What can I do with an old iMac?

[mcveigh]

My dad got my mom a new iMac. her old one is from 2008 I think. it can only run OSX 10.6.8.

Can I do anything decent with it? can I run ibooks on it?

I'm not that impressed with her new core i3 imac, doesn't seem much faster. I guess the hard drive is limiting it.


edit: here is the info on the old iMac its a early 2008 model

 

[Eug]

If it really is a 2008, it can run 10.7, which I would recommend over 10.6.8. What are its specs or model number?

They work fine as surfing machines, but 10.7 won't have the latest Safari, so Chrome or Firefox is recommended. They also work fine for stuff like MS Office and even H.264 video playback.

EDIT:

Nope, I'm wrong. The 2008 iMacs can run even the current version of OS X (10.10).

Are you sure it can only run 10.6.8? If so, it must be a much older machine.

 

[mcveigh]

If it really is a 2008, it can run 10.7, which I would recommend over 10.6.8. What are its specs or model number?

They work fine as surfing machines, but 10.7 won't have the latest Safari, so Chrome or Firefox is recommended. They also work fine for stuff like MS Office and even H.264 video playback.

EDIT:

Nope, I'm wrong. The 2008 iMacs can run even the current version of OS X (10.10).

Are you sure it can only run 10.6.8? If so, it must be a much older machine.

it says it can't be updated. they may be wrong about the year. I think it has a core 2 duo

 

[Eug]

it says it can't be updated. they may be wrong about the year. I think it has a core 2 duo

Go to the top left corner Apple icon and click it. You'll get a menu. Choose "About This Mac".

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201581

That will list the CPU speed and memory amount.

Then click on "More Info". That will list the entire specs, including the model number, which may be something like "iMac8,1".

 

[Kadarin]

My dad got my mom a new iMac. her old one is from 2008 I think. it can only run OSX 10.6.8.

Can I do anything decent with it? can I run ibooks on it?

I'm not that impressed with her new core i3 imac, doesn't seem much faster. I guess the hard drive is limiting it.

I'm going to guess this is "new to her" and not an actual new iMac, right? Apple does not currently use the Core i3.

 

[mcveigh]

hmm it is refurb from late 2013. maybe it's a core i5? it's the new thin bezel style.

I have to say I was impressed at how apple imported everything from a timemachine backup of the old one. It took forever though.

I can't check out the specs now. Maybe tomorrow. I have to go back over to figure out why email isn't working when it was at first.

 

[Eug]

Apple sold i3 iMacs in 2013 so refurb makes sense.

Those ones had the razor like edge.

 

[MotionMan]

it says it can't be updated. they may be wrong about the year. I think it has a core 2 duo

I seem to recall that if you try to update more than one generation in OSX, you sometimes are prompted to install the preceding version first.

Try updating one generation at a time.

MotionMan

 

[mmntech]

I seem to recall that if you try to update more than one generation in OSX, you sometimes are prompted to install the preceding version first.

Try updating one generation at a time.

MotionMan

I upgraded from Snow Leopard to Mavericks on my laptop and it never gave me any trouble.

 

[redheeler]

Apple sold i3 iMacs in 2013 so refurb makes sense.

Those ones had the razor like edge.

None of the thin iMacs have i3, although the thicker ones released in 2011 do.
Edit: Forgot about the early 2013, that would count. There's always an underpowered low-end version of the 21.5", now it's the mid 2014.

I seem to recall that if you try to update more than one generation in OSX, you sometimes are prompted to install the preceding version first.

Try updating one generation at a time.

MotionMan

Snow Leopard or later can update directly to Yosemite if it is supported by the hardware.

 

[Eug]

We don't know the specs yet. We're all speculating at this point.

 

[mcveigh]

 

[mcveigh]

early 2008
8.1 model

 

[Eug]

Good news! You can run the latest version of OS X on it: Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...20-inch-aluminum-early-2008-penryn-specs.html

It might run OK with 2 GB RAM, but I would recommend 4 GB RAM though, or at least 3 GB. You could get 3 GB by removing one of your 1 GB SODIMMs and adding in a 2 GB. (I'm assuming you have 1+1 GB.)

2 GB DDR2-800 SODIMMs go for about US$30 each.

---

A Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz with Radeon HD 2400 XT and 4 GB RAM makes for a good OS X 10.10 Yosemite machine.

 

[mcveigh]

Thanks! I've been poking around ifixit.com and the mac website.

It sounds like 6GB RAM is unofficially supported. I may just get a single 4gb module and replace one stick to end up with 5gb.

IS there a way to do a factory reset on these? I've found a few guides but they all seem to talk about downloading the disk image and installing from a USB drive????

I thought I read something once about installing from the drive by rebooting and holding command and R at the same time or something similar?

 

[Eug]

4 GB DDR2 800 SODIMM modules are quite expensive. I think they're usually around 100 bucks (vs. $30 for 2 GB).

You might be able to a clean install of Yosemite I suppose. I'm not sure if that would involve creating a Yosemite boot installer though.

If you just upgrade the drive to Yosemite with the existing account, one thing you could do is create a second admin account, and then deleting the original admin account.

Make sure you first do stuff like de-authorize the machine from iTunes, etc. though.

 

[mcveigh]

Thanks Eug!
I created my own admin account. downloaded Yosemite from the app store.
it worked!

Then I removed Mom's stuff. Rebooted while holding command-R. I erased the hard drive, reinstalled Yosemite. I think it downloaded it again fron the net because it took almost 2 hours.

works! ..... but it's slow. Programs seem to run OK once open but launching takes forever. I'll look for some cheap 2GB ram modules and see if that helps.

 

[Eug]

Glad it's all up and running. Unfortunately it seems 2 GB is not enough. The lack of an SSD probably doesn't help either.

 

[HomerSapien]

I set up my moms iMac, same specs as yours, with yosemite to run it as storage for their movies to feed the apple tv. Runs slow when using too many programs, but when using for one or two things, it does pretty well.

I didnt do a clean install like you, but I probably should have.

4 GB kit is $51 at amazon. Not sure if I will pick it up as the computer is not used much, but will eventually replace the hard drive with an SSD in the future. RAM is everything in OS X, so the more the merrier.

Also, if you are not going to use the Apple apps (pages, iMovie, etc) remove them as they eat up several GB each.

 

[mcveigh]

ordered a 4gb crucial kit. will report back

 

[Londo_Jowo]

A Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz with Radeon HD 2400 XT and 4 GB RAM makes for a good OS X 10.10 Yosemite machine.

Yosemite runs great on my Mac Mini (2010) 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo, 8GB PC8500, & nVidia 320.

 

[Eug]

My laptop runs well with Yosemite and it's a 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo with 4 GB RAM and GeForce 9400M.

 

[Ichinisan]

What's the upgrade path for 10.5.8 (Leopard) to 10.10 (Yosemite)?

I talked to someone today that can't load many web sites. I have a suspicion it's only sites with Flash content that are failing. I'm pretty sure the Flash plugin will be outdated because Safari and Firefox area outdated. Firefox claims it's on the latest version, but it's clearly a very old version. I believe newer FF versions don't support OSX 10.5.8 at all. OSX says no updates are available because they still charged for major new releases at that point and I suppose he has the last supplemental updates that were ever released for 10.5...

So he has missed-out on Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite.

I'm pretty sure he can't easily upgrade straight to Yosemite. What's the lowest version he'll need so he can do an online update to Yosemite for free?

 

[TheStu]

What's the upgrade path for 10.5.8 (Leopard) to 10.10 (Yosemite)?

I talked to someone today that can't load many web sites. I have a suspicion it's only sites with Flash content that are failing. I'm pretty sure the Flash plugin will be outdated because Safari and Firefox area outdated. Firefox claims it's on the latest version, but it's clearly a very old version. I believe newer FF versions don't support OSX 10.5.8 at all. OSX says no updates are available because they still charged for major new releases at that point and I suppose he has the last supplemental updates that were ever released for 10.5...

So he has missed-out on Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite.

I'm pretty sure he can't easily upgrade straight to Yosemite. What's the lowest version he'll need so he can do an online update to Yosemite for free?

Snow Leopard has the Mac App Store, so if he can get to there, he can upgrade to Yosemite.

Here's a way to make a Yosemite installer from the App Store.

 

[mcveigh]

4GB ram in stalled!........................................


MUCH better! With just 2GB It was almost impossible to multi task and have a a few apps open at once. It would slow down to a crawl.
With the 4GB I can run Chrome, itunes, and one or two more usually. The apps still take longer than I would like (my windows desktop has a samsung SSD) but one they are open they run fine with the extra ram.

I got the ram from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1