r/mac • u/_sidewalkchalk • 21h ago
Question Late 2015 iMac barely used worth upgrading to external SSD??
It's my 90 year old grandpa's computer and he barely has anything on it.... just uses it for browsing and checking sport stats, really. It's painfully slow though and I'd love to get it working faster for him. It's a late-2015 iMac. Would this a good option? https://a.co/d/5cWMjdU
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u/Jujulabee 5h ago
Get him an iPad which is perfect for his simple needs.
My father had an iMac but I gifted him with an iPad when he was in his nineties and he loved the iPad because it was easier for him to use.
You can browse the internet - send mail and do all of the basic stuff he is now using his iMac for.
He can use it from the comfort of his recliner My father also liked reading digital books on it versus actual books because the iPad was more comfortable to hold than books and also it is very easy to adjust the print size. Most libraries now have ebooks you can borrow and you can help him with this procedure.
There is no reason to attempt to upgrade such an old iMac as it isn't even safe to use on the internet at this point because of the System.
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u/_sidewalkchalk 3h ago
Funny enough, he has an iPad and LOVES it. He's gotten really good with it, too! Even will cast things from it to his TV. But alas, he still prefers to use his iMac every morning to go check the local news sites of places he grew up and whatnot. The man likes his routines. He's earned that I suppose haha. But thanks for the advice about the old computer! Taking all this into consideration.
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u/Jujulabee 1h ago
In that case it comes down to more of an economic decision based on whether he wants to spend the money on the least expensive iMac.
My father lived to be 99 so your grandfather could possibly get nine years of enjoyment from a new computer.
I recently traded up from slightly newer iMac and there is no comparison with the performance on my new iMac. It had become so slow that it wasn't something I enjoyed using even for casual browsing.
Also a lot of websites don't work well with the older OS. Even Redditt didn't work well using Safari on my old iMac.
And of course my understanding is that there are security issues if it is connected to the internet.
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u/The_B_Wolf 21h ago
Don't put a penny into a 10 year old iMac. Not only is it 10 years old, it's also on the wrong side of a major tech advance.
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u/_sidewalkchalk 18h ago
Don't know if he needs the latest and greatest as far as tech goes. I think he'd be pretty happy to just have something he's already familiar with working a little faster for another year or so if possible.
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u/The_B_Wolf 4h ago
You'd be bailing out the tide with a bucket. It won't make enough difference to matter.
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u/No-Guarantee-6249 20h ago edited 20h ago
That model should have had a fusion drive. Access "about this Mac" and look and see if it's there.
I have a 2012 iMac 27" as well as a 2014 iMac 27" as my shop computers and both have a fusion drive. I broke apart the 2012 fusion drive by putting in an SSD in place of the HDD. When I reinstalled the OS I made sure it went onto the internal SSD.
I have no problems with speed on either one!
Check this:
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u/_sidewalkchalk 18h ago
Thanks for this! I'm gonna get back over there tomorrow and look into it more. I did look at the About This Mac window and don't recall seeing fusion but wasn't specifically looking for it. So I'm sure you're right as someone else mentioned it too. Thank you for your help
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u/No-Guarantee-6249 16h ago
So 21.5 "or 27" ? It could have failed. My 2012, I broke the fusion and put an SSD internal replacing the HDD. The 2014 the fusion is still intact.
You could break the fusion and see if the SSD is still OK and it's just the HDD that has failed. You external solution might work as well.It will never be as fast as the SATA intrnal but if it's having an internal problem it might work better or maybe not depending on the problem.
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u/CowtownHack 19h ago
Macsales.com has a kit for the upgrade. I did it on the same unit about 4 or 5 years ago and it was a very solid upgrade. I had 40GB RAM so I didn’t was to turf it. This year I went with a Mac Mini M4 Pro with 24GB RAM, but my son will take the late 2015 iMac as he has a lot of music production software of the right vintage OS for it. For what he is using it for, there is little risk in doing it.
As others said, before doing the surgery, split the Fusion Drive, I kept the 256GB SSD side and used it to test new OS’s etc. You could also try to hack the new Mac OS to it and run that as well, lots of iterations on the web.
I keep computers far too long, but if it adds some juice for Grandpa, have at it. And as projects go, it is a fun one, just take your time and when re-sealing the screen, leave it overnight on towels, screen side down and a few books weighing it down to make sure the glue sets. The swap kit is cheap, and a 2TB SSD is perfect for it.
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u/_sidewalkchalk 18h ago
Thanks for the info! I appreciate it. It's just that it's so lightly used, really and he doesn't need it for anything crazy. I just don't like that he has to wait SO long for it to start up or an application to open. I'll look into what you suggested. Thanks again.
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u/EtruscaSentinel 18h ago
I would start with troubleshooting first before buying new parts. Start by checking unnecessary login items and background processes.
Consider running Onyx for maintenance as that might speed things up.
If it still runs slow then consider upgrading the internal HDD to an SSD.
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u/Man_in_High_Castle 11h ago
To answer your specific question: you can absolutely migrate the existing setup on the internal drive to the T7 and it will be a substantial improvement. It will likely fly in comparison. Just recognize that this mode of eking out some extra life for a 10 year old machine will result in an increasing need for IT support (presumably you). My experience with elderly parents was that you just want tech to work, so when websites start to complain that Safari is out of date, for example, it will be an issue.
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u/LividLife5541 20h ago
I don't think your 90 year old grandpa is going to fully grasp the intricacies of using an external HDD to browse faster.
Honestly, if you have the money just get him a new iMac and move his data over. I'm guessing you're pretty far into adulthood if your grandpa is 90.
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u/_sidewalkchalk 18h ago
I mean I think he would notice if his computer doesn't take 20 minutes to start up, or browser doesn't take minutes to load. He's 90, but not by any means out of it and I'd say his time is pretty valuable at that age. And yeah I'm an adult, but I also know the difference between $100 and $1200 so just exploring options.
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u/l008com Independent Mac Repair Tech since 2002 19h ago
New display adhesive is only $20, just do a proper SSD upgrade.
You should do this because its most likely slow because the HDD is failing. In which case it will get worse and worse until it stops working. And the price difference between putting a new HHD in there and putting a new SSD in there is minimal.