Is it worth replacing HD on a 2012 Imac (27" screen)?

[petra.liljestrand]

Hi,
My HD is fried. I'm wondering if it is worth replacing it -- mainly bc it will not be able to upgrade the OS beyond Catalina. The computer has 32 g RAM, 3.4 GHz Intel Core I7 processor, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB Graphics card. And a 27" screen! It starts up frustratingly slow, but I understand that replacing the HD with a solid State one will speed it up. I'm not suffering running LR or PS - only Topaz Plug ins. So, would I be able to continue to run those programs on Catalina for a few years???

Your thoughts will be appreciated!
petra

 

[clee01l]

You can replace the HD to make the computer worth something other than as a doorstop, buy. You also should consider getting a new M1 chipped Mac. Intel Chipped Macs are obsolete or will soon be.


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[Conrad Chavez]

I'm not suffering running LR or PS - only Topaz Plug ins. So, would I be able to continue to run those programs on Catalina for a few years???

As long as you are sure you won’t want to upgrade your major applications beyond the versions you’re using for a few more years, an SSD should definitely speed up startup and general use. The nice thing is, SATA SSDs are affordable now, so it should not be a large investment.

The potential risk is that it’s a 10-year-old computer. I’ve paid for similar late upgrades, and a fair amount of the time, something else in the computer failed soon after. Sometimes it was the motherboard.

The other risk is that Catalina is no longer supported by Apple, so it no longer gets bug fixes or security updates.

 

[Woodbutcher]

The internal drive on my iMac of that generation died and I just started using it with an external drive. I used it that way for over a year before I finally got a faster laptop to become my main machine. I'm an IT guy and used to do lots of hardware stuff, but I just looked at what a pain it was going to be to remove the screen to mess with the drive, I went with the simple solution. But an internal SSD would be faster for disk access.

The limiting factor on Topaz is probably the processor, not the drive though. Anyway, an external spinning drive is a cheap way to get some more life out of the machine. I'd start saving for something new though.

 

[petra.liljestrand]

As long as you are sure you won’t want to upgrade your major applications beyond the versions you’re using for a few more years, an SSD should definitely speed up startup and general use. The nice thing is, SATA SSDs are affordable now, so it should not be a large investment.

The potential risk is that it’s a 10-year-old computer. I’ve paid for similar late upgrades, and a fair amount of the time, something else in the computer failed soon after. Sometimes it was the motherboard.

The other risk is that Catalina is no longer supported by Apple, so it no longer gets bug fixes or security updates.

Thanks Conrad - very helpful!
Petra

 

[petra.liljestrand]

The internal drive on my iMac of that generation died and I just started using it with an external drive. I used it that way for over a year before I finally got a faster laptop to become my main machine. I'm an IT guy and used to do lots of hardware stuff, but I just looked at what a pain it was going to be to remove the screen to mess with the drive, I went with the simple solution. But an internal SSD would be faster for disk access.

The limiting factor on Topaz is probably the processor, not the drive though. Anyway, an external spinning drive is a cheap way to get some more life out of the machine. I'd start saving for something new though.

Thanks Rusty - I appreciate your comments!
Petra

 

[michaelp]

The internal drive on my iMac of that generation died and I just started using it with an external drive. I used it that way for over a year before I finally got a faster laptop to become my main machine. I'm an IT guy and used to do lots of hardware stuff, but I just looked at what a pain it was going to be to remove the screen to mess with the drive, I went with the simple solution. But an internal SSD would be faster for disk access.

The limiting factor on Topaz is probably the processor, not the drive though. Anyway, an external spinning drive is a cheap way to get some more life out of the machine. I'd start saving for something new though.

FWIW I have done the same now for two 2017 iMacs that went slow because of HDD. Simply cloned HDD to an external SDD (USB-C 3.1) and boot off that. Both users say their iMacs have never been faster. On an older iMac, using SSD with USB-A 3.0 would probably be an improvement?

 

[fizzparentlanguid]

It has a 32 GB hard drive, a 3.4 GHz Intel Core I7 processor, and a 2048 MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX graphics card. The screen size is enormous at 27 inches! It takes an eternity to start up, but I've read that replacing the HD with a solid-state drive will speed up the process. Neither Lightroom nor Photoshop slows down when I just use the Topaz Plugins. How long would I be able to keep those programs active on Catalina, if at all?






dordle

 

[Gnits]

Are you sure you have a 32GB hard drive or 32GB memory ???

If you have only a 32GB hard drive, which would be v unusual, then you will get serious benefit from upgrading to an SSD. 1 and 2TB models are relatively cheap now and can have a very positive impact on performance.

I am not an expert on Mac O/S so will let others comment on related software implications.

 

[michaelp]

It has a 32 GB hard drive, a 3.4 GHz Intel Core I7 processor, and a 2048 MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX graphics card. The screen size is enormous at 27 inches! It takes an eternity to start up, but I've read that replacing the HD with a solid-state drive will speed up the process. Neither Lightroom nor Photoshop slows down when I just use the Topaz Plugins. How long would I be able to keep those programs active on Catalina, if at all?






dordle

The low spec HDD are iMacs’ weakest link. To speed up your iMac simply clone your HDD to a new external USB SSD (look for one with transfer rates over 1000 Mb/s) with SuperDuper! Then boot the iMac from the SSD. You’ll be amazed with the improvement.

If your software works on Catalina there’s no reason why it shouldn’t continue to do so. Eventually some software companies may stop supporting older Mac OS, at which point you can choose not to upgrade.

If you’re happy with your current setup I’d do the SSD upgrade mentioned.

The risk to bear in mind is Catalina is no longer getting updates or security patches and is a less secure OS than Monterey. This may be very slight depending how you use it.

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