Very Slow iMac 2019: Cost-Effective Solution

I struggled for probably the last two years with my iMac 2019 running like a dog, with each new macOS release making it worse.

On the other hand my MacBookPro from 2009 runs super quick even on macOS's it's not supposed to be compatible with like Big Sur.

After Googling the issue, I saw many articles about the dreadfully slow "Fusion Drive", and how to replace it with an internal SSD instead.

So I looked up how to install an SSD instead, watching several YouTube videos on how to remove the FusionDrive and replace it with an SSD. It's not easy and it's full of the risk of causing irreparable damage to your iMac.

So, in the end I've bought an external Samsung 1TB SSD drive and have migrated macOS to the external drive which my iMac now boots from. It's now lightning quick running Sequoia and at not much cost, a fraction of the cost of a fancy new Apple silicon machine. It really wasn't hard to do, so if you're in the same boat, really consider it.

The Fusion Drive is now repurposed as an extra place to store large files such as videos and photos. Incidentally there are now no speed issues copying and retrieving files from the Fusion Drive.

Basically Apple sold me a pup, then tried to persuade me to buy another machine. It's only four years old, bought during the pandemic. The iMac I paid well over £1000 for is now worth pretty much nothing on trade-in and they'll only recycle my MacBook Pro. I'm guessing they're coming after my iPhone 11 soon...