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points by ProllyInfamous 2 days ago | 0 comments
The thing that makes older iMacs "disposable" is that the required cooling vents end up [mostly] blocked, within just a few years – then they thermally throttle, until death.

If you open them up and keep them clean, they can have uses forever:

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My 27" iMac (2009) still sits faithfully alongside my main 48" setup (because I own the copy of CS4 installed upon it – FU Adobe!). It mostly plays background shows (while I work on main computer, adjacent).

My 24" iMac (2006) still sits faithfully on my tax desk, for its annual usage/filing. It also still plays Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne (quite well!).

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>I suggest spending a bit more and getting a mac mini and a ... display, instead

This is fantastic advice; my past two Apple's have been Mini's. My three main machines all connect to the same massive 48" display (that is about to outlast its first retired Mini).

The only new iMac I would ever again consider purchasing would be something on-par with the iMac Pro (2017) – but in 2026+ any iMac would need a 32"+ display (minimum) to be "usable" IMHO.

[–] wolvoleo 2 days ago
Yeah and the old ones are actually pretty easy to open up. You just take a suction cup and clip the screen off.

I mean even the newer ones aren't bad but cutting the tape, cleaning up and putting new tape is kinda annoying. They should have stuck with the magnets.

[–] ProllyInfamous 1 day ago
>You just take a suction cup and clip the screen off.

Having done this dozens-of-times, each attempt remains scary. Reattaching the glass, the magnets flex the pane incomprehensibly.

My favorite feature of these older iMacs (and laptops of the era) is that you can manhandle the glassed screens (pointing, touching, scraping), to no destriment of the LCD (beneath).

[–] wolvoleo 1 day ago
Hmm scary yes but it works fine though in 2 cases one of the magnets broke off the screen. It wasn't a big deal though because there were enough left to keep it together firmly.

We had a ton of these at work and upgraded them to SSD because they got so laggy.

[–] ProllyInfamous 1 day ago
>one of the magnets broke off the screen

I had a similar event (but only once) supporting university labs: one of those four "alignment pins" broke off; but they're not necessary once the magnets are engaged. Unfortunately, I had to completely re-disassemble the entire unit to shake out that metallic-breakoff.

The 2006 iMac is a dream to work on: the back plate (including stand) simply detaches, exposing access to everything without having to remove the LCD – this latter part is the worst part of any newer iMac-opening.

Thanks for sharing your similarities, fellow-oldening-hat.