Will it manage - Apple iMac i5 2.7GHz 21.5in Late 2013 1TB HDD - 8GB Ram

[DavidCope-Leeds]

Hi

Please forgive me if this has been covered many times as I am new to both Macs and forums . My daughter is doing a Photography course at York University and I would like to get her an iMac to help with out of uni work. Until she is established, I cannot justify £2K or so on a new model but I have seen an Apple iMac i5 2.7GHz 21.5in Late 2013 1TB HDD - 8GB Ram for £215, allegedly in pristine condition.

My inexperience leads me to believe that the technology of iMacs are that good that they are similar today as in the 2013 spec only now the RAM can be much bigger and storage is usually SSD. Do you think that the proposed machine will suffice as a starter?

Thank you.

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum.

I fully understand the dilemma, David. That iMac is pretty old. It should be in pretty good shape, but because it is that old, it's not going to be able to run the latest software for your daughter. I don't know what your budget might be, but you might consider a new or newer Mac Mini instead. Add a keyboard, mouse and monitor and you have a pretty powerful machine.

I'm sure others will chime in here with suggestions as well.

One thought is that if you go with that old iMac, you might want to buy a copy of Windows to install on it instead of the older version of macOS that it supports. The hardware should be compatible and Windows 10, maybe even 11, could run on it quite nicely.

 

[ferrarr]

I agree with Jake, a Mac Mini seems like a better option. I love my late 2014 Mini, and I just upgrade to macOS 12 Monterey. The 2018 version, or even better the 2020 M1 version would be the best option.

 

[DavidCope-Leeds]

Thank you for your advice guys. I certainly have another option or two to look into.