Is it worth upgrading/ putting more money into (mac)

[Clearviper]

I recently got a used imac off facebook for 110$ it is a late 2015 21.5 imac and i love it. like alot but since it is the base model they never came with ssd's so i've got a pretty much 10 year old hard drive powering this thing

and i have been using it pretty much everyday since i have gotten it. and it really has its good and bad moments

like for example loading up apps or programs it usaslly doesnt have a problem starting them but sometimes it will and almost all the time i will have the worst lag you have ever seen, however even know all of the imac seems frozen the cursor for the mouse isn't and so as per the name of this post

Is it worth putting a ssd into this.

i plan to use it everyday when im not gaming for certain editing software that doesnt require a apple chip like the newer ones just some light stuff however

i'm kinda leaning towards going into a store to have them put the ssd in because the entire screen is held on by adhesive and i dont wanna half ass it and have the screen falling out on me or something so im debating the price and where to go to get it. and what ssd to pair it with. i have no clue what this mac can handle in terms of speeds but something that achive that max speed

i mainly plan to use this for editing software 

light gaming as in minecraft roblox etc maybe gmod....

music editing

and moving files from my mac over to my gaming pc so i def need something that can atleast keep up with this imac

again.... the lag is so bad idk how to describe it.

[Electronics Wizardy]

What editing software? Most video editing will struggle on a system like that these days.

 

I'd just boot off a external SSD. Nearly as fast, much easier to setup.

[ToboRobot]

yeah sticking a SSD and upgrading the RAM will help with performance on an old Mac. 

[Clearviper]

1 hour ago, ToboRobot said:

yeah sticking a SSD and upgrading the RAM will help with performance on an old Mac. 

i cant upgrade the ram on this one as itsoldered :((. 

[ToboRobot]

5 hours ago, Clearviper said:

i cant upgrade the ram on this one as itsoldered :((. 

bummer, then just do the SSD.

[Needfuldoer]

[ Moved to Laptops and Pre-Built Systems ]

 

An SSD will make an appreciable difference to how responsive your iMac feels. However, it's still a decade old and there's not much you can do to make it compute faster.

 

It's already past the end of official MacOS support (Monterey stopped getting security updates this past November), so you need OpenCore Legacy Patcher to get later versions installed. That's also one of the iMac models that requires you to cut the glass off then tape it back on after.

 

 

If you're okay with running off an external drive, or you're up to doing the surgery to swap the drive out, by all means spend the $100 on an SSD. You can always use it on another computer when you upgrade in the future. If not, save your money and put it toward a new machine fund.

 

[Clearviper]

On 2/14/2025 at 9:27 AM, Needfuldoer said:

[ Moved to Laptops and Pre-Built Systems ]

 

An SSD will make an appreciable difference to how responsive your iMac feels. However, it's still a decade old and there's not much you can do to make it compute faster.

 

It's already past the end of official MacOS support (Monterey stopped getting security updates this past November), so you need OpenCore Legacy Patcher to get later versions installed. That's also one of the iMac models that requires you to cut the glass off then tape it back on after.

 

 

If you're okay with running off an external drive, or you're up to doing the surgery to swap the drive out, by all means spend the $100 on an SSD. You can always use it on another computer when you upgrade in the future. If not, save your money and put it toward a new machine fund.

 

i mean i already have a gaming pc with way better specs but this kinda my media pc since atm it does have a 1tb drive in it atm but i mean for the stuff i wanna do on it imagine a ssd with help greatly. i did have a 2017 macbook air with very very simlar specs to this and i know that thing ran open core with sonoma installed really really well so im hoping if i get a ssd in this, it can do the same but im not sure because the macbook air did have the advantage such being a nvme drive but im sure it will make a differeance as im always getting the spinning beachball effect on this imac when literally doing most things so im hoping it will fix that issue. i mean im not trying to run triple aaa games on this thing im just trying to give it a bit more life