs.

If you are running all of these Adobe apps, clearly, you are desperate need of additonal RAM.

Adobe apps are very resource hungry and run better with more RAM installled.

If your Mac is a late 2009 or 2010 model, it can take, up to 16 GBs of RAM.

If your Mac is an early 2009 model,it can take up to 8 Gbs of RAM.

Correct, compatible and reliable Mac RAM can ONLY be purchased from online RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (https://www.macsales.com).

If you have any commercial antivirus and/or any hard drive "cleaning" style apps, these should be properly uninstaller per the app developer's instructions OR do a web search on how to properly uninstall such apps.

All these types of apps can have negative performance effects on your Mac.

Many of your issues are because your system is not up to date and your Mac is starved for RAM and possibly hard drive disc space.

I agree with Michel. Updating your OSx  should be top of your list of things to do to extend the iMac's lifespan. RAM would be the next thing to check into if you really want to avoid a big expenditure like a new computer. 

You probably want to do these 2 things at the same time, so the updated OSx can benefit from the extra RAM.

Pumping up the RAM to at least 8GB will make a world of difference, and should be relatively cheap and very simple to do through Macsales.

Crucial.com is also a great source of certified RAM for Macs.

We purchased this iMac on Dec 31, 2009. Not sure if I'm checking the correct place but I'm seeing this when I go to finder and get info: 1.06 GB on disk

I believe the machine I have can take up to 16MB RAM. Several years ago, I had another Mac we put RAM and updated software on and it really didn't buy us a lot of time before we had to purchase a new computer. So I'm slightly hesitant - though not against - upgrading this computer. If it will buy me 1-2 years. I would consider it. If not, my husband and I have already discussed a new computer being an option this year.

I currently run Adobe CS 5. I'm guessing when we purchase a new computer I will need to go to the monthly CC plan that Adobe now has.

I do not have any antivirus software or hard drive cleaning apps.

CS 5 runs fine under OS X Yosemite. It is the version I run as well. I'm do not like subscription based software, so am avoiding the upgrade to CS6 and later.

Adding Ram to your iMac is really a stop gap measure, do to its age and out of date interfaces. Yes I can see adding RAM giving you a year, but sometime soon, your going to need to purchase a newer Mac to remain productive.

Now if you were not using your Mac for your livelihood, I would have an entirely different view point, and say add RAM and enjoy it until as long as possible. But when its your primary work machine, I believe it needs be a very good performer, have modern components, and new, not aging hard drives getting near their usual lifetime failure point.

Tom

Thank you everyone for your input! It is helpful hearing what others have done and experienced.

Tom thank you for mentioning the CS 5 working fine for you. I'm not a big fan of this new subscription based software and its one of the reasons we have not upgraded my computer as of yet as we were thinking we would have to switch.

Well,

If you want to spend and outlay cash for a new Mac, that is certainly your own decision.

You wanted advice and here's some additonal advice from me.

I own the same late 2009 IMac model year in a 27 inch screen running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard (THE BEST OS X version Apple and Apple software engineers EVER developed, IMO) and I am still running an older version of Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) with 16 Gbs of RAM and my IMac still flies and works very well for all of my creative graphics and digital drawing and painting work!

I do not like the whole rent- a-software, Adobe subscription plan, also (I do not think any professional creatives much like Adobe's subscription model, either).

I can't say how much better your Adobe CS5 apps will work with the additionally installled RAM, but I know it will be a pretty noticeable improvement.

To find out exactly how much hard drive space you have left, in the Finder, click on the icon of your Mac's hard drive on the OS X desktop, the use the shortcut keyboard keys Command-I (shortcut for Get Info). This will tell you both how much free space is left on your hard drive and how much hard drive space was used.

If your hard drive space has dipped below 15 GBs, then it is time to do some serious house cleaning on that drive.

Here are some general tips to keep your Mac's hard drive trim and slim as possible

You should never, EVER let a computer hard drive get completely full, EVER!

With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.

If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.

Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.

Have you emptied your Mac's Trash icon in the Dock?

If you use iPhoto or Aperture, both have its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.

If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.

If you are an iMovie/ Final Cut user, both apps have their own individual Trash location that needs to be emptied, too!

If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!

Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.

Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.

STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!

Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.

Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.

Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.

To find other large files, download an app called Omni Disk Sweeper.

https://www.omnigroup.com/more

Also, Find Any File

https://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/

Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.

https://www.titanium.free.fr/downloadonyx.php

When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.

Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.

move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.

If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.

Moving iTunes library

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449

Moving iPhoto library

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH2506

Moving iMovie projects folder

https://support.apple.com/kb/ph2289

Good Luck!

Thank you for your additional reply!

I did a "Get Info" on my hard drive. Capacity says 2 TB with Available 1.12 TB if I'm in the right area. Says 877.08 GB used on disk.

I empty my trash often. I also have my mail set to clear out trash I think weekly if I recall correctly. I also have it set to clear out sent items within a week so those don't accumulate and usually if I have to refer back to something for some reason, that typically is adequate time to do so. I don't use iMovie and iPhoto trash (just checked) is empty.

I do like the CS5 apps as I have had great luck with those and am not real interested in moving to the subscription based software if it isn't necessary. I think its a total crock for people like me who make a decent income but not enough in my opinion to justify that kind of switch if you know what I mean?

I'm sure I could spend a few days cleaning up and doing some archiving.

If I explore the route of updated system software and RAM, is the RAM easy to install?

RAM is this only  hardware upgrade this is user upgradeable/installable.

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_late_2009_mem_h/

BTW,

You have no issues with hard drive free space at this time.

You earlier mention a number of 1.5 GBs ( not TBs), so this is why I was concerned about this.

RAM is extremely easy to install.  Just open the access panel on the bottom of the screen, and remove the current ram by pulling it out, and slide the new one in until it clicks in place.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+RAM+Replacemen t/1630

mly wrote:

 

I am a freelance graphic designer and am having a hard time deciding if it is time to in fact me looking at a new machine. While it might sound silly, I'm looking for some honest feedback. I have an iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.6.3),

Apple menu > Software update.

Have you upgraded to a solid state hard drive, yet?

I have an iMac, a 24-inch, Early 2009, 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 with a NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB graphics card (which failed about 2 years ago and which I replaced).

It was getting to the point of being irritatingly slow.  I expect as a GD your use is more processor-intensive than mine.

I read about doing an SSD upgrade on the interweb when I researched speeding my iMac up.  So, I took the plunge and with the assistance of the excellent repair guide for my specific machine here iMac Intel 24" EMC 2267 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit,  I replaced the original 500Gb hard drive with a Samsung 850 EVO 1 TB 2.5 inch Solid State Drive.

The parts (drive, drive adaptor, special screwdriver and USB to SATA cable to clone the drive before replacement) cost about $400 (£330) at the time.

The upgrade took about an hour (I am pretty DIY-orientated) and I would say was 3/5 for difficulty.

The result was (and I measured several aspects of speed before and after the upgrade) a 6-fold speed increase right across the board - from bootup to opening large (eg spreadsheet) files to loading apps. 

Simply put, it is like I have a new machine.

最後更新：2017-10-10 18:10:08

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