My daughter-in-law has an older Mac desktop (2012?). It needs some software updates, as soon as the Apple password is recovered, but I'm curious if there are hardware upgrades that might extend its life. Any suggestions?

Might be able to upgrade the RAM yourself but the hard drives are difficult to DITY replace since you have to remove the monitor face which is glued in there. It can be done but it exceeds my comfort level of DITY.

Might be worth having a local Apple certified repair shop fix it up for you - I'd look at getting a Solid State Hard Drive (SSD) installed and maybe some more RAM. Being a desktop, it has no battery so that would be it (something you want to replace every 4-5 years in a laptop).

iMac or Mac Pro?

2012 21.5" iMac can have the hard drive & memory upgraded. However it requires the iMac to be disassembled, best to have it done at a shop.
2012 21.5 iMac upgrade videos

2012 27" iMac has an easy memory upgrade. Otherwise it, too must be disassembled.
Upgrade videos

The 2012 Mac Pro can take multiple upgrades. If it is a single processor model, dual processor trays are available on eBay. Memory is an easy upgrade. Hard drives can be added (up to 4 - or more. Second DVD drive bay or SSD on PCI card). It will accept a Radeon RX-580 video card among others. You can run macOS 10.14 Mojave on the 2012 Mac Pro with supported graphics cards.
Mojave graphics cards

It also has multiple PCI slots & USB 3.0/3.1 cards as well as a PCI card that accept a 6G 2.5"SSD (twice as fast as the drive bus).
2012 Mac Pro upgrade videos.

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I see I need to spend some time on YouTube: dunnonuffin about Macs yet.

There’s also the MacMini as a desktop model.
You need to know the model, and what the current specs are (RAM, hard drive size).

quote:

dunnonuffin

Word/phrase/sentence of the day.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:

quote:

dunnonuffin

Word/phrase/sentence of the day.

Separated at birth from his poor unfortunate brother Dindu.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
There’s also the MacMini as a desktop model.
You need to know the model, and what the current specs are (RAM, hard drive size).

Yes, forgot about the 2012 Mac Mini. Thanks for the reminder.

Easy RAM upgrade, harder to upgrade HD or install SSD.
2012 Mac Mini upgrade videos

quote:

Originally posted by mrbill345:
Yes, forgot about the 2012 Mac Mini. Thanks for the reminder.

Or even a 2018 Macmini. I bought one last year, and it is quite a big difference from the 2011/2012 models. Four full power Thunderbolt 3 ports, just like the newer 15" MBP models, as well as updated specs on the USB-A and HDMI ports.

You can still upgrade the RAM, but that's it for end user upgrades.

Her's is an iMac 27". I watched several upgrade videos, those linked by mrbill345 and others from a YouTube search. The hardware options look good and aren't too expensive, but apparently it costs a ton if you have someone install them.

I'm comfortable in the open source PC world, and am surprised how hard it is to work on a Mac. Getting the monitor off and back on makes me nervous.

Thanks for the info. I'll pass on the relevant stuff and see what she wants to do.

Some options for you:


OWC: macsales.com has a Apple refurbished (by Apple), sealed Mid 2017 iMac 3.8 GHz Quad Core i5, 8 GB, 2 TB Fusion Drive (HDD & SSD), & AMD Radeon Pro 580 w/ 8 GB for $1499.00 - this does come with the Apple factory warranty.

I'd suggest adding RAM for at least a total of 16 GB.

Apple refurbished :
This changes daily, but currently has the same model as OWC (late 2017) iMac for $1869

There is a 2019 6 core i5 iMac, 8 GB, 1 TB Fusion Drive, Radeon Pro 570X 4 GB for $1529

Available models change frequently, so check often.