Wow, I’ve had my mid-2011 27” since 2012 and only knew about the RAM (which I did a few years back). My iMac still runs like a champ. But I cans it believe I JUST found out it has a magnetic glass screen! Time to boost it up even more. Great video!!
I just got one of this for free! I bought it for $250 and the seller did a shitty packaging as well so fedex shattered the glass aaaand I got a full refund. I'll wait until your next video before getting my hands inside.
I just bought one for $20. It was missing a hard drive, memory, and the glass that sits in from of the screen. I’m about to upgrade the HD with a SSD and the memory. Thanks for the video.
Awesome video, I bought that exact iMac back in 2011, I loved it, but now it sits in the corner ofy bedroom, I have a 13" MacBook pro , but since watching this video, I had no ideas of all the upgrades I can do to this iMac, ty so much for that bit of info !👍✌️
It’s always 30 or 60fps because of vsync being enabled in the graphics options. If the GPU can’t display 60fps, vsync drops to 30 instead of displaying torn frames. 👍
I actually used this video to find my mid-2011 imac 21.5", which so happened to be from the same company that you bought yours from and they did a great job on the packing but I didn't get that card that you got. But I did actually get a ripped up garbage bag in my box, lol. No lie. I laughed cause it looks exactly like the one that you got. Also the cord smells brand new and it works great. So thanks for the advice and this is the first time that I actually took someone's advice on buying anything from the internet and not ever seeing what I was buying before I did and it worked out great. So I'll keep watching what you post (great info by the way) and thanks for your insight on the computer. Truly helpful.
You said they were great back in 2018. Here I am in 2022 watching your video on a late 2009 iMac 21.5". I only upgraded the RAM, the rest is stock (mine came with a 7200rpm HDD)
Great video; I have two of these 2011 iMacs. Upgraded both to 16 Gig RAM, one with an SSD, and the other with a FireCuda SSHD and both run great. Great value since you also get a 27" 2.5K display.
@@jackspring7709 I have upgraded to 12GB, it shows a big difference after that, being able to run Adobe CC easily on that, along with Final Cut Pro. I have 512MB AMD Graphic Memory, Is there a option to share my RAM with Graphics Memory?
@@TheWaqaspuri Nice one. The RAM upgrades always make a huge difference. I'm afraid I don't know if there's an option to share RAM with graphics memory, sorry.
Found this video doing some research for this model of iMac. I was able to get one for $50 and the only issue was the fact that the previous owner had accidentally erased the partitions off the hard drive and didn't know how to fix it. Rebooted into recovery mode, reinstalled the macOS, and i was fixed.
Here's a long story about how I got a 2011 iMac to work after the video card had failed. I bought a 2010 27 inch iMac with an i3 CPU about a year and a half ago at a reasonably good price on Craigslist, intending to add an SSD and upgrade the CPU to an i7. I went to a local place that has all sorts of used computer parts for sale, looking for an i7 CPU. Purely by coincidence, while I was standing there in line someone brought out from the back a 27 inch iMac, presumably in for repairs, and handed it over the counter to the iMac owner, telling him that the iMac couldn't be fixed. The guy was, understandably, pretty sad about the situation. I asked the iMac owner what the problem was with the computer. He said that the video card had failed. [Note that the computer store had already removed the internal hard drive when he first brought the computer in to the store a few days previously, so his data--he was a video developer--was safe and secure in his hands.] I told the iMac owner I was in the store right now looking for a used i7 for a 2010 iMac, and asked him if his iMac was a 2010, and if it had an i7. He said yes, and I asked him if he wanted to sell it. He said sure, since it was of no use to him now. Neither of us knew what it was worth, so I said, Look, I only need the CPU, and offered him $20 (Canadian). He said OK, and asked me if I wanted to buy the RAM also, 4x4GB=16GB. I asked him how much, he didn't know, but the computer store employee said $80 for the RAM was reasonable, and added that $20 for the CPU was an OK price. I didn't have the cash on me, so we both walked a few blocks to my bank and I paid him $100. I got home, the 2010 iMac was already apart, waiting for me to install the SSD. I disassembled the new iMac I had just bought, intending to take out the i7. After I got it apart, I realized that the new iMac was not a 2010 Mac at all, but rather a 2011. "Damn" I thought, now I have an iMac with a fried video card. But at least I bought the 16GB RAM at a reasonable price for used RAM. Then I got to thinking, wondering how much it would cost to replace the fried video card. I checked eBay, and WOW!!! it was $900 Canadian for a new video card for a 2010 iMac. Unfortunately that was at least ten times more than I wanted to pay. I started scrolling through eBay, looking at prices for video cards and came upon an ad claiming to fix a video card for a 2010 iMac for $119, 3-5 days turnaround, 90 day guarantee. (You had to remove the video card yourself, and mail it to the vendor). That seemed like a pretty good deal, so I emailed the eBay vendor to see if this also applied to a 2011 iMac. "Sure, no problem with a 2011 iMac", the vendor said. A little while later I started thinking again, how could someone "fix" a fried video card, guaranteed, with a turnaround of less than a week? How can you "fix" a video card, with ten zillion connections? All of a sudden, some neglected, long forgotten sectors in the back of my brain fired, and then it struck me; I googled "iMac 27 inch video card oven". The following UA-cam video turned up: ua-cam.com/video/9vPM41ZmLos/v-deo.html It's a long video, but essentially a really nice, believable guy named Evan, from Greece I think, explains in some detail how he fixed a failed video card on his 2011 iMac by putting it in the oven for 8 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (405 degrees F.). It seemed ridiculous, but since I had both iMacs apart, I thought WTF, I've got nothing to lose, why not give it a try? So I got started. I must admit though, after a lot of painstaking work disassembling the logic board, and then extracting the video card, I felt pretty stupid for a few minutes when I got to the point of actually putting the video card in the oven. After installing an SSD I had lying around and completely re-assembling the 2011 iMac (nearly a full and very grueling day!), and starting it up, I waited for twenty or thirty seconds... And then, I couldn't believe it. The friggin' iMac started right up and the video card was, magically, no longer fried!!! That was nearly a year and a half ago, and it's still going, and I haven't seen any issues whatsoever with the video card or anything else. In fact, I'm writing this on my salvaged 2011 iMac right now. I have since installed a 250GB SSD with velcro tape under the optical drive, replaced the original internal hard drive with a 2TB drive, attached a second monitor, a 30 inch Cinema Display, upgraded the RAM to 24GB, and installed macOS High Sierra 10.13. I have a bunch of Mac Pros, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, iMacs, etc., of various vintages, plus more than a couple of older PCs, and according to Geekbench 4, this is the fastest computer I currently own, even beating both of my 8 core Mac Pros with dual Xeon processors. Except that the GPU diode runs quite hot (according to Macs Fan Control nearly 80 degrees Ceisius, yikes!!!), my new $20 2011 27 inch iMac seems to be performing admirably. Oh yeah, and I eventually found and upgraded the i3 to a compatible i7 ($119 from a local used computer dealer) in my first 2010 iMac, installed an SSD and a 2TB internal drive. The 2010 iMac was also successfully tested with 24GB of RAM. I'm kind of delighted with all this. As you can probably tell.
Same story here! Same youtube video and everything, figured what's the worst that could happen, since my mac was unusable, so I followed Evan's instructions, and to my amazement, it worked! I have actually done it three times over the course of several years, and it still works! That being said, I'd still love to replace it with something more reliable like Luke mentioned in this video.
The cooking process melts the solder on the chip legs and remakes all the leg joints. I have done a couple of video cards and take your time applying fresh chip paste. Works a charm, heat from the old HD is the cause, installing SSD eliminates that issue.
Purchased in 2011, I have the 27-inch, 3.4 GHz Core i7 with 32GB Ram iMac. I have upgraded the internal drive to 1TB SSD, I replaced the built-in optical drive with a built-in Blu-Ray optical slot-drive and Apple replaced the GPU as part of the GPU replacement programme many many years ago. I also use Target Display Mode with my MBP so can use the iMac as a second monitor and I have the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock providing USB 3 ports. I don’t game but I code, run multiple server VM’s, watch/record TV using Elgato, run my work VDI and other UrAvgConsumer stuff. This is a good looking, rock solid iMac that has out lasted many of my friends desktops/laptops over the years. One of my best tech purchases ever..
I still use one of these. In fact I'm typing on it now. Mine has 12GB RAM, the 2GB graphics card, and a 256GB SSD to supplement the HDD. While many PCs of the same age have long been thrown away, this thing still churns away and never complains. I use it for video creation and music creation.
My nephew gave me a later 2009 21" iMac a couple of years ago. 10 years later still working - a bit slow booting. Adding 8GB of ram (12Gb total) and booting from SSD HD in a USB enclosure has revived the machine. Not as slow booting (still slower than my Lenovo T420 - 20 to 30 seconds) but much better than before. A beautiful machine even today. Great screen.
I'm really looking forward to see how you upgrade the graphics to something metal compatible without losing the boot screen, brightness control and target display mode. Also, very interested in a fully functional Bluetooth 4 upgrade along with apple watch unlock and without the need to hack the system after every upadate. Psyched!
2011 21.1 inch here as well...upgraded myself to i7, 16gb and ssd... also love it, its just so freakin nice to use.. doesnt feel dated and doesnt feel slow..
I only got rid of mine yesterday, it was a great machine and served me so well. I did change a few things i had 20GB ram and also an SSD drive, which made the machine screaming fast.
Got one. Good machine. Standard GPU is only 512GB and is getting old. GPU from M2011 is direct swap with minimal cutting of plastic to clear larger heat pipes. It runs High Sierra almost as well as my M2011 i7 3.4 GHz and for everyday computing, you will not notice much difference. With the upgraded GPU, It will play 2.5k 60 fps video with ease. Mine came with 32GB so upgrade is possible over published maximum. Still running 7.2k mechanical drive and it is actually pretty good. SSD will perk it up.
I have this model and its my first one a good a friend gifted me for teaching him how to created in CS6. It set in the corner for a long time because i really dig PC. Then i plugged it up and turned it on and saw it had 16 gigs of ram i smiled and now the pc is in the corner since a long time. :)) Great machine.....
Agree the 2011 is in a SWEET SPOT for value vs performance and upgradeability. I've opened mine up, added an SSD (without removing optical or stock HDD), added RAM, and added a Thunderbolt 2 to USB3 external device. It works very well. BUT, with modern HEVC and 4K video the quad core 2nd gen i5 CPU struggles hard. My 2015 MacBook Air outperforms there...
Hi, I have the exact same model with the i5 cpu, I find it very slow, I've only upgraded the memory to 20gb(have the original one and 2 extra from owc), So my guess it is the internal hdd that slows me down...? Do you have any recommendation of where I could by the ssd? Also, the Thunderbolt 2 you mentioned is quite interesting. Maybe you've done some digging in that area... , it is either this or buying a new one. Thanks for sharing. Regards from Sweden
I know this is old but I recently bought this imac with an i5 and I am struggling with getting any decent modern Mac OS to work on it. I gave up and put Ubuntu 20.05 on it. I’d rather have actual Mac on it but nothing worked. Safari, chrome. Do you have any recent thoughts on this? Thanks for the video.
I have a mid-2011 27" iMac and have yet to upgrade anything. It is currently running High Sierra. It takes a long time to fully boot. I look forward to watching your series on this computer. Thanks for posting. Liked, subbed and commented. Happy 2020!
i have 2009 Mac that my mum bought me and my wife as a present more than 10 years ago, and still works magic. a bit slow if i try to use microsoft apps like excel but for basic browsing, netflix and youtube, and tv replacement is perfect. may be because it's from mum, that's why it never fails you
I agree. I have this exact iMac with the i7 BTO and I upgraded it to 16GB ram. Also I had the original BTO 256GB SSD, but it was slow as it was only SATA 2. I upgraded it with a 1TB SSD Sata 3 drive, and this thing just continues to be rock solid. It's going on being almost 8 years old.
I bought an earlier version of iMac for very little that had been upgraded to 1TB SSD and Mojave OS. After a year l decided to dump Apple OS for Linux OS and it's way faster and easier to use.
My 2011 iMac 27 inch just stopped! It won’t turn on in my “[macdaddy]“ says if the hard drive is or was pretty close to being finished. Is there anything I can do to resurrect this machine? I really like it. Thanks
Have you analized what could be the problem? Do you have the chime or anything on the screen? You could open your iMac up and there should be 4 LED Indikators. The one who doesn't light up is the hardware you have to replace. Like a example the 4th LED indikates if the Mac is communicating with the Display. If not light up. You have to replace the display or the ribbon cable. All depends on your technical knowledge
Sounds just like mine has gone won't switch on at all, checked it out and found the power supply unit has gone and the motherboard. When I looked over the wiring I found exposed wiring on the temp sensor shorting to the metal surround of the screen and various screws missing (Thanks Charlie Brown). So I will be looking at Lukes upgrades with interest. If you are lucky Eugenia it will be the power supply only which you can purchase on e-bay refurbished with a warranty, and then find someone reliable to install it but get it checked over first by someone like Luke who knows what he/she is doing.
Sometimes when the tape rips and stuff falls out a parcel company will put everything back in the box and just throw it in. I worked for a company outsourced to move packages and I watch a few time where stuff would fall out and guys would just throw whatever back in and send it on its way. Its very possible it had much more packing and the screen was wrapped with that plastic.
Question for you sir Luke. Can you please tell me what I will need to install a 500 SSD into a 2011 IMAC 🖥? Will I need to order new adhesive strips also.
i just picked one of these up myself, upgraded the ram to 12gb. really curious to see what you can do about the graphics and getting it to support metal
I have an 27 inch mid 2011 iMac, after a commonly GPU fail at this model, i upgraded at Radeon HD 2GB version. Reaply the thermal paste, on GPU and CPU, clean the inside and display. I am runing Maveriks, with all the last supported apps. (I don't like the flat interface). I want to upgrade to an ssd owc aura pro, and 32 gb o ram. It will be a beast ! Great iMac, great year
I have a mid 2011 27” as well. I got it in my shop, TV Media in highschool. The school owned it but me and my TV Media teachers were buddies so he let me take it home and when it came time to graduate, he let me keep it. It still sits with a cracked screen, in my room. Upgraded the ram and added an SSD. It’s been my main Mac ever since because I havent been able to afford one.
@@murb19787 I got my mid-2010 iMac speced out with 12gb of ram for $200 and my brother got his mid-2011 for $250 with practically the same specs from our local college. These deals do exist it's just a matter of finding them. You won't typically find deals like this on eBay but look locally!
Be carefull! The mid 2011 models are very famous for theire defective graphiccard problems (white screen of death). U cant find a new graphiccard for this model because its to old and the second hands cost about 300-400$..also its rly annoying to replace this Card because u have to take out the whole mainboard. And official repair stores for Apple cant Repair that for u because 2011 is not supported from Apple! And Its not rly worth because the „new“ Card could die in the next few month.. thats why i sold mine. U better do some research in the Internet before u buy this model. Ps:sry for my Bad englisch :) But anyway ure Video is rly good quality!
I managed to save a 2011 iMac from the dumpster. The original owners thought it was broken because it wouldn't start. It DID start but it wouldn't let me format the hard drive through the terminal. So I used a windows disc to wipe it and now it runs great.
mine is still rollin 10 years later never had an issue. Got the 3.4ghz CPU and the Radeon 6970 in here though. Will get the OWC upgrade to both the HD and SD at some point soon, although they have never had any issue at all. She even fell on her screen and shattered the glass once and never missed an electron.
When you upgrade the graphic card you will loose the ability to change screen brightness und the boot menu will be gone! you need to flash 3rd party graphic cards.
I have the same machine (but the 21.5inch). I changed the hard drive to a SSD and it runs so much faster than when I first bought it... Only thing now is I can't put the latest OS on it. But still happy with what I've got.
Bought one of these for about $700 last year. RAM had been upgraded to 20GB and added a 128GB system SSD. It's really perfect for my needs in music production and light video editing.
Hay glad to hear. I have a chance to pick one up for 350 bucks but I am concerned about what’s the newest operating system I can run is I upgraded my MacBook Pro 2013 to Catalina and lost garage band
I use a late 2013 iMac daily for graphic design and video too. Works great. HDD was slow but I now run the OS from a 1TB usb 3.0 external SSD. I also added 16gb ram so it has 24gb.
I own a late 2009 iMac 27, 8 April 2010, I changed the hard drive for a Crucial SSD 1tb, 8 gb memory, it runs under 10.11, 8 el capitan and is like the first day when I bought it, or better...... I bough it for 1420 € and today I would not pay what Apple is asking for the new ones it starts at 2.400 €......
I fitted that i7 in my 21.5 inch iMac when I did a ssd conversion. I’m currently fitting a x3740 Xeon in my 27inch 2010 iMac with a ssd and a new 2tb Seagate barracuda as I purchased it cheap because the had was about dead.
This was a cool video! Since, I am 100 percent old school (my most modern system is a 2010 mac mini running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard with its Front Row and Rosetta software). Was hooked when, I saw this imac model still had a built-in apple super-drive.
SL is their best OS ever: The first OS with time machine, the last to thoroughly scrub your HDD. Recenly bought a 27¨ 2011 and a copy of SL. It´ll become my offline music server: The drive and big screen (visual effects) will come in handy. (I´m not a clouder or a streamer. I´m a gatherer :) With internet getting ever more censored, more pop-ups, more regulations, and payed subscriptions to media outlets & software, the online experience gets reduced to a parasitic drain of our bankaccounts & privacy. A disposable chromebook is more than enough for dedicated online duty. What´s the use of hooking my personal files to a telephone line anyway? Question: How do you watch YT running Snowy? What browser still supports it?
Thank you for replying to my post. Using OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, I watch Your Tube media content using either Firefox or Chrome. While, know that I am using older versions of each browser still they get the job done and support playing videos in HD at 1080p.
Nice! I have a 2010 27" iMac, already upgraded to 16GB RAM and SSD boot drive years ago - great upgrades. Never knew that CPU and graphics upgrades were possible... might keep this old machine for a bit longer!
Any video card without Apple firmware will not show an image until the OS loads. You loose Boot options to external drives or other internal partitions when you run a non Apple flashed card. The 512MB card has a much lower failure rate, the 1Gb card is mostly, and the 2Gb card is all of them. If you got it new and replaced the thermal paste and put good thermal pads on the vram and mosfets you will get much longer life. Once the card hits 175f it breaks down the internal solder structure and the GPU chip itself will fail early. Keep the temps under 160f ( smc fan control ) and so far most of the ones I worked on back in 2012 ( after the warranty expired ) are still going strong. New cards on Ebay are close to $400. 2013 and up the GPU is all soldered on so will need a whole new logic board if they fail. You can buy the i5 version and put the i7 in with no problems. You MUST use a CPU that was either stock or a build to order version or the machine will likely not boot. The boards are built to accept the CPU's that were installed factory only.
te71se You took the video card out and put it in the oven? Can you give details of temperature and how long? Also were you having blackout issues? Thanks
Hey man great video. There are a few great years for certain models. 2012 Mac Mini w/SSD is the best mac ive ever had. Who is the artist that does the song in the beginning?
I agree. I am still using the 2011 iMac as my main workstation with maxed out RAM, external boot up drive via the Firewire port and a large ASUS palette monitor, giving me two screens. It has definitely been my favorite Mac of all time.
2012's Apple products are the best. - last of the non-retina unibody macbook pro - USB 3.0 introduction - MacBook retina introduction - Quad core Mac Mini
From what i can tell the one in the video has USB 2.0, not 3.0 but you can get a thunderbolt dock with a 3.0 port that will circumvent that limitation.
@@casillasmichael That $400 is quickly being accessorized by $$$ stuff that will only have a very limited useful life. I sold my 2009 iMac and bought a MacMini 2012 i7 with SSD and a new 27" HP QHD screen for about $400 net. I think I got the better deal since I won't have to delicately pop an iMac screen in a clean room to do any internal upgrades other than RAM. USB 3, which is the more universal modern standard, is built in. Don't miss the DVD drive and the possibility of inserting an SD card into that slot by mistake at all. No longer have to worry about replacing the whole shebang at once, since chassis and screen are separete and upgradable on their own.
@@SteveCanon453 In fact, my set-up is quite cozy. The mini sits on an inverted plastic storage basket, so there's lots of ventilation all around including underneath. This is capped, Russian doll style, with another bigger upside down basket that supports my 5 year old i7 Dell laptop that is used as a Plex server and Handbrake video processor. That one could really fry your thigh when working all out, but the fan rarely kicks in due to the design of my "rack".
@@SteveCanon453 The mini/laptop stack was probably the last of the line for Apple and me. Thus the bet hedging and migration to the independent screen & USB 3.0 peripherals for the time being. Have some apps that only ran on Mac OS 10.6 or Win 7 32 bit (older versions of Adobe that I can run in my sleep, automobile open-source diagnostics for some older cars) but those are being phased out. Apple and Microsoft have always seemed to me to embody the left brain/right brain dichotomy, and I was more firmly planted in the Apple camp since the 1980's Lisa, so it's not just a question of $$$. Many folks spend $$$ for iPhone while I am happy with a refurb android with 90% of the features for less than a quarter the price. Now that Apple is taking a harder line (everything soldered, seamless install the new OS on only what could be ordered directly from the factory), yes, time to rethink. Even if they flopped with Windows phone and the brazen fact that way over 50% of their corporate clients still run Windows 7 rather than 10, eventually Microsoft will get it right(er) so that we don't needlessly have to relearn where all the easter eggs have been lost.
Picked up mine recently at 120 euros!!!There was no hard drive and graphic card had common fault. Opened it up, cleaned, changed the paste and reflow the GPU. Installed 240SSD drive and it's been working great so far. I am imressed with screen and sound quality. I know the graphic will die again in few weeks/monts but it was well worth it!
I have the 21.5 inch mid 2011 iMac. Im gonna get a kit to upgrade the ram and add. It'll run for a lot longer then. I also want to put better graphics to play games on windows via Bootcamp
I bought this same build earlier this year and it really is a tremendous value for the money. All I did was put in 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD, with a dual boot of Windows 8.1 to run a few games that complain about metal in High Sierra.
Luke, I would like to donate that DVD to hard drive caddy to you and your channel. I had one in an iMac like yours several months ago. That iMac is gone and I have some parts left over. Let me know, of a P.O. Box address that you accept mail at. I will gladly send it out later this week. Thank you for all the great videos on old Apple products. Hopefully, you decide to make all the changes you are discussing in this video. Those era of iMacs have so many upgrade possibilities. I hope to see you complete them. Including replace that 6970M with a modern GTX 8/9xx series GPU for it.
Crazy thing is. I used a 2011 base model iMac 21.5 inch (the cheapest iMac you could get even for 2011), and it worked perfectly for 8 years. It still works amazing today, but it’s in a cupboard somewhere in the house lol. In late 2019, I bought a 2018 iMac (it was cheaper at the shop I was buying it from), it was the mid range model, and it stopped working within a month. Stopped shutting down (it just went to a black screen with a mouse, and after a while just says that finder couldn’t close every time I hit shutdown) so I did a full reinstall and still didn’t work. I even went in, deleted finder and reinstalled it from a time machine backup from when it worked and still didn’t work so it had to have been something else. I got it replaced because it annoyed me and I still had warranty, and got the same iMac but new. I still have this one today. It works great but it’s fucking slow. I’ve been stuck on Mojave because the company I work for uses a 32 bit accounting application which stopped working after mojave. Thank god they are updating the app soon so ima get one of the new colorful imacs
I have the (original) 2009 edition of this machine and it's still humming along 10 years later after swapping out the internal spinning drive for a 1TB SSD (a relatively easy upgrade opening up the case). For the big storage, I use external RAID via FireWire and LAN storage via 10GB ethernet.
Only current problem with my 2011 27’ iMac is the lack of “Metal” support on newer applications. I had replaced the hard drive, and RAM a long time ago.
@@faithfultrader6340 still working... but you need an ssd and ram upgrade.. be sure about the graphic card and the display. In one of my iMacs the graphiccard died and in the other the LEDs of the display had to be changed. Getting spare parts is becoming a challenge but they are family 😉 and i will take care of them... still great to use and reapair, but be careful with the powersupply!
Wow, I’ve had my mid-2011 27” since 2012 and only knew about the RAM (which I did a few years back). My iMac still runs like a champ. But I cans it believe I JUST found out it has a magnetic glass screen! Time to boost it up even more. Great video!!
Thanks!
Luke, If you can, please do a step by step videos for the upgrade process.
If you make it all the way to the bit at the end, you are a true screamer
Luke Miani hey Luke, can you do a demo of how to use VoiceOver on MacOS and iOS?
4:40 Does the game have forced double buffer vsync? If frame rate bounces between 30-60, that's usually the case.
Your girlfriend was a screamer
I just got one of this for free! I bought it for $250 and the seller did a shitty packaging as well so fedex shattered the glass aaaand I got a full refund. I'll wait until your next video before getting my hands inside.
Luke Miani I watched the whole vid because I have the same iMac!
I just bought one for $20. It was missing a hard drive, memory, and the glass that sits in from of the screen. I’m about to upgrade the HD with a SSD and the memory. Thanks for the video.
Sounds like a good deal if you get some replacement glass
sounds likes a super good deal, hell, i'd pay 50$ for that. 20$ SSD, 38$ Ram, 50$ glass. Not too bad man!
Awesome video, I bought that exact iMac back in 2011, I loved it, but now it sits in the corner ofy bedroom, I have a 13" MacBook pro , but since watching this video, I had no ideas of all the upgrades I can do to this iMac, ty so much for that bit of info !👍✌️
It’s always 30 or 60fps because of vsync being enabled in the graphics options. If the GPU can’t display 60fps, vsync drops to 30 instead of displaying torn frames. 👍
I actually used this video to find my mid-2011 imac 21.5", which so happened to be from the same company that you bought yours from and they did a great job on the packing but I didn't get that card that you got. But I did actually get a ripped up garbage bag in my box, lol. No lie. I laughed cause it looks exactly like the one that you got. Also the cord smells brand new and it works great. So thanks for the advice and this is the first time that I actually took someone's advice on buying anything from the internet and not ever seeing what I was buying before I did and it worked out great. So I'll keep watching what you post (great info by the way) and thanks for your insight on the computer. Truly helpful.
Hi, what’s the website?
The 60/30 FPS is because you have VSync on.
Specifically double buffered. One buffer at 30 and another at 60.
You said they were great back in 2018. Here I am in 2022 watching your video on a late 2009 iMac 21.5". I only upgraded the RAM, the rest is stock (mine came with a 7200rpm HDD)
Had these in college library. I’m an artist so I ran through plenty of programs. It was as smooth as a dolphin. I miss it :(
I’m looking to buy one of this “vintage” Mac’s, until the slim one’s, and after a few days searching for information, your vídeo is the best one !
Great video; I have two of these 2011 iMacs. Upgraded both to 16 Gig RAM, one with an SSD, and the other with a FireCuda SSHD and both run great. Great value since you also get a 27" 2.5K display.
Just a quick note: you can upgrade the iMac 2011 to 32GB RAM: officially Apple says 16GB is the limit, but no, it can take 32GB.
@@jackspring7709 I have upgraded to 12GB, it shows a big difference after that, being able to run Adobe CC easily on that, along with Final Cut Pro. I have 512MB AMD Graphic Memory, Is there a option to share my RAM with Graphics Memory?
@@TheWaqaspuri Nice one. The RAM upgrades always make a huge difference. I'm afraid I don't know if there's an option to share RAM with graphics memory, sorry.
Is still j? I am wondering if I should get the 2011 model now
@@faithfultrader6340 the 2011 is still amazing, I use mine everyday on the latest MacOS for heavy audio & video work.
I still use this model iMac every day.
whats the model? 😭
Still rocking my 2011 27in iMac!
Found this video doing some research for this model of iMac. I was able to get one for $50 and the only issue was the fact that the previous owner had accidentally erased the partitions off the hard drive and didn't know how to fix it. Rebooted into recovery mode, reinstalled the macOS, and i was fixed.
Here's a long story about how I got a 2011 iMac to work after the video card had failed.
I bought a 2010 27 inch iMac with an i3 CPU about a year and a half ago at a reasonably good price on Craigslist, intending to add an SSD and upgrade the CPU to an i7. I went to a local place that has all sorts of used computer parts for sale, looking for an i7 CPU. Purely by coincidence, while I was standing there in line someone brought out from the back a 27 inch iMac, presumably in for repairs, and handed it over the counter to the iMac owner, telling him that the iMac couldn't be fixed. The guy was, understandably, pretty sad about the situation. I asked the iMac owner what the problem was with the computer. He said that the video card had failed. [Note that the computer store had already removed the internal hard drive when he first brought the computer in to the store a few days previously, so his data--he was a video developer--was safe and secure in his hands.]
I told the iMac owner I was in the store right now looking for a used i7 for a 2010 iMac, and asked him if his iMac was a 2010, and if it had an i7. He said yes, and I asked him if he wanted to sell it. He said sure, since it was of no use to him now. Neither of us knew what it was worth, so I said, Look, I only need the CPU, and offered him $20 (Canadian). He said OK, and asked me if I wanted to buy the RAM also, 4x4GB=16GB. I asked him how much, he didn't know, but the computer store employee said $80 for the RAM was reasonable, and added that $20 for the CPU was an OK price. I didn't have the cash on me, so we both walked a few blocks to my bank and I paid him $100.
I got home, the 2010 iMac was already apart, waiting for me to install the SSD. I disassembled the new iMac I had just bought, intending to take out the i7. After I got it apart, I realized that the new iMac was not a 2010 Mac at all, but rather a 2011. "Damn" I thought, now I have an iMac with a fried video card. But at least I bought the 16GB RAM at a reasonable price for used RAM.
Then I got to thinking, wondering how much it would cost to replace the fried video card. I checked eBay, and WOW!!! it was $900 Canadian for a new video card for a 2010 iMac. Unfortunately that was at least ten times more than I wanted to pay. I started scrolling through eBay, looking at prices for video cards and came upon an ad claiming to fix a video card for a 2010 iMac for $119, 3-5 days turnaround, 90 day guarantee. (You had to remove the video card yourself, and mail it to the vendor). That seemed like a pretty good deal, so I emailed the eBay vendor to see if this also applied to a 2011 iMac. "Sure, no problem with a 2011 iMac", the vendor said.
A little while later I started thinking again, how could someone "fix" a fried video card, guaranteed, with a turnaround of less than a week? How can you "fix" a video card, with ten zillion connections?
All of a sudden, some neglected, long forgotten sectors in the back of my brain fired, and then it struck me; I googled "iMac 27 inch video card oven".
The following UA-cam video turned up:
ua-cam.com/video/9vPM41ZmLos/v-deo.html
It's a long video, but essentially a really nice, believable guy named Evan, from Greece I think, explains in some detail how he fixed a failed video card on his 2011 iMac by putting it in the oven for 8 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (405 degrees F.). It seemed ridiculous, but since I had both iMacs apart, I thought WTF, I've got nothing to lose, why not give it a try?
So I got started. I must admit though, after a lot of painstaking work disassembling the logic board, and then extracting the video card, I felt pretty stupid for a few minutes when I got to the point of actually putting the video card in the oven.
After installing an SSD I had lying around and completely re-assembling the 2011 iMac (nearly a full and very grueling day!), and starting it up, I waited for twenty or thirty seconds...
And then, I couldn't believe it. The friggin' iMac started right up and the video card was, magically, no longer fried!!!
That was nearly a year and a half ago, and it's still going, and I haven't seen any issues whatsoever with the video card or anything else. In fact, I'm writing this on my salvaged 2011 iMac right now. I have since installed a 250GB SSD with velcro tape under the optical drive, replaced the original internal hard drive with a 2TB drive, attached a second monitor, a 30 inch Cinema Display, upgraded the RAM to 24GB, and installed macOS High Sierra 10.13. I have a bunch of Mac Pros, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, iMacs, etc., of various vintages, plus more than a couple of older PCs, and according to Geekbench 4, this is the fastest computer I currently own, even beating both of my 8 core Mac Pros with dual Xeon processors.
Except that the GPU diode runs quite hot (according to Macs Fan Control nearly 80 degrees Ceisius, yikes!!!), my new $20 2011 27 inch iMac seems to be performing admirably.
Oh yeah, and I eventually found and upgraded the i3 to a compatible i7 ($119 from a local used computer dealer) in my first 2010 iMac, installed an SSD and a 2TB internal drive. The 2010 iMac was also successfully tested with 24GB of RAM.
I'm kind of delighted with all this. As you can probably tell.
I hate myself for clicking read more 💀
Same story here! Same youtube video and everything, figured what's the worst that could happen, since my mac was unusable, so I followed Evan's instructions, and to my amazement, it worked! I have actually done it three times over the course of several years, and it still works! That being said, I'd still love to replace it with something more reliable like Luke mentioned in this video.
@Stewart Seidel you have a lot of spare time
Can't believe I read all that... Good read though
The cooking process melts the solder on the chip legs and remakes all the leg joints. I have done a couple of video cards and take your time applying fresh chip paste. Works a charm, heat from the old HD is the cause, installing SSD eliminates that issue.
Firewatch background and synthwave music. Wise choices
Purchased in 2011, I have the 27-inch, 3.4 GHz Core i7 with 32GB Ram iMac.
I have upgraded the internal drive to 1TB SSD, I replaced the built-in optical drive with a built-in Blu-Ray optical slot-drive and Apple replaced the GPU as part of the GPU replacement programme many many years ago.
I also use Target Display Mode with my MBP so can use the iMac as a second monitor and I have the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock providing USB 3 ports. I don’t game but I code, run multiple server VM’s, watch/record TV using Elgato, run my work VDI and other UrAvgConsumer stuff.
This is a good looking, rock solid iMac that has out lasted many of my friends desktops/laptops over the years. One of my best tech purchases ever..
Same machine...it’s a beast....I wonder if we can replace the GPU ?? To a nivida card would be nice
@@andrewmazzoli4904 Yes, and you can flash the BIOS of the NVIDIA pretty easily now. ua-cam.com/video/vt0GvUfDK8o/v-deo.html&ab_channel=MacintoshMen
Watching this on my 2011 21 inch iMac, in usage since 2011. 24/7 - a beast
Were there ever any problems?
@@toastedtarts4044 No, just the hard disk made some high frequency noices, which is totally fine for a hdd that runs for 10 years almost every day
@@dorianvoka5591 oh okay that’s good. It sounds like a durable machine
me too
well, I don't use it 24/7
but have a 21.5 inch mid 2011 imac
@@AWildBard does it still work? I’m about to buy one ☝️
I’m excited to work on this iMac!
Got one of these new in 2011 and still have it.
Again a great video man! Keep the great work up!!
this kinda content is definitely why i follow you.
Looking forward to the upgrades. will probably buy one once first upgrade video comes out
First computer in my life, it was pretty amazing in its time.
I still use one of these. In fact I'm typing on it now. Mine has 12GB RAM, the 2GB graphics card, and a 256GB SSD to supplement the HDD. While many PCs of the same age have long been thrown away, this thing still churns away and never complains. I use it for video creation and music creation.
Funny thing is you can take that graphics card out and sell it on eBay for about $275 and then buy a much better card with the cash
Watching this on my mid 2011 iMac I just got FO FREE! I can't believe how well these computers hold up
My nephew gave me a later 2009 21" iMac a couple of years ago. 10 years later still working - a bit slow booting. Adding 8GB of ram (12Gb total) and booting from SSD HD in a USB enclosure has revived the machine. Not as slow booting (still slower than my Lenovo T420 - 20 to 30 seconds) but much better than before. A beautiful machine even today. Great screen.
I'm really looking forward to see how you upgrade the graphics to something metal compatible without losing the boot screen, brightness control and target display mode. Also, very interested in a fully functional Bluetooth 4 upgrade along with apple watch unlock and without the need to hack the system after every upadate. Psyched!
Dear Luke, is worth to do same thing in 2022 for mid 2011 iMac like you? thanks.
I had the 2011 21.1 inch as a teenager and it was so amazing. I never loved a computer as much as that iMac.
2011 21.1 inch here as well...upgraded myself to i7, 16gb and ssd... also love it, its just so freakin nice to use.. doesnt feel dated and doesnt feel slow..
Your video’s are great
That iMac is pretty much worth the price. Nice
Noice.
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Retr0 Games uyzdg
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I only got rid of mine yesterday, it was a great machine and served me so well. I did change a few things i had 20GB ram and also an SSD drive, which made the machine screaming fast.
Steve Jobs I think was still around and he was what made apple great and kept from soldering things
I have a mid 2011 21.5 inch imac, and I’m loving it. It may have outdated software, being capped at High Sierra, but it runs without an issue
How about a top of the line late 2009 iMac 27" 2.8 GHz?
Got one. Good machine. Standard GPU is only 512GB and is getting old. GPU from M2011 is direct swap with minimal cutting of plastic to clear larger heat pipes. It runs High Sierra almost as well as my M2011 i7 3.4 GHz and for everyday computing, you will not notice much difference. With the upgraded GPU, It will play 2.5k 60 fps video with ease. Mine came with 32GB so upgrade is possible over published maximum. Still running 7.2k mechanical drive and it is actually pretty good. SSD will perk it up.
I have this model and its my first one a good a friend gifted me for teaching him how to created in CS6. It set in the corner for a long time because i really dig PC. Then i plugged it up and turned it on and saw it had 16 gigs of ram i smiled and now the pc is in the corner since a long time. :)) Great machine.....
Agree the 2011 is in a SWEET SPOT for value vs performance and upgradeability. I've opened mine up, added an SSD (without removing optical or stock HDD), added RAM, and added a Thunderbolt 2 to USB3 external device. It works very well. BUT, with modern HEVC and 4K video the quad core 2nd gen i5 CPU struggles hard. My 2015 MacBook Air outperforms there...
Hi, I have the exact same model with the i5 cpu, I find it very slow, I've only upgraded the memory to 20gb(have the original one and 2 extra from owc), So my guess it is the internal hdd that slows me down...? Do you have any recommendation of where I could by the ssd? Also, the Thunderbolt 2 you mentioned is quite interesting. Maybe you've done some digging in that area... , it is either this or buying a new one. Thanks for sharing. Regards from Sweden
I know this is old but I recently bought this imac with an i5 and I am struggling with getting any decent modern Mac OS to work on it. I gave up and put Ubuntu 20.05 on it. I’d rather have actual Mac on it but nothing worked. Safari, chrome. Do you have any recent thoughts on this? Thanks for the video.
Your the man, I don't know why other people haven't figured out that the 2011 iMac is great for price.
Go Cards! 😁
I have a 21.5" iMac mid 2011. I love that machine.
I have a mid-2011 27" iMac and have yet to upgrade anything. It is currently running High Sierra. It takes a long time to fully boot. I look forward to watching your series on this computer. Thanks for posting. Liked, subbed and commented. Happy 2020!
I dunno how you can make saying "screamer" sound cool. When I try to say it I end up sounding like an old guy.
i have 2009 Mac that my mum bought me and my wife as a present more than 10 years ago, and still works magic. a bit slow if i try to use microsoft apps like excel but for basic browsing, netflix and youtube, and tv replacement is perfect. may be because it's from mum, that's why it never fails you
I agree. I have this exact iMac with the i7 BTO and I upgraded it to 16GB ram. Also I had the original BTO 256GB SSD, but it was slow as it was only SATA 2. I upgraded it with a 1TB SSD Sata 3 drive, and this thing just continues to be rock solid. It's going on being almost 8 years old.
I bought an earlier version of iMac for very little that had been upgraded to 1TB SSD and Mojave OS. After a year l decided to dump Apple OS for Linux OS and it's way faster and easier to use.
My 2011 iMac 27 inch just stopped! It won’t turn on in my “[macdaddy]“ says if the hard drive is or was pretty close to being finished. Is there anything I can do to resurrect this machine? I really like it. Thanks
Have you analized what could be the problem? Do you have the chime or anything on the screen? You could open your iMac up and there should be 4 LED Indikators. The one who doesn't light up is the hardware you have to replace. Like a example the 4th LED indikates if the Mac is communicating with the Display. If not light up. You have to replace the display or the ribbon cable. All depends on your technical knowledge
Sounds just like mine has gone won't switch on at all, checked it out and found the power supply unit has gone and the motherboard. When I looked over the wiring I found exposed wiring on the temp sensor shorting to the metal surround of the screen and various screws missing (Thanks Charlie Brown). So I will be looking at Lukes upgrades with interest.
If you are lucky Eugenia it will be the power supply only which you can purchase on e-bay refurbished with a warranty, and then find someone reliable to install it but get it checked over first by someone like Luke who knows what he/she is doing.
Sometimes when the tape rips and stuff falls out a parcel company will put everything back in the box and just throw it in. I worked for a company outsourced to move packages and I watch a few time where stuff would fall out and guys would just throw whatever back in and send it on its way. Its very possible it had much more packing and the screen was wrapped with that plastic.
What's the best CPU and GPU you can put in this thing? Does it have target display mode?
Target display: yes
CPU: i7 2600
GermanReview Thunderbolt target display mode works only with other thunderbolt devices.....
Can also use it as a TB display from your laptop with a TB1 to TB1 cable.
The best GPU you can put in is the GTX 1080.
KingCornWallis really?
Lovely video! Ive been using this mac for the past 7 years no complaints! Upgraded my ram and graphics card, and storage to ssd!
Can you do a video on how to shop “for parts” Mac mini’s?
Question for you sir Luke. Can you please tell me what I will need to install a 500 SSD into a 2011 IMAC 🖥? Will I need to order new adhesive strips also.
Nope! If you want, you can get a USB ssd instead so you don't even have to take it apart and you can just plug it into the back
i just picked one of these up myself, upgraded the ram to 12gb. really curious to see what you can do about the graphics and getting it to support metal
Is it still working? I am wondering if I should get the 2011 model nos
I have an 27 inch mid 2011 iMac, after a commonly GPU fail at this model, i upgraded at Radeon HD 2GB version. Reaply the thermal paste, on GPU and CPU, clean the inside and display. I am runing Maveriks, with all the last supported apps.
(I don't like the flat interface). I want to upgrade to an ssd owc aura pro, and 32 gb o ram. It will be a beast ! Great iMac, great year
Watching this on my mid-2011 21.5" iMac, about to getting a SDD.
I have the same model. I added 2 - 4GB RAM sticks for a total of 16GB. An SSD would be nice and I will probably do it later this year.
I put 32GB of RAM in it works great.
I have a mid 2011 27” as well. I got it in my shop, TV Media in highschool. The school owned it but me and my TV Media teachers were buddies so he let me take it home and when it came time to graduate, he let me keep it. It still sits with a cracked screen, in my room. Upgraded the ram and added an SSD. It’s been my main Mac ever since because I havent been able to afford one.
Why do I never find those deals?
@@murb19787 I got my mid-2010 iMac speced out with 12gb of ram for $200 and my brother got his mid-2011 for $250 with practically the same specs from our local college. These deals do exist it's just a matter of finding them. You won't typically find deals like this on eBay but look locally!
Also got that mid 2010 for 200$ a few weeks ago! Super happy with it even if it's 8 years old! Works like a charm! Only has 4gb ram on mine!
@@murb19787 Nice try: www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iMac-MD063LL-A-i7-3-4ghz-27-4GB-1TB-Free-Shipping-Mid-2011-GD8780/302952261021?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
At 200$ I'll take my chances,
@Goroei Noble
eBay?
Glad I watched this vid. I just bought a 2013 27”er that’s been maxxed out with 32gB ram and a 3tB SSD for $A500. Waiting for it right now…✌️🌻
Very intrigued to see where this goes. The fact it's using an MXM GPU is pretty damn interesting!
Is it possible to run Catalina on this machine?
Be carefull! The mid 2011 models are very famous for theire defective graphiccard problems (white screen of death). U cant find a new graphiccard for this model because its to old and the second hands cost about 300-400$..also its rly annoying to replace this Card because u have to take out the whole mainboard. And official repair stores for Apple cant Repair that for u because 2011 is not supported from Apple! And Its not rly worth because the „new“ Card could die in the next few month.. thats why i sold mine. U better do some research in the Internet before u buy this model.
Ps:sry for my Bad englisch :)
But anyway ure Video is rly good quality!
@UppiliRa what's dos?
@UppiliRa did you find any problem with 32gb ram? Apple states that it can only handle 4x4 ram (16gb total).
11:58 as you open the packaging I bust out laughing and the ripped in half white plastic bag used for packaging is hilarious !
I managed to save a 2011 iMac from the dumpster. The original owners thought it was broken because it wouldn't start. It DID start but it wouldn't let me format the hard drive through the terminal. So I used a windows disc to wipe it and now it runs great.
CptHuggyFace yeah I thrown my 2008 iMac it gave me the gray screen of death once I tried to update it
mine is still rollin 10 years later never had an issue. Got the 3.4ghz CPU and the Radeon 6970 in here though. Will get the OWC upgrade to both the HD and SD at some point soon, although they have never had any issue at all. She even fell on her screen and shattered the glass once and never missed an electron.
When you upgrade the graphic card you will loose the ability to change screen brightness und the boot menu will be gone! you need to flash 3rd party graphic cards.
How long can I expect it to last if I buy the 2011 model now?
From the scale excellent, good and fair, it's condition is fair
If it's good condition, and you keep it that way. 4 years left on MacOS, Probably 10 on linux. Really tough, good, and powerful machines
There's an Apple software limit of the fps of the screen, when I run Cinebench, OpenGL test I get exactly 60fps everytime
I have the same machine (but the 21.5inch). I changed the hard drive to a SSD and it runs so much faster than when I first bought it... Only thing now is I can't put the latest OS on it. But still happy with what I've got.
wow even the thumbnail looks like those from Dave2D.. good job Lu
New to your channel and now subscribed because I love economical content like this.
Bought one of these for about $700 last year. RAM had been upgraded to 20GB and added a 128GB system SSD. It's really perfect for my needs in music production and light video editing.
Mikael Nitsche nice to know you don’t need to break the bank for music production on Mac
Hay glad to hear. I have a chance to pick one up for 350 bucks but I am concerned about what’s the newest operating system I can run is I upgraded my MacBook Pro 2013 to Catalina and lost garage band
I use a late 2013 iMac daily for graphic design and video too. Works great. HDD was slow but I now run the OS from a 1TB usb 3.0 external SSD. I also added 16gb ram so it has 24gb.
I own a late 2009 iMac 27, 8 April 2010, I changed the hard drive for a Crucial SSD 1tb, 8 gb memory, it runs under 10.11, 8 el capitan and is like the first day when I bought it, or better...... I bough it for 1420 € and today I would not pay what Apple is asking for the new ones it starts at 2.400 €......
I fitted that i7 in my 21.5 inch iMac when I did a ssd conversion. I’m currently fitting a x3740 Xeon in my 27inch 2010 iMac with a ssd and a new 2tb Seagate barracuda as I purchased it cheap because the had was about dead.
Watching this on my 2012 (almost maxed out) 27 inch iMac
GTX 680mx and i5 3470 with 24GB RAM
This was a cool video! Since, I am 100 percent old school (my most modern system is a 2010 mac mini running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard with its Front Row and Rosetta software). Was hooked when, I saw this imac model still had a built-in apple super-drive.
SL is their best OS ever: The first OS with time machine, the last to thoroughly scrub your HDD. Recenly bought a 27¨ 2011 and a copy of SL. It´ll become my offline music server: The drive and big screen (visual effects) will come in handy.
(I´m not a clouder or a streamer. I´m a gatherer :)
With internet getting ever more censored, more pop-ups, more regulations, and payed subscriptions to media outlets & software, the online experience gets reduced to a parasitic drain of our bankaccounts & privacy.
A disposable chromebook is more than enough for dedicated online duty. What´s the use of hooking my personal files to a telephone line anyway?
Question: How do you watch YT running Snowy? What browser still supports it?
Thank you for replying to my post. Using OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, I watch Your Tube media content using either Firefox or Chrome. While, know that I am using older versions of each browser still they get the job done and support playing videos in HD at 1080p.
You were lucky to get that in one piece and undamaged. Amazing. Look forward to the upgrade videos. Cheers.
I still have an iMac 27inch Late 2010 and it's perfect for my use! Just Office, light Photoshop and UA-cam videos.
Watching this on my 19th century steam engine.
Oh cool bro I’m watching this on my WW2 enigma decoder
I have a mid 2011 just like that. I got it for 35$ at a garage sale because it didn’t have an OS installed. I fixed it up and it’s working 100%
We sell these for 699. CAD. Great longevity and upgradable. 👍
Nice! I have a 2010 27" iMac, already upgraded to 16GB RAM and SSD boot drive years ago - great upgrades. Never knew that CPU and graphics upgrades were possible... might keep this old machine for a bit longer!
Runs photoshop?
I have the same iMac! 2011 27" i7 3.4Ghz 32GB RAM and fusion drive and 2GB of VRAM which I had to bake in the oven to get running again.
Yeah, its a great computer, but honestly the GPU on this thing makes it one of the worst used iMacs you can get.
@@AdrianCChase I wonder what a good upgrade would be given that it accepts many cards destined for high powered laptops.
Haha that LGR mention!
Any video card without Apple firmware will not show an image until the OS loads. You loose Boot options to external drives or other internal partitions when you run a non Apple flashed card. The 512MB card has a much lower failure rate, the 1Gb card is mostly, and the 2Gb card is all of them. If you got it new and replaced the thermal paste and put good thermal pads on the vram and mosfets you will get much longer life. Once the card hits 175f it breaks down the internal solder structure and the GPU chip itself will fail early. Keep the temps under 160f ( smc fan control ) and so far most of the ones I worked on back in 2012 ( after the warranty expired ) are still going strong. New cards on Ebay are close to $400. 2013 and up the GPU is all soldered on so will need a whole new logic board if they fail. You can buy the i5 version and put the i7 in with no problems. You MUST use a CPU that was either stock or a build to order version or the machine will likely not boot. The boards are built to accept the CPU's that were installed factory only.
te71se You took the video card out and put it in the oven? Can you give details of temperature and how long? Also were you having blackout issues? Thanks
Getting ready to rock my 2010 in similar fashion
A like from Russia!
Nicely made.
I’m in Germany 🙂
Where do you get your minimalist landscape wallpapers for your Macs?
Hey man great video. There are a few great years for certain models. 2012 Mac Mini w/SSD is the best mac ive ever had. Who is the artist that does the song in the beginning?
I agree.
I am still using the 2011 iMac as my main workstation with maxed out RAM, external boot up drive via the Firewire port and a large ASUS palette monitor, giving me two screens. It has definitely been my favorite Mac of all time.
Is still working? I am wondering if I should get the 2011 model now
2012's Apple products are the best.
- last of the non-retina unibody macbook pro
- USB 3.0 introduction
- MacBook retina introduction
- Quad core Mac Mini
2012 was a great year for Apple
From what i can tell the one in the video has USB 2.0, not 3.0 but you can get a thunderbolt dock with a 3.0 port that will circumvent that limitation.
@@casillasmichael That $400 is quickly being accessorized by $$$ stuff that will only have a very limited useful life. I sold my 2009 iMac and bought a MacMini 2012 i7 with SSD and a new 27" HP QHD screen for about $400 net. I think I got the better deal since I won't have to delicately pop an iMac screen in a clean room to do any internal upgrades other than RAM. USB 3, which is the more universal modern standard, is built in. Don't miss the DVD drive and the possibility of inserting an SD card into that slot by mistake at all. No longer have to worry about replacing the whole shebang at once, since chassis and screen are separete and upgradable on their own.
@@SteveCanon453 In fact, my set-up is quite cozy. The mini sits on an inverted plastic storage basket, so there's lots of ventilation all around including underneath. This is capped, Russian doll style, with another bigger upside down basket that supports my 5 year old i7 Dell laptop that is used as a Plex server and Handbrake video processor. That one could really fry your thigh when working all out, but the fan rarely kicks in due to the design of my "rack".
@@SteveCanon453 The mini/laptop stack was probably the last of the line for Apple and me. Thus the bet hedging and migration to the independent screen & USB 3.0 peripherals for the time being. Have some apps that only ran on Mac OS 10.6 or Win 7 32 bit (older versions of Adobe that I can run in my sleep, automobile open-source diagnostics for some older cars) but those are being phased out.
Apple and Microsoft have always seemed to me to embody the left brain/right brain dichotomy, and I was more firmly planted in the Apple camp since the 1980's Lisa, so it's not just a question of $$$. Many folks spend $$$ for iPhone while I am happy with a refurb android with 90% of the features for less than a quarter the price.
Now that Apple is taking a harder line (everything soldered, seamless install the new OS on only what could be ordered directly from the factory), yes, time to rethink. Even if they flopped with Windows phone and the brazen fact that way over 50% of their corporate clients still run Windows 7 rather than 10, eventually Microsoft will get it right(er) so that we don't needlessly have to relearn where all the easter eggs have been lost.
Picked up mine recently at 120 euros!!!There was no hard drive and graphic card had common fault. Opened it up, cleaned, changed the paste and reflow the GPU. Installed 240SSD drive and it's been working great so far. I am imressed with screen and sound quality. I know the graphic will die again in few weeks/monts but it was well worth it!
I have the 21.5 inch mid 2011 iMac. Im gonna get a kit to upgrade the ram and add. It'll run for a lot longer then. I also want to put better graphics to play games on windows via Bootcamp
Don't think you can upgrade the GPU on the 21 inch model.
@@SweBeach2023 Yeah you can. Quadro K2000M from a Dell Precision is a good choice. GTX 765M from a Dell/Alienware is a good choice as well.
I bought this same build earlier this year and it really is a tremendous value for the money. All I did was put in 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD, with a dual boot of Windows 8.1 to run a few games that complain about metal in High Sierra.
Luke, I would like to donate that DVD to hard drive caddy to you and your channel. I had one in an iMac like yours several months ago. That iMac is gone and I have some parts left over. Let me know, of a P.O. Box address that you accept mail at. I will gladly send it out later this week.
Thank you for all the great videos on old Apple products. Hopefully, you decide to make all the changes you are discussing in this video. Those era of iMacs have so many upgrade possibilities. I hope to see you complete them. Including replace that 6970M with a modern GTX 8/9xx series GPU for it.
Crazy thing is. I used a 2011 base model iMac 21.5 inch (the cheapest iMac you could get even for 2011), and it worked perfectly for 8 years. It still works amazing today, but it’s in a cupboard somewhere in the house lol. In late 2019, I bought a 2018 iMac (it was cheaper at the shop I was buying it from), it was the mid range model, and it stopped working within a month. Stopped shutting down (it just went to a black screen with a mouse, and after a while just says that finder couldn’t close every time I hit shutdown) so I did a full reinstall and still didn’t work. I even went in, deleted finder and reinstalled it from a time machine backup from when it worked and still didn’t work so it had to have been something else. I got it replaced because it annoyed me and I still had warranty, and got the same iMac but new. I still have this one today. It works great but it’s fucking slow. I’ve been stuck on Mojave because the company I work for uses a 32 bit accounting application which stopped working after mojave. Thank god they are updating the app soon so ima get one of the new colorful imacs
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I have the (original) 2009 edition of this machine and it's still humming along 10 years later after swapping out the internal spinning drive for a 1TB SSD (a relatively easy upgrade opening up the case). For the big storage, I use external RAID via FireWire and LAN storage via 10GB ethernet.
Is still working? I am wondering if I should get the 2011 model now
I have a 2011 imac 21.5 in with 32 gb memory
Only current problem with my 2011 27’ iMac is the lack of “Metal” support on newer applications. I had replaced the hard drive, and RAM a long time ago.
Just bought a used 2011 i7 iMac 🖥 for $80! Replaced the mechanical drive with a ssd
I have 2 of these since 8 years and still pleased by the reliability of these products... and I wouldn't change them for the new ones...
Is still working? I am wondering if I should get the 2011 model now
@@faithfultrader6340 still working... but you need an ssd and ram upgrade.. be sure about the graphic card and the display.
In one of my iMacs the graphiccard died and in the other the LEDs of the display had to be changed.
Getting spare parts is becoming a challenge but they are family 😉 and i will take care of them... still great to use and reapair, but be careful with the powersupply!