Should I upgrade to Sierra on old iMac

My iMac is still performing pretty well after 6 years. However with El Capitan installed it may have gone as far as sensible 'cos it occasionally freezes if I am running too many apps at the same time. This means a reboot and can mean loss of work. At one time Apple boasted a reduction in size of OS X software; I think this applied to the upgrade from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion?

I suspect that Sierra amy take up more space than its predecessor. Does anyone have any thoughts views on this?

However with El Capitan installed it may have gone as far as sensible 'cos it occasionally freezes if I am running too many apps at the same time.

Click to expand...

Do you have and run "Memory Clean"? Running this after using a RAM intensive application frees up memory and might help with your problem of OSX freezing. Just search for Memory Clean in the App Store.

It should not mean a loss of work if you are only rebooting, maybe a loss of time, but not data.

Tell us about the Mac in question?

How much ram is installed?
Processor?
Hard drive size, space used and available?
What type of disk drive is installed?
Any external devices? Any other issues you have noticed?

1.) Hard drive could be failing.
2.) With many things open, you could use more memory.
3.) External devices affect speed and performance.

Judging from how long it took to download Sierra, I think it requires more space. Given all the Apps that come with it, that is more than probable, but a lot of them I am glad to have. I have a compatibility problem with Canon and Sierra, but maybe that is another Thread.

As Bob asks, how much memory do you have installed. Assuming it is the 2010 21.5" model you can install up to 16GB and generally the more the better. Why is it necessary to have many apps open at once? Also realise your iMac is six years old and is getting on somewhat Alwyn.

Regarding size I do not do music, antivirus nor photos and El Capitan and macOS Sierra run almost identical sizes in their bare installed form, the former 43GB and the latter 42GB.

filipeduardovic said:

Judging from how long it took to download Sierra, I think it requires more space. … …. …

Click to expand...

I don't know what the connection is but I don't know anyone that can tell the size of any OS by the amount of time it takes to download. Not exactly scientific or accurate… and especially when a lot is compressed or not…




- Patrick
======

To add to what Patrick said, also download speed and time of day that the download takes place affect download time.

And how busy the Apple Servers are at the time

Actually I revised my equipment list. Now it is an iMac 27". It is informative that you suggest more memory. Presently it is 8 GB, and has room to go up to 16. A guru seemed to suggest that it may be too late to find addition RAM. This machine is late 2014. You inspire me to ask at MAC if an upgrade of memory would be possible. Thank you.

Yes, you can still get memory for your iMac. You can go to Crucial and run their system scanner. It will tell you what memory and how much memory your iMac will take. It will also tell you their pricing for those items. I know about 8 months ago, it was still listing ram for my 2011 MacBook Pro.

Yes, you can still get memory for your iMac.

Click to expand...

Or https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac


PS:

A guru seemed to suggest that it may be too late to find addition RAM.

Click to expand...

I'd really suggest you find another and better informed, knowledgeable "guru"!!!




- Patrick
======

Your guru is a goose!

harryb2448 said:

Regarding size I do not do music, antivirus nor photos and El Capitan and macOS Sierra run almost identical sizes in their bare installed form, the former 43GB and the latter 42GB.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I do have music but not many pictures on my iMac as most of them are on my wife's which is a matter of months younger than mine. Anyway I'll do a CCC first so that, if I have problems I can revert to El Capitan.

10 October am. I've now installed Sierra. Initial problem was failure to access the Internet, 'cos trying to use TP Link network; resolved but had to go to settings again this morning so hope this isn't ongoing.

Sierra now installed

I've now installed Sierra, see previous post.

Many thanks for comments - actually, MAC told me how much RAM there was and how much more the iMac could accomodate. In fact, the guru arrived with Mac-authorized and compatible RAM. It is operating well, and was certainly needed.