Should I invest in more RAM or Storage for my Late 2012 iMac?

JohnLeeSmith wrote:

Yes, I do indeed have the larger 27-inch model, thanks again in advance!

Great, thanks!

Assuming you're only using two out of the available four slots for Memory (you can check from the Apple menu  > About This Mac > Memory), you can add another 8 GB to the original 8 for a total of 16 GB of Memory. If this is the case, take a look at the Crucial 8GB Kit (2 x 4GB) DDR3L-1600 SODIMM Memory for Mac - Crucial.

Next, I would recommend you use an external SSD rather than the internal disk as your startup disk. While this hard drive found in your Mac is perfectly suited to light tasks, such as email, web browsing, etc., for more advanced tasks, and for users who want the maximum performance from their Mac, this hard drive does have its limitations. Luckily, you can use an external SSD as your startup disk to run macOS and all your data from that. It will make your Mac 10 to 40 times faster for storage, and in turn, make your entire Mac system much faster. For more info, instructions, and what external SSD to buy, please see: How to Setup and Use an External SSD as your Startup Disk on a Desktop Mac - Apple Community.

If you only are looking at one upgrade, I would encourage the external SSD route.

Hope this helps!

Jack

That iMac 27” late 2012 model tops out at macOS 10.15.

You have this configuration: Why is my hard disk drive iMac so slow? - Apple Community

An external SSD will help (links to that in the above “slow” article), and that iMac does have USB 3.x so it’ll get a decent speed boost from the SSD.

I would not spend a great deal of time or money on this iMac as mentioned above, nor would I upgrade the internal HDD to an SSD, but an external SSD of reasonable capacity can be re-used on a newer Mac.

Hello!

Your post indicates you have a 27-inch iMac model. Can you confirm you do indeed have the larger 27-inch iMac, and not the 21.5-inch model? Only Memory in the 27-inch model can be upgraded.

However, investing in faster storage would most likely be a more worthwhile option for either model. But before making suggestions, I like to know exactly what model we're taking about.

Jack

Sure you could upgrade to 32GB of RAM and replace the HDD with an SSD.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2012_27/DDR3L

However it doesn't make much sense at 10+ years old for several reasons.

1) the Display, the GPU or logic board could fail at any time

2) it can not run past macOS 10.15 Catalina

3) it will cost more than it is worth

+1 on den.theds thoughts!!!