iMac Refresh & Update

[mickneil]

Purchased a 27" iMac in early 2012 shortly after my young son spilled/fried my Macbook pro. In a rush to get the Mac up and running (my wife uses it for her design work) I just did a bunch of file dumps onto the new Mac. I set up an external HD for the backups and to store larger media files.

Fast forward to 2016 - the Mac runs well but almost seems slower than my Macbook (purchased in 2009). I would like to better organize my files/programs and maybe speed things up a bit (many programs get hung up/run slow). Looking for recommendations. I'm open to upgrading the OS, upgrading hardware, etc. Also looking for recommendations for backup programs or anything else. We've also got 2 iPhones and 2 iPads and would like a better way to use the Mac for backups, etc. I need a little insight into how to manage multiple devices that have their respective iTunes accounts/Apple ID's.

Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Raz0rEdge]

What are the exact specs of the iMac? How much memory does it have? What version of OS X is it running? How big is the HDD and how much free space do you have? Grab a copy of OnyX to clear things up. Run repair permissions on the disk.

 

[lclev]

You do not say what version of OS X you are running or if you have been keeping it up to date. Also I would suggest downloading Onyx - a free utility that will clean out a lot of junk that may be slowing stuff down. Be sure to download the one for your version of OS X and run the automation feature.

As for backing up multiple devices to the iMac that can be done. This post of the exact question will explain how better: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/213507/can-i-have-mulitple-apple-ids-backed-up-to-itunes

I back my iPhone and my husbands to my MB Air under my account BUT he only has his contacts and a couple of apps. He will never have music, videos, etc on his as to him it is a phone only. If it were me, I would create separate login accounts for each person and backup their devices on their account. iTunes will be available and separate on each account that way. Hopefully I explained that well but that is why I included the other post.

Lisa

 

[mickneil]

Sorry, forgot about the specs. It's currently running 10.8 Mountain Lion on 4 GB memory, 1TB internal HDD with a 3TB external drive (not directly connected - is used as an air drive).

 

[pigoo3]

Just a general comment since you've already gotten some great suggestions.

You didn't say exactly what computing tasks you do on your iMac. But if nothing unusual...a 2012 27" iMac should still run great in a 2016 computing environment.

- Nick

 

[pigoo3]

Sorry, forgot about the specs. It's currently running 10.8 Mountain Lion on 4 GB memory, 1TB internal HDD with a 3TB external drive (not directly connected - is used as an air drive).

Also need to know how much free space is on the internal hard drive (asked above). And run Onyx as suggested.

- Nick

 

[mickneil]

Sorry, I'll get this right one of these days...

I have approx. 600 GB of free space on the HDD (but could be more if I cleaned it up a bit).

We primarily use it to run Adobe programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.). That and the occasional Microsoft programs. I appreciate all the responses.

Is there any way to find redundant/copied files? When I moved everything from the old Macbook I tried several different programs to copy the set up to the new machine. In my haste and lack of knowledge, I'm sure I've got several copies of everything on there that I'd like to get rid of.

 

[pigoo3]

I have approx. 600 GB of free space on the HDD (but could be more if I cleaned it up a bit).

Thanks for the HD free space info. 600gig should be more than fine.

Now run Onyx as suggested.

- Nick

p.s. By the way. I would suggest upgrading the RAM to at least 8gig. I have two computers running Mountain Lion (OS 10.8)...one has 8gig of RAM...the other 16gig.

 

[mickneil]

Will do. i actually have the memory sticks already. Just waiting til I have some time.

What about recommendations to the OS? Would it be wise to upgrade the one of the latest versions?

 

[pigoo3]

Will do. i actually have the memory sticks already. Just waiting til I have some time.

Only takes 5 minutes.

What about recommendations to the OS? Would it be wise to upgrade the one of the latest versions?

Why don't we finish looking into the slowness issues before talking OS upgrade.

But one thing to consider before upgrading the OS...will any of your current apps be incompatible with a newer OS version? You mentioned Adobe programs...but didn't mention the versions. As you know these are expensive apps...and I'm sure you don't want to spend big bucks replacing them...unless a newer OS version provides you with something worth that Adobe app upgrade cost.

- Nick

 

[chscag]

We primarily use it to run Adobe programs (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.). That and the occasional Microsoft programs. I appreciate all the responses.

I would also suggest in addition to what has already been given.... that you add more memory to your iMac. The 4 GB that you have is probably OK, but I would think adding another 4 GB will help especially with memory intensive programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop. A 2012 iMac 27" model can take according to Mactracker:

Maximum Memory 32 GB
Memory Slots 4 - 204-pin PC3-12800 (1600 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM

We recommend purchasing memory from either Crucial or OWC (www.macsales.com)