Is an 8 Year Old Mac Still Useful?

Computers get faster with each year. But your wallet isn’t growing fast enough to just buy a new computer every year. So, what if we did the opposite. We buy an old one or keep using an old one. This is the 2010 21in iMac. A computer created the same year the original Samsung Galaxy S phone was released. 8 phones. Ago. That’s a lot of phones! But here’s the real question, can a machine, created in 2010, base model version, still be used today as a general-purpose computer? Let’s find out.

First, I want to say, I don’t personally suggest buying hardware this old, you might not know where it came from or how much the machine was pushed. I mean this is an 8-year-old machine and the previous owners may have abused it and you wouldn’t know since nothing is user-friendly and replaceable on these iMacs except RAM.

This thing was originally $1,200 dollars new. Now, it’s about a fourth of that on eBay. You’ll notice iMacs todays are inspired by these, because all the new iMacs are just these. But on a weight loss plan. A lot thinner. Other than that, I’d say it’s pretty similar in the front as the newer ones with black bezels surrounding the display, the silver aluminum build and giant black apple logo. So, design wise, it’s kept up okay. Now for those spec nerds, it has a 1920by1080 IPS display, 4GBs of DD3 memory, built-in speakers, a 720p iSight webcam, 500 gb hard drive, an ATI Radeon HD 4670 an Intel i3-540, apple wireless keyboard, and magic mouse. Now, onto what most practical people care about. Usability. Is this machine usable after 8 years?

Absolutely. I’m actually really surprised by how usable it is. The machine does simple tasks with ease. I thought 4gb of ram and not having an SSD would hinder such an old machine, but I still really like using this iMac. Surfing the web and just writing documents is easy to do and has little to no stuttering or freezing. You could get buy if you just needed this thing to be a basic tasks machine for your family to do school work, documents, and entertainment. It can still update to the latest mac os which is really great because you get the features that come with them. You can’t come with crazy expectations though; this thing won’t be editing 4K video files anytime soon or run intense games. The display is still, very nice. If you saw the panel alone, you wouldn’t think it’s from an 8-year-old pre-built. That’s how good it is. It isn’t the best display out there, but it’s pretty good. This thing gets the job done. The dvd… I mean, “Superdrive” as apple calls it, is a blast from the past. A lot of modern computers don’t have a dvd or cd drive anymore, but this is nice… for those old CD-rom games, or outdated software. Whichever suits you better.

Eight years in tech time is ancient right? So, this pre-historic fossil has got to have some sort of negatives attached. And there are some. The port selection is not so great. At first glance you might think it’s great, usb ports, an sd card slot, firewire… mini-displayport an audio jack. All great things… not counting the now nearly useless firewire. But the usb ports are usb 2.0 ports which means newer devices with usb 3.0 ports would work at reduced speeds on this thing. Which is an issue if you want to use like an external SSD to replace the internal hard drive. This is the biggest flaw of the machine after all these years.

Now what do I think of all this? It’s a good machine after all these years. And in terms of pricing, this used machine is a lot cheaper than its equivalent new machine now. Seriously. Windows computers with similar power now, cost around $500. While this thing? Goes for about $300 on eBay. I’m not suggesting that buying a used 8 year old product is a good idea, but its price is not bad for the specs you’re getting. So, I think this video serves a point. An old machine can serve a as a general purpose machine just fine. Sure, when this machine was new it served a completely different purpose, but being basically an old man now, it can still do the basics. So don’t just toss out a computer if it’s old. It might bring a new purpose that you haven’t thought of yet.

Anyway guys, I hope you guys found this video useful. If you enjoyed it, give it a thumb up, comment, and well, don’t forget to subscribe. I’ll see you guys next time.

[kevinmunozortega]

My late 2012 iMac still runs perfectly. It's a bit slow when I use the internet sometimes (probably something wrong with my wifi). However, it still works with macOS Catalina for Clip Studio Paint, video editing, watching YouTube, social media and other things. I'm still figuring out if I can use my late 2012 iMac as a second monitor for Macbook Pro mid-2015, but overall, it still works.

[JZ]

I have a 2009 27" iMac that I use for surfing/1080p video editing. I also have a pair of 2011 21.5" iMac's that I use for recording audio tracks. I have two just in case one fails. Both have 12 gigs of memory, and are getting 1tb ssd drives as we speak! They're great computers for what I use them for. I liked/subscribed.

[spitoondude]

My iMac is 2009 running every kind of music software you can throw at it and it is perfect. 12 gb ram 1TB hard drive 27 inch.Hooked up to Behringer X32 audio interface.

[archerman]

My daily laptop is still an HP Pavilion dv6 from 2010. Being using it every day for 5-8 hours. Upgraded RAM from 3gb to 8gb(for £45 ) in 2011 and can do all basic stuff with zero problem. I still can do some very basic hd video editing.Original price: £570.

[rmelcher]

2010 27” iMac i3 550 checking in, damn thing won’t die and works great. Guess I’ll have to keep waiting to buy a new one till this one gives up. Appreciate the review!

[Filosofuerza]

I just put an 1 TB SSD and 16BG ram and new cooling paste on my late 2012 iMac.... It's a brand new machine!!! Just $234

[thqos]

I have a early 2009 iMac and it works just fine and keeps up

[Mike_The_Hog_A_Nator]

My 2009 iMac 🖥 works great. I can’t upgrade because it’s old but she still runs fine. She’s out lasted many laptops also. Not once have I had it in for repairs

[boyyorbit]

I got one for 70$ and upgraded it and it’s basically brand new. Ive been running it for a while with music software and interfaces and plug ins and mics and midi keyboards and it’s Holding up great.

[geoman]

I have quite a few Macs from 2007-2010 running fine today. In fact i never had any hardware issues with them (that can not be said for Macs built after 2014... The built quality has taken a nose dive lately)

[shoozey]

Love your Videos, keep the good work up!🤙

[blankbansheefan]

im buying a 2011 imac soon, im going to be using it as a video editing/web surfing rig (iMovie) and ill still have my pc on me for gaming

[shawleeshawlee]

I retrieved mine today out of storage and agree with your statements, I use mind for very low tasks (i.e. mail, browsing, YT, music) and it works great. Thanks also for the reminder of the "super-drive" for DVDs, I totally forgot it was there. Score! Old girl may be old but not dead. Thanks!

[DPPOfficial]

You know, the thing with those old iMacs is that you can upgrade... cause the thick modells got this magneticly attached glasplates, at the new ones got the glas glued on, and it's really hard to get it off.


( sorry for my English, but I'm a German student, so don't expect too much)

[FrankC]

Watching this on a late 2012 mac mini I just purchased randomly. First mac I've had and it's great. I swapped the HDD for 860 Evo SSD and upgraded the 4GB or ram to 16GB. This thing runs great and I'm extremely impressed, even runs Catalina.

[duringthemeanwhilst]

I gave my 2007 iMac to my sister back in 2012 - it's still going strong and looks like it's brand new. I just replaced my mid 2012 iMac and that was just the same but couldn't handle the larger RAW files I'm now using with a new camera.

[markmetzler]

I own a mid2012 27” iMac, it runs great even today, and runs the latest MacOS.

[bedehliang]

I just upgraded my iMac 27in late 2013 with new SSD drive a few days ago.... I am all for it....

[sarasilva]

I animate and video edit on my 2011 iMac and it’s honestly never given me trouble. And I love the DVD drive - I like having a place to watch my DVDs!

[epsonc]

I’m still using 2011 iMac, upgraded to 32gb ram and 1T SSD. Use it for graphic design work and a little bit video editing, pretty happy about it.