Average life of a Mac

[pspdfppdfxhd]

Just wondering if anyone would have advice on how long a VERY BUSY iMac computer would last.

Our main workstation is going to be 6 years old soon and we're having issues with video strangeness in Acrobat and InDesign which may or may not be related to the age of the machine.

Otherwise it's in pretty good working shape. It would be a big undertaking to reninstall everything as the machine is a big buggy here and there and I would not like to do a carbon cloner install, would want to start "fresh".

 

[pspdfppdfxhd]

DETAILS:

Model Name:    iMac
  Model Identifier:    iMac11,3
  Processor Name:    Intel Core i7
  Processor Speed:    2.93 GHz
  Number of Processors:    1
  Total Number of Cores:    4
  L2 Cache (per Core):    256 KB
  L3 Cache:    8 MB
  Memory:    16 GB
  Processor Interconnect Speed:    4.8 GT/s
  Boot ROM Version:    IM112.0057.B00
  SMC Version (system):    1.59f2
  Serial Number (system):    QP03045VGRQ
  Hardware UUID:    C96282CA-2119-5B4C-9314-DC1346740F18

VIDEO SPECS:

ATI Radeon HD 5750:

  Chipset Model:    ATI Radeon HD 5750
  Type:    GPU
  Bus:    PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width:    x16
  VRAM (Total):    1024 MB
  Vendor:    ATI (0x1002)
  Device ID:    0x68a1
  Revision ID:    0x0000
  ROM Revision:    113-B9710C-238
  EFI Driver Version:    01.00.417

[Joe]

So that is a mid 2010. It has an i7 CPU is the fastest of 3 CPU's available 16 GB of RAM.

It has plenty of horsepower. But, and there is always a but, any of the pre-2013 27" iMacs were prone to heat issues that can cause issues with the video. On my 2012 model they replaced the video card twice, the logic board twice and the hard drive twice. Then they gave up and swapped it out for a 2013 iMac. No problems since.

[wonderings]

I have had macs running for years and years of various models (iMacs, Mac Minis, MacBook, MacBook Pros). They have and some do run pretty much as the day they came out of the box.

Could be a hardware issue, or you could just need a clean install of OS X. The one positive thing about the cloud with apps is it makes life a lot simpler in regards to activating a product. I used to have to keep track of all our serial numbers for Adobe, Corel, Quark, various font management software, etc etc.

A simple upgrade to an SSD will breath new life into your iMac, everything will feel and load extremely fast.

[pspdfppdfxhd]

So that is a mid 2010. It has an i7 CPU is the fastest of 3 CPU's available 16 GB of RAM.

It has plenty of horsepower. But, and there is always a but, any of the pre-2013 27" iMacs were prone to heat issues that can cause issues with the video. On my 2012 model they replaced the video card twice, the logic board twice and the hard drive twice. Then they gave up and swapped it out for a 2013 iMac. No problems since.

Yeah, I could probably cook a hotdog on the top of this sucker, it does get hot. And the display has "patchy" areas here and there.

[pspdfppdfxhd]

I have had macs running for years and years of various models (iMacs, Mac Minis, MacBook, MacBook Pros). They have and some do run pretty much as the day they came out of the box.

Could be a hardware issue, or you could just need a clean install of OS X. The one positive thing about the cloud with apps is it makes life a lot simpler in regards to activating a product. I used to have to keep track of all our serial numbers for Adobe, Corel, Quark, various font management software, etc etc.

A simple upgrade to an SSD will breath new life into your iMac, everything will feel and load extremely fast.

Yes, the cloud would not make the reinstall for THOSE programs an issue. We still use and run Quark 9 on this machine and I can just imagine how that would go. Oh, but I do get paid by the hour and they always stock a full bottle of Tylenol here.

I know the EFI proofer software won't run on anything above 10.9 (but that might have changed) so a new computer would have to deal with that and many of the other issues that remain unforeseen.

[wonderings]

I have had macs running for years and years of various models (iMacs, Mac Minis, MacBook, MacBook Pros). They have and some do run pretty much as the day they came out of the box.

Could be a hardware issue, or you could just need a clean install of OS X. The one positive thing about the cloud with apps is it makes life a lot simpler in regards to activating a product. I used to have to keep track of all our serial numbers for Adobe, Corel, Quark, various font management software, etc etc.

A simple upgrade to an SSD will breath new life into your iMac, everything will feel and load extremely fast.

Yes, the cloud would not make the reinstall for THOSE programs an issue. We still use and run Quark 9 on this machine and I can just imagine how that would go. Oh, but I do get paid by the hour and they always stock a full bottle of Tylenol here.

I know the EFI proofer software won't run on anything above 10.9 (but that might have changed) so a new computer would have to deal with that and many of the other issues that remain unforeseen.

I know Quark used to be a nightmare, had to phone in to deactivate so I could reactivate again. I think they changed that in Quark 8.5 where you could do it yourself. You still needed a serial number, but no phone call at least.

I am running Fiery XF 6.2.2 on a mac Mini running El Capitan, this powers our Epson 9900. No issues with it, very solid and stable.

If you are running older software you definitely want a test machine to run those apps on. I usually take a few months of trial before moving a new OS into my work environment. Been hit hard a few times finding I missed something simple like printer drivers that would no longer work and would have to wait a few months for Xerox to catch up. Always managed to find a work around, but no one one likes a work around.

[Joe]

I could put a bowl of ice cream on top of the 2013 iMac and it wouldn't melt any faster than sitting out at room temperature. On my old one I could feel the heat on my face when sitting in front of it.

If it is having video problems because of the heat there really isn't any fix. You can replace the video card, logic board, etc....but it won't fix the heat issue and it would probably occur again. I'd use it until it drops though.

[pspdfppdfxhd]

I don't think its the heat, it's only really appearing in Acrobat. (ie.: suddenly jaggy and or blurry appearance, visual color changes, the zoom tool not doing what it should). On a brighter note, it is crashing much less than previous with DC. "the last one we had". Only crashed once with about 3 hours extensive pitstopping and image editing this morning. The usual count would have been about 10 I would say

[Joe]

Yeah if it is video hardware problems you will see it everywhere. Mine was flashing blocks all over the screen sometimes. Sometimes it would just go black. Sometimes lines. All kinds of weird stuff. And sometimes it would not even boot.

But I have not seen anything like that happen in my install of DC. Not sure what would cause that.

[Tracy]

I had problems with my video card, blue green vertical lines
They replaced mine also, just in the nick of time too!

[Ear]

I have a similar vintage iMac workstation, though I think mine is a year or two older. ( iMac9.1 - 3.06 ghz intel core2 duo.)

She is getting close to being replaced but still runs strong. Same thing with the monitor... if you get the proper angle, you can see little heat waves coming off the upper left corner.

[andyfest]

I have a mid-2010, 21 inch iMac that is used for preflighting files. It runs so hot that it cooked the original optical drive, so now I use an external and I have had to replace the original hard drive that it fried as well. Our Mac XServe dates from 2008 so it is considered to be obsolete by Apple and I have to scrounge spare parts from third party/friends/ebay/kijiji. Our mid-2010 Mac Pro towers are just about to go vintage according to Apple, so in the near future we will  not be able to order OEM parts for them either. Our platesetter is still driven by a tiff shooter running Windoze 2000. The corporate body keeps turning down funding requests for updates too.

[Farabomb]

You have new tech on your TIFF shooter. I'm running NT here.

And a EOL prinergy server

and an, I'm assuming, EOL Mac pro tower.

The boss still wants me to wait "for the next updated OS" to upgrade.

He's gotten 2 laptops and 2 new phones since I've upgraded. His computer skill tops out at the big button turns it on. It's ok, soon my heart is just gonna pop from all the workarounds we have to do to get plates out and preflight flies.

[born2print]

Rampart, we gotta white male, 45 to 50 years of age...
BP is... HOLY COW!!! SEND A CHOPPER!