Looking at the Apple iMacs. I have located a 27" 2010 iMac for a reasonable price. It runs High Sierra but will not run Mojave. How many years of use should I expect?

Any ideas?

It seems to matter most what you plan to use it for ~ I know many young folks who do music and art things, they all love the apple line .

I had a first generation ipod thing, I used it as a camera and to carry music, I'd plug it in the windows computer at my old shop and listen all day .

Then I bought a new iPhone, it was horrible, I hated it, $500 wasted .

After about 6 years they stop making batteries for apple products, other than that no lifetime issues .

Ask some young folks ? .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

If you want to run a Mac, look for a newer one than that, 2012 or later. This is 2019, a 2010 model is already NINE YEARS OLD. Sure it'll run most current software, but its days are numbered.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

I have the 27” 2010. Maybe mine is 2012.

Anyway, I bought it used, Apple certified. It does everything I need, but I’m not a gamer or a techie. Home finances, email, etc. never had a problem with it. I’m keeping mine until entropy works it’s magic.

I also have a later model Apple laptop. Same deal. But I replaced the hard drive with solid state. I think it’s a half terabyte. I dunno. Or care. It runs and never crashes, but I don’t make heavy demands on it.

Finally, I have a nearly new large screen HP laptop my grandaughter gave me for GIS — it has almost the full suite of ESRI’s ArcGIS. That’s a resource demanding program. The HP has never blinked.

I like the Apple products because they have high fidelity across Apple devices through time and are the most reliable personal computers and electronics I own. However, there are programs, particularly in STEM, that are close to exclusively on Windows machines. Also, the best computer games are designed and optimized for Windows. And over times, Windows has greatly improved.

On a limited budget I’d consider a Windows computer. If you have the means then Apple makes the better product (with some software limitations).

YMMV

A Mac stays "decent" for 10 years.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I've found this to be the case with the various macs I've had over the years.

I think the oldest mac in my family is a 2010 MacBook Pro my parents use for email/web/bills. I bought it in 2010 and used it until 2013/2014 when I got an Air. I'll likely replace it with another Mac when it kicks the bucket - though with an Air this go around.

IMO, if you don't mind buying an external display and an SSD - a 2014 Mac Mini is a pretty good machine that will return many years of life. I've seen them pop up for as low as $300.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

At least. Typing this on an '08 MacBook Pro 15". There are two recent model MacBook Airs at my disposal here, but I still like this one the best. Put a SSD in it about three years ago.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

I have a MBP for work and it handles heavy data modelong well. It is the top of the line i9 32gb etc but it has never blinked once at it for me. Anything more than that would probably require a desktop build.

Also agree that Macs seemingly last forever, always been impressed with their quality.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

If you're up for a little apple misadventure, there's absolutely no technical reason why a 2010 iMac can't run Mojave. I have a 2009 MacBook pro running it without issue. Just Apple killing off older models.

The instructions are here macOS Mojave Patcher

Pretty damn easy to do, you just need a Mac and a USB flash drive to make it happen. If hackery isn't your style, get a 2012+ model. Sadly a 10 year old computer is more than powerful enough these days to do pretty much anything. Not like the halycon days where a new computer was just light years faster.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

My first home computer was an Apple II+ with a language card giving me 64k RAM! Whoa. I started with AppleSoft Basic (an early Microsoft product, iirc) then switched to Pascal. I translated stat programs written for Univac 1160 (maybe 1180) from FORTAN IV to Pascal. Much easier interface and I didn’t have to beg for terminal time. I did all of my MS thesis analysis on the Apple and wrote it and printed it for review on my MX-80 Epson printer.

Later I tried moving everything to a FatMac (or MacPlus?) but the Mac programming was wildly different and I never got the knack.

Later StatPro came out in the Mac and that program was excellent but sloooow.

Then I switched to remote sensing/image analysis which was wholly the Windows domain. It seemed so primitive to have to learn command line stuff. Then Windows 3.1.1, what a kludge! But people used it.

For me, Windows didn’t get stable and useful until Windows XP. That’s when I no longer had to fight the Beast. The rest just got better.

found this mac mini on amazon but it doesn't say what year it is.....does anyone know?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075JSCHRX/ref=twister_B075JPJY3S?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1