Upgrade Mid-2011 IMAC or not?

Question

bart125 Author

Level 1

23 points

Upgrade Mid-2011 IMAC or not?

Hello,

I have a 27” mid-2011 IMAC with 12 GB Ram and tons of unused storage that I am very happy with.

Obviously I’ve upgraded the most I can to MAC OS 10.13.16 (High Sierra)

because hardware restrictions prevent further upgrades.

Additionally, Apple no longer supports my OS / Safari / etc with patches.

My files are stored all the time on ICloud and I have a thumb drive in all the time for “Time Machine” backups. Also about every 4 months I take a couple hours and I totally erase my hard drive and reinstall all major apps I need : e.g. Pages, Numbers, Fidelity active trader Pro, Brothers printer software / drivers, Zoom, etc along with my data files, email, address book, Safari favorites, etc.

Question: This 27” screen and the computer’s capabilities are perfectly sufficient for all my needs (I’m a retired software engineer). I have no need at this time (or in the near future) for any further features or enhancements. But, I am somewhat concerned about the risks I take with unsupported software and no anti-virus software.

Should I be concerned (and buy another IMAC for $1500) or not really worry given all the precautions I take?

Thanx…Mark

P.s. The only problem I currently see is when I start up in the morning occasionally all the Safari tabs don’t reopen. Only 1 plain Safari tab opens while the rest have disappeared.

Posted on Nov 3, 2022 04:30 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

153,634 points

Nov 4, 2022 05:38 AM in response to bart125

Brave and Firefox both work well. So does Safari; it's just not updated any more and a lot of websites complain when they consider a browser too old.

I don't know the reason your Safari tabs tend to disappear. That isn't happening on my Macs running HS. You might consider deleting certain Safari-related files in ~/Library/Safari/ and / or ~/Library/Saved Application State/

You don't need any "anti-virus" junk. Read Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community.

Also about every 4 months I take a couple hours and I totally erase my hard drive and reinstall all major apps I need

Do as you please but that's something I would not bother with. It's far more likely to cause trouble.

Reply

Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,136 points

Nov 4, 2022 06:29 AM in response to bart125

The only applications on the planet that can open Pages, Numbers, or Keynote documents are those applications on Mac, iCloud, or iOS/iPadOS versions. If you are still using iWork '09 applications, these cannot open documents from the newer applications released after Fall 2013. There are some features in the '09 applications that are still not implemented, or differently in current application versions that may not open these documents.

You could continue to use Pages, Numbers, and Keynote that you have installed as long as you continue to use High Sierra, or your iMac fails in one manner or another. Solves that export dilemma. I suggest that you purchase an external drive (HDD, or SSD) that is 2.5 to 3x the size of your internal drive, and start backing your Mac up to that drive with the built-in Time Machine. That iCloud storage is an accessible convenience feature but not a backup solution. A thumb drive for Time Machine backups is a laughing matter as a backup solution.

LibreOffice has minimal support to open iWork '09 documents (read-only) and only if they are simple documents. LibreOffice will support new updates on macOS High Sierra until Feb 2023 and then the minimum for new updates will require macOS Mojave (10.14.6).

Malwarebytes is all you need and you do not need to purchase a subscription to it. The link that John Galt provided should alleviate malware intrusion provided you use common sense with download origins. Once in a great while, I run Malwarebytes manually as an administrative task.

Reply

Answer 3

bart125 Author

Level 1

23 points

Nov 5, 2022 02:31 PM in response to BDAqua

Thank you all for the valuable advice you have given me.

I will definitely switch to Firefox (simpler and less bulky than Brave) and stop using Safari.
The link to the “effective defenses…” was educational. I generally practice all the appropriate behaviors already since I’ve been a software engineer for a long time, but I am more relieved now even though I am not adding any bulky MWB AV software.
There is nothing labeled “Safari” or “saved application state” under either ~/ library folder on my hard drive.
I will slowly prune / delete / export my .pages and .numbers files and eventually transition to libreoffice, but for now I believe based upon my behavior that these apps don’t represent any danger to me. I will also always export everything back to .docx / .xlsx for any new files that I create.
I’ll load Libreoffice if I come across any files that I can’t open with my iWork 09 apps.
When I manually back up all my data, email, address book, etc it totals only 20 GB (for years) ….. thus, a large capacity thumb drive is sufficient for my time machine purposes at this time. I have 975 GB of unused storage on my iMac that I don’t use.
Thus, I’ve decided that my 27” iMac is fine for my current needs. I only thought I’d double-check since I heard that Black Friday has the best deals each year for Macs. I will re-evaluate 1 year from now.
BUT, I wonder if Apple will at any time in the near future stop me from reloading my OS and purchased apps after I erase my whole hard drive?

Note: hopefully my clear and simple thread title (and your valuable comments) will assist others who might have the same questions.

…mark

Reply

Answer 4

bart125 Author

Level 1

23 points

Nov 14, 2022 12:49 PM in response to BDAqua

I realize that thumb drives aren't completely reliable...

but since I recently bought a 1.07 TB thumb drive

I thought I'd use it for cloning purposes....(or for time machine.) in addition to occasional manual backups)

Unfortunately this USB 2.0 thumb drive can't seem to be restored from my MAC HD...SEE pic below

The thumb drive can't be manually partitioned (not selectable) with Disk utility either....SEE 2nd pic below

Any thoughts??

thanx...mark

p.s. Firefox working well....can't find those safari extension files (not important anymore)

Reply

Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

250,079 points

Nov 3, 2022 04:39 PM in response to bart125

Love my 2011 iMacs.:)

Mostly you just need a more modern Browser than Safari on High Sierra like Firefox or Brave.

Look into the Free LibreOffice, it handles MS Office files like Word & Excel, & Page Layout…

https://www.libreoffice.org/

The free Malwarebytes may take care of your AV worries...

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

PS, i've not reinstalled the OS or Apps on my 27" iMac ever ,just updated the OSes. :)

Reply

Answer 6

bart125 Author

Level 1

23 points

Nov 3, 2022 11:23 PM in response to BDAqua

Well...

1) I could switch to FireFox ... no problem ... check.

2) Libreoffice? Well, I have about 1000 .pages files and probably 1/3 as many .numbers files....

A pain to go and convert them to .xls and .doc files before switching apps....

Is there really an issue staying with pages and numbers?

Is there a bulk macro that could load / export all them automatically?

3) I see malware bytes is only free for a limited time....then I'd have to pay $4 / mo ... not a big deal

But, does this really have a significant effect and is it really necessary?

thanx...mark

Reply

Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

250,079 points

Nov 5, 2022 05:42 PM in response to bart125

1.. I find Brave uses only about 2/3rds as much RAM per page or tab than FF, or any other browser.

3.. Might it be for a Safari Extension, like...

~/Library/Containers/com.adguard.safari.AdGuard/Data/Library/Saved Application State/com.adguard.safari.AdGuard.savedState

6.. Thumb drives are the least reliable backup out there.

8.. Clone, clone, clone.

Reply

Answer 8

BDAqua

Level 10

250,079 points

Nov 4, 2022 12:27 PM in response to bart125

Is there really an issue staying with pages and numbers?

Same problem you have now, Apple can leave you out of the loop anytime.

MWB is not really needed.

Reply

Upgrade Mid-2011 IMAC or not?

Similar questions