Very nice video, I see all the passion you put in this upgrade, it is indeed time consuming, but very rewarding when finished! :D I recently followed the same upgrade path with my very own 11,2 iMac 21.5" Mid-2010, but I pushed myself even further by upgrading also the GPU with an NVIDIA Quadro K1100M 2GB (flashed via SSH), the CPU with a quad-core i7-860S, brought the RAM to 24GB, changed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules with an 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0 combo card from a newer iMac (using a Mini-PCI adapter), and the operating system to macOS 11 Big Sur using Open Core Legacy Patcher. It is frankly unbelievable how good this 11 years old machine performs after all the upgrades I did to it: Big Sur runs flawlessly, I have SIP and SecureBoot enabled and I can install OTA upgrades like I would on a perfectly supported model. Thanks to the new module I have AirPlay and Handoff/Continuity working, boot menu after GPU flash and LCD brightness control thanks to Open Core. When macOS 12 Monterey will be officially released in late 2021 I already know that it will work with no issues whatsoever on my iMac, so I'll have support for it at least until 2024, which is bananas considering that in 2024 it will be 14 years old. This is a testament to the peak of upgradability and repairability reached by 2010-2011 iMacs, that faded with later models. Long life to the 2010 iMacs! :D
None so far still works fine, but bear in mind it is a time consuming and invasive process, which I found was much easier with a second pair of hands. + A quick tip if you do go for it, alignment of the logic board is difficult but definitely doable, just make sure ports are perfectly aligned before putting the iMac back together.
Thanks, the max CPU Apple sold for the 2009 20" inch was an 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. The configurations of the 20" inch & 24" inch 2009 iMac's: support.apple.com/kb/sp507?locale=en_GB
Unfortunately I think that the 20 inch 2009 iMac came with only 2 processors options a 2.0 gHz core 2 Duo & a faster 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo (P7550) So if you have the 2.26 gHz processor then I think you are maxed out according to what most sources say. A good answer to your question you may wish to check out: www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/352713/iMac+CPU+upgrade+Question
@@techwithagr5974 Yes i just watched another video on that and he said that same thing you said. I could only upgrade SSD and RAM. Someone told me before I can use SSD I have to format it on a Windows computer in order for SSD to work on iMac? Do you know anything about that, or can I just install SSD without doing the format?
I am not to sure about that generation of iMac but as far as I am aware & in my case I didn't have to format the SSD, I just bought & installed it then went into internet recovery to install the latest version of Mac OS supported on that particular Mac. Or in another case I just formatted the SSD using disk utility then cloned my old hard drive on to it. ( Just note doing this may lead to licensed programmed such as Microsoft office to require a new license unless you can sign out of the old drive & reactivate the software on a the new drive.)
@@techwithagr5974 Possibly something as simple as a head torch so that when you're disconnecting wires and using both hands you can simply direct the light onto the relevant area, I would also suggest adding a highlighted circle or similar onto such items as connections, as most people like myself only dabble with these components when a problem arises and can be a little unsure, and it's so easy to damage a component and rendering the device obsolete. Thanks for your kind presentation. Have a glance at this video, the presenter gives an excellent clarity, there may be something you can take away from it. th-cam.com/video/aUNXq3CTU_s/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=MicBergsma
At the moment no since I have personally never encountered any yellow spot issues on my LCD but I would definitely consider researching & making a video like that if the issue arises on my iMac.
I think that the biggest issue getting this mac to big sur using a patcher is the graphics card as they often failed an ran OS's onwards from mac OS Mojave very poorly, so you would have to swap that, I would also personally swap to an SSD if you can, as it makes the mac feel and run a lot faster. After doing the upgrade you would have to use a patcher to get to a newer OS. But do note that if you do swap the graphics card you will lose likely lose the boot screen which is why I haven't upgraded my GPU and upgraded to newer mac OS versions.
@@AppleReviews Not just a GeForce, I have a Quadro K1100M 2GB in mine, flashed. You could also put in a newer AMD W4130 or W4150 and having them working with Open Core Legacy Patcher, which made tremendous progress in the last months. You can find all information to upgrade the GPU and install Big Sur/Monterey on forums.macrumors.com
I am planing for an update. This will be a good reference. Can i have the link of those parts. I would like to buy those. Mine is 4gb ram not 16. I would like to upgrade to 16 gig.
Thanks for commenting. I will be updating the the description shortly to include all the US & UK links to parts I used as well as a few bits of advice to make it simpler for you and anyone considering the upgrade.
Also if these links do not work to purchase the parts in certain Countries or regions in the world if you type the product name in your native Amazon then you should find what you are looking for.
The i5 does make a difference over the i3 but it is not night & day, there is slight performance benefit but it is a lot of work to install the i5. Also for 21.5 inch iMac (2010) regardless of the CPU the max ram that can be installed stays at 16gb.
I'm writing you from my iMac 11,2 21.5" Mid-2010 which I upgraded with a quad-core 8 thread i7-860S and currently has 24GB of 1333MHz RAM installed (8+8+4+4). The 16GB RAM max Is a CPU limit, not a motherboard limit. If you put in an 860S or a 870S (or even a Xeon L3426), you can actually put in 32GB of RAM, and it will works just fine. Going from the old dual-core i3-540 with no Turbo Boost to the quad-core i7-860S is a MUCH bigger improvement than going to the i5, which is just slightly higher clocked and adds Turbo Boost. Apple didn't offer the i7-860S because it has an high 82W TDP instead of 73W of both i3 and i5, so an SSD upgrade is also necessary to keep TDP as low as possible and maintaining a stable system. The power supply will be a bit stressed anyway, so be sure to set Macs Fan Control to cool it adequately. Cheers.
@@DarkArynLand Unfortunately I don’t use my iMac for video editing, so I can’t give you a firsthand review about it, but I’m pretty confident that with the Quadro K1100M I installed, paired with the i7-860S and 24GB (or 32) you can get along editing in 1080p in Final Cut Pro quite nicely, even 1440p maybe. Although 4K will probably be a bit too much.
It is a long and time consuming process to upgrade the 2010 iMac and is far simpler to upgrade the mac pro, also you can get far more powerful specs into the Mac pro so if you can I would opt for the 5, 1 Mac pro.
@@papcon The 21.5 Macs power supply will not support that. You need the I7-870S variant. The 27 inch 2010 Mac has a stronger power supply and will take the i7-870.
It does indeed, but the i7-870S is not very easy to find and because of that, it's quite expensive. I would suggest the slightly underclocked i7-860S, which can be found for half the price of an 870S, and performs similarly. Beware that both those i7s has a slightly higher TDP, so the power supply will be under more stress, be sure to cool it properly.
Thank you,bro!That was very helpful!bravo
Hi there, this has been an excellent video since I have an iMac 2010 for 6 years congrats!
Thanks
Very nice video, I see all the passion you put in this upgrade, it is indeed time consuming, but very rewarding when finished! :D
I recently followed the same upgrade path with my very own 11,2 iMac 21.5" Mid-2010, but I pushed myself even further by upgrading also the GPU with an NVIDIA Quadro K1100M 2GB (flashed via SSH), the CPU with a quad-core i7-860S, brought the RAM to 24GB, changed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules with an 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0 combo card from a newer iMac (using a Mini-PCI adapter), and the operating system to macOS 11 Big Sur using Open Core Legacy Patcher.
It is frankly unbelievable how good this 11 years old machine performs after all the upgrades I did to it:
Big Sur runs flawlessly, I have SIP and SecureBoot enabled and I can install OTA upgrades like I would on a perfectly supported model.
Thanks to the new module I have AirPlay and Handoff/Continuity working, boot menu after GPU flash and LCD brightness control thanks to Open Core.
When macOS 12 Monterey will be officially released in late 2021 I already know that it will work with no issues whatsoever on my iMac, so I'll have support for it at least until 2024, which is bananas considering that in 2024 it will be 14 years old.
This is a testament to the peak of upgradability and repairability reached by 2010-2011 iMacs, that faded with later models.
Long life to the 2010 iMacs! :D
Fantastic Job with the upgrade & I totally agree this was probably peak upgradability for the iMac's.
Hey, I think this is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen, congratulations for your effort!
Thanks
Perfect! Soon I’m thinking to do similar upgrades to my late 2009 iMac
You"re Amazing. . . thank you for the lesson!
I know you can also update the video card. According to you with all the changes you can manage to edit videos with this IMac?
Great video
Damn... now i wanna try it!!!!
any problems later?
None so far still works fine, but bear in mind it is a time consuming and invasive process, which I found was much easier with a second pair of hands.
+ A quick tip if you do go for it, alignment of the logic board is difficult but definitely doable, just make sure ports are perfectly aligned before putting the iMac back together.
Excelente!
Muito obrigado e parabéns!
Um abraço aqui do Brasil.
Hi great job with the upgrades!! i will try this but what is the max CPU that Apple sold for the mid 2009 20" inch iMac
Thanks, the max CPU Apple sold for the 2009 20" inch was an 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
The configurations of the 20" inch & 24" inch 2009 iMac's:
support.apple.com/kb/sp507?locale=en_GB
@@techwithagr5974 Okay thank you very much! now i'm just having trouble knowing what CPU should I use to upgrade my 2009 iMac ?
Unfortunately I think that the 20 inch 2009 iMac came with only 2 processors options a 2.0 gHz core 2 Duo & a faster 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo (P7550)
So if you have the 2.26 gHz processor then I think you are maxed out according to what most sources say.
A good answer to your question you may wish to check out:
www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/352713/iMac+CPU+upgrade+Question
@@techwithagr5974 Yes i just watched another video on that and he said that same thing you said. I could only upgrade SSD and RAM. Someone told me before I can use SSD I have to format it on a Windows computer in order for SSD to work on iMac? Do you know anything about that, or can I just install SSD without doing the format?
I am not to sure about that generation of iMac but as far as I am aware & in my case I didn't have to format the SSD, I just bought & installed it then went into internet recovery to install the latest version of Mac OS supported on that particular Mac.
Or in another case I just formatted the SSD using disk utility then cloned my old hard drive on to it. ( Just note doing this may lead to licensed programmed such as Microsoft office to require a new license unless you can sign out of the old drive & reactivate the software on a the new drive.)
Nice presenttaion, would have benefitted from some auxilliary lighting .
Yes I agree, thanks for the tip.
@@techwithagr5974 Possibly something as simple as a head torch so that when you're disconnecting wires and using both hands you can simply direct the light onto the relevant area, I would also suggest adding a highlighted circle or similar onto such items as connections, as most people like myself only dabble with these components when a problem arises and can be a little unsure, and it's so easy to damage a component and rendering the device obsolete. Thanks for your kind presentation. Have a glance at this video, the presenter gives an excellent clarity, there may be something you can take away from it. th-cam.com/video/aUNXq3CTU_s/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=MicBergsma
nice sweet work!!
Thanks
@@techwithagr5974 I insist, No, thank you !!! 😉😎👍
do you know hot to clean the yellow spots on the LCD? Can you make video how to open the screen and clean them please ?
At the moment no since I have personally never encountered any yellow spot issues on my LCD but I would definitely consider researching & making a video like that if the issue arises on my iMac.
hey i have 2010 imac 21.5 inch what i have to change inside to get intalled BIG SUR ?
I think that the biggest issue getting this mac to big sur using a patcher is the graphics card as they often failed an ran OS's onwards from mac OS Mojave very poorly, so you would have to swap that, I would also personally swap to an SSD if you can, as it makes the mac feel and run a lot faster.
After doing the upgrade you would have to use a patcher to get to a newer OS.
But do note that if you do swap the graphics card you will lose likely lose the boot screen which is why I haven't upgraded my GPU and upgraded to newer mac OS versions.
@@AppleReviews Not just a GeForce, I have a Quadro K1100M 2GB in mine, flashed. You could also put in a newer AMD W4130 or W4150 and having them working with Open Core Legacy Patcher, which made tremendous progress in the last months.
You can find all information to upgrade the GPU and install Big Sur/Monterey on forums.macrumors.com
I am planing for an update. This will be a good reference. Can i have the link of those parts. I would like to buy those. Mine is 4gb ram not 16. I would like to upgrade to 16 gig.
Thanks for commenting.
I will be updating the the description shortly to include all the US & UK links to parts I used as well as a few bits of advice to make it simpler for you and anyone considering the upgrade.
Also if these links do not work to purchase the parts in certain Countries or regions in the world if you type the product name in your native Amazon then you should find what you are looking for.
Hi, with the i5 processor can I put 32 gb of ram? it changes a lot with respect to the processor i3?
The i5 does make a difference over the i3 but it is not night & day, there is slight performance benefit but it is a lot of work to install the i5. Also for 21.5 inch iMac (2010) regardless of the CPU the max ram that can be installed stays at 16gb.
I'm writing you from my iMac 11,2 21.5" Mid-2010 which I upgraded with a quad-core 8 thread i7-860S and currently has 24GB of 1333MHz RAM installed (8+8+4+4). The 16GB RAM max Is a CPU limit, not a motherboard limit. If you put in an 860S or a 870S (or even a Xeon L3426), you can actually put in 32GB of RAM, and it will works just fine.
Going from the old dual-core i3-540 with no Turbo Boost to the quad-core i7-860S is a MUCH bigger improvement than going to the i5, which is just slightly higher clocked and adds Turbo Boost.
Apple didn't offer the i7-860S because it has an high 82W TDP instead of 73W of both i3 and i5, so an SSD upgrade is also necessary to keep TDP as low as possible and maintaining a stable system.
The power supply will be a bit stressed anyway, so be sure to set Macs Fan Control to cool it adequately. Cheers.
Thanks for the clarification
@@QuikyBassman Hi, do you also manage to mount videos with that configuration? Thanks for the info you gave!
@@DarkArynLand Unfortunately I don’t use my iMac for video editing, so I can’t give you a firsthand review about it, but I’m pretty confident that with the Quadro K1100M I installed, paired with the i7-860S and 24GB (or 32) you can get along editing in 1080p in Final Cut Pro quite nicely, even 1440p maybe.
Although 4K will probably be a bit too much.
Is it possible to install an i7 2600S in the 2010 21inch ?
Unfortunately not. The i7 2600s was the max CPU for the 2011 21.5 inch iMac.
how fast
should I upgrade my 2010 iMac or get a 5,1 Mac Pro and upgrade that instead
It is a long and time consuming process to upgrade the 2010 iMac and is far simpler to upgrade the mac pro, also you can get far more powerful specs into the Mac pro so if you can I would opt for the 5, 1 Mac pro.
can i upgrade my mid 2010 imac 21" to core i7 950 ?
Sorry; but unfortunately i'm not too sure as apple only sold the iMac with 2 variants of the i3 1st gen or with the i5 680. However do double check.
hello friend can you indicate which kit for. the. SSD tuning please insist
the fastest CPU for imac 2010 is i7 870
@@papcon The 21.5 Macs power supply will not support that. You need the I7-870S variant. The 27 inch 2010 Mac has a stronger power supply and will take the i7-870.
Thanks for the clarification.
It will take an I7-870S.
Thanks for the clarification, I went with the i5 680 because it was the max CPU that Apple sold & I wasn't aware that the i7 870s was compatible.
It does indeed, but the i7-870S is not very easy to find and because of that, it's quite expensive. I would suggest the slightly underclocked i7-860S, which can be found for half the price of an 870S, and performs similarly.
Beware that both those i7s has a slightly higher TDP, so the power supply will be under more stress, be sure to cool it properly.