I ended up upgrade to a Metal GPU! Watch here: th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html New video is up comparing this 27" 2009 to the cheapest brand new 27" 2020 available :) th-cam.com/video/bO1XvSBG4d4/w-d-xo.html
"2TB of spinning Rust." Hysterical!!! However, Apple considers things vintage at the 2 year mark. Until last year I was rocking a 7+ that worked well, so I upgraded to a premium plus used 12 Pro from Amazon. The look of horror on the 15 year olds at the Apple Store was priceless when I brought it in :)
I have a stock 2009 imac running Linux Mint. It runs all current software in 2023 and is as fast as it was when I bought it brand new. Great video btw Justin. Thanks for making this. Namaste x
Linux is an excellent option for these Macs! I will probably do a video at some point about it. Benchmarking to compare them would likely be difficult though...
@@rebootretro Hi Justin. That would be good see. I tried a few different flavours of Linux, but Mint was the only one that didn't throw up WiFi connectivity or GPU problems. It works seamlessly. However, Time Machine files are encoded and only work on Macs. I managed to pull all the files but it took time. I suggest people do this before wiping Mac OS. Namaste x
I love this video. I'm watching it on a 21" 2009 iMac with a Core 2 Duo running Monterey with an SSD. I use it daily in my kitchen while cooking, and it still works perfect. "Obsolete" is entirely relevant to the use case, and often comes across to me as arrogantly presumptive.
This is the era in which Apple made such powerful, reliable Mac's that their customers *didn't need* to upgrade every few years, like many other PC owners. The fact you were able to use this from one decade into the next, let alone the one after that? Truly a marvel of engineering. They don't make em like they used to- for exactly this reason!
Great video, i have done this with a 2009 21 inch iMac, if you retain the sensor from the old cd drive and stick it onto the frame there is no need for macs fan control, the fans only spin up to full speed when the system detects a missing sensor
This is very true. I did move the CD sensor over, however I find Apple is not aggressive enough with its cooling. Apple prefers to run hot in order to run quieter, and I prefer to run a little louder as I believe cooler hardware is less prone to failure. I’m only using Macs Fan Control to pull the GPU a few degrees lower since they’re so frequently prone to failure. Not sure if this will make a practical difference long term but I guess we’ll see :)
Side note: when recently re-baking my mid 2011 27’s GPU my fans went full blast after reassembly and were showing errors. After multiple rebuilds I noticed that all I needed to fix them was to just give the sensors a little press to make sure they were adhered well. Suddenly errors disappeared and fans worked normally.
My machine is exactly the same model, but with 12 Gb of SDRAM, and dual drives, a 480 Gb SSD, plus the original 1Tb HDD. It runs like a charm. It's still my daily driver and my workhorse for all my graphic design jobs. The only thing that's really vital is to get rid of the original ATI GPU (it's a bottleneck and it ends up failing). I'm currently using the 2011 iMac AMD Radeon 6970M GPU with 1Gb of RAM and the performance improvement is really noticeable.
I had a 13 year old Imac, and made it a Chromebook. With the linux operating system, it flies. With linux you can put solfware on the hard drive. Everything must be or come from the Cloud. Really like Google Docs. When I loaded my jump drive with the os, I can take it any where and use any computer and start working. Simply plug it in to USB port, restart, and F2 on PC or Alt/option on Mac. Don't even need to ever install on the computer hard drive, unless I want to. If you are used to a Chrome Browser, won't even know any difference using linux.
I bought half a dozen VGC vintage iMacs circa 2011 for $1000 a few years ago at auction for my small culture school here in Tokyo, from a business that had upgraded to more current models. They were a mix of i5/i7 4/8GB models with functioning 4750 and 4770 graphics boards. I used them to replace the 2Gb Core 2 duo 2008(?) Macs I used to use... I dedusted the interiors and replaced the hard disk on all of them. They have been running flawlessly for over 3 years. I'm loath to upgrade them to Monterey since they are completely trouble free, but may have to as VS Code is depreciating High Sierra Support at the end of this year.
Yup! With upgrades, it feels just as snappy as any modern machine. It's a shame how many of these are likely trashed just because they can't be updated to the latest OS. As it sits, this trooper still has lots of life left in it.
Hey I was currently given a late 2009 iMac from a relative and it works really well. But I’ve come to realize that I can’t gain access to certain websites because I’m currently running maverick ( 10.9.5 ). I’m not entirely sure how to update my mac. I tried going base off some videos but everytime I try to log into my apple account on the apple store it says my password was incorrectly entered but I’m 100% sure that it isn’t. Any advise or help you can lend??
@@faddupastfour You can try this official link to the High Sierra download page: apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12 High Sierra is the last official version of Mac OS that supports the 2009 iMac. I don't believe that Apple requires you to sign in for Mac OS upgrades, only for apps. If you're trying to unofficially upgrade to Mac OS 12 Monterey (like in the video), this process must be done entirely WITHOUT the App Store since Apple won't allow unofficial installs through the App Store. If you're still having trouble, you can post back and I will try to help :)
I have a late 2009 27” iMac still running. I upgraded the ram to its maximum and added an external 1TB solid state hard drive. I am keeping the machine because it has a cd/dvd drive and MS Word. That CD/dvd reader/burner comes in handy at times. Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for the comment! Yup, it's handy to have the CD drive. My daily drivers don't have them anymore, and it was a little frustrating the other day when I needed to burn one, lol. So I have to boot up another system, or grab the external drive. Glad you're still making use of the 2009, they were (and still are) great systems!
I ran Kubuntu years back when I was very new to Linux... Having only really used Windows prior, it was much more inviting than other flavours. Probably the first Linux distro I daily drove. That's over 10 years ago now though, lol.
Thanks to your video I bought imac late 2009 27` (but unlucky with core2duo) for my parents as youtube/web serfing/online streaming machine for use on their kitchen! This thing cost me about 90 dollars with shipping,was the dirtiest machine i ever opened,and had failed GPU,but....I baked GPU, installed SSD booted OCLP....and now it's great 2k 27 inches media machine!Thanks for the video!
For what you're using it for, the Core 2 still holds up alright. If you've got 8GB RAM and an SSD, it should still be very comfortably usable. And at $90, you basically paid for shipping and got a free Mac, lol. Congrats! Great deal! Just one note: use something like Macs Fan Control or similar to make the GPU run cooler. The bake trick is usually temporary, but from my experience running it cooler can extend the time before it fails again. If it does fail again at some point, might be a chance to upgrade to a Metal GPU :) th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html
My early 2009 iMac runs El Capitan (the newest OS it officially supports). But theoretically I could legacy patch it to Monterey Edit: I legacy patched it to Ventura
To buy a new current, iMac would take me over a year at 120 a month given my income. Once all my debt is paid I can charge $1000 and then come up with the cash for the rest but I have a 2010, 2008, 2009 that work fine it’s only Apple that decides they’re obsolete.
@@georgesenda1952 i have Ventura patched on my mid 2012 MacBook Pro which im commenting from and it works absolutely fine. games like minecraft run absalutely fine no issues at all there
Are use a 2008 iMac I just put in four gigs of RAM and Linux mint and it runs absolutely perfect. I’ve been using this computer as my daily and watching TV on it as well since 2008! You are so right all these Macs are amazing computers if you just get rid of that bulky OS X and put Lenix in them! I also have an HP G3 elite with a core I seven that I don’t even use because my macs do the job already with no problem when these days I’m gonna try to put windows 10 and 11 on my 2008 iMac and see how that runs. I don’t know if it will run good but mint runs absolutely perfect.
If you upgrade to an SSD and have your 4GB RAM, it should run Mac OS Ventura alright for web browsing. But it will run Linux Mint better, I think :). You could triple boot Mac, Linux and Windows!
@@rebootretro sorry I was using voice to text. I meant that is what I do. I run meant on there. I took Mac OS X off because it’s not supported anymore and I’m tired of trying to get websites to load but with mint it runs perfect and I don’t think Windows is gonna work because it’s too big of a program, but I have an actually tried it, because mint is so awesome! Like I said, I have newer computers that I don’t use because my iMac is the perfect computer/TV I use it for literally everything I even use it as a monitor for my Xbox. I’ve also installed men on an A1 to eight Mac mini and it seems to run perfect on there as well. I haven’t tried it as much but everything that I have tried. It works perfect. Next thing I’m going to do is heat up the CPU on the Mac mini and change it over to a socket CPU so I can put the t9500 processor in it.
Watching this video made me miss my 2009 iMac 27in. Used it for 9 years until the mainboard got fried by a power surge. If it weren’t for that, I’d probably still use it.
Impressive work! I upgraded my 2009 27" iMac with an SSD and used it daily for a decade, which is an amazing lifespan IMO. I've sold it now but might have kept it for even longer if I had known about OpenCore Legacy Patcher!
I actually did an entire video on the Tandy 200 (th-cam.com/video/JLZVVUNp3_A/w-d-xo.html). Something about that Tandy makes me want to do all my script writing on it. I never had one back when it was current, but theres something just so nostalgic about using it. One of my favourite vintage systems for sure!
@@rebootretro It has the BEST keyboard of any machine I've EVER typed on, and I learned on the classic IBM Selectric (doesn't THAT take you back?) And the OS/application suite was AMAZING for the time. Bill Gates has a soft spot in his heart for the Tandy 100 because it's the last project he wrote significant code for personally, and, of course, the 200 is really just a 100 with a better screen and form factor. Do you have any upgraded ROM on yours? When I bought mine on eBay, the listing said nothing about the SuperROM, so that being in it was an AWESOME surprise. The addition of spell-checking capability is especially nice. I've also bought TWO PowerBook 1400's, years ago, at flea markets for $15 TOTAL between the two, that both had upgraded processors that were selling individually at the time for about $75 each. One was a NuPower, I forget the other manufacturer. Nice surprises once I looked under the hood. Still have those, too. Need to open a vintage computer museum....😁
@@richardadams4928 Pretty sure mine is completely stock. In the video, I pulled out batteries that had 1995 expiry date I think. I'm pretty sure my unit was barely used. I don't know much about the SuperROM, was that an official upgrade or 3rd party one?
@@rebootretro Hey, RR, I did watch and enjoy the T200 video since writing this, nice find! The SuperROM was a 3rd party add-in that went in the ROM expansion slot in the bottom and upgraded all the stock applications, including the aforementioned spell checker, which I believe was the most requested upgrade for the stock software. It was lauded as a near MUST in contemporaneous magazines, but (as expected) it wasn't cheap. I'd bet they're rarer than hens' teeth today. I also have the 3.5" floppy drive, which is probably also very rare. I have a T100 as well, would LOVE to have the DVI (Disk/Video Interface) have never seen anyone selling an operational one. Would have been a VERY cool accessory back in the day.
@@richardadams4928 Ya, the spell checker would be have been a massive upgrade for sure! Basically the difference between having a "typewriter" and a "word processor". The floppy drive would have been cool. I think I can transfer data via serial port though. Admittedly, I've not had a whole lot of time to play with it to learn more about it. It's one of my favourite portable vintage systems, but one that I don't know enough about yet.
I thought I was the only one who did this almost exact upgrade. My only difference is my 24" iMac had 6gb ram and I upgraded the cpu to a perin dual core in order to install Monterey. Wish I knew about the screen saver trick. Anyway the 27" I paid 50 dollars. And sold the 24" for 70 dollars.
Nice! You had the 6GB upgrade; out of the seemingly hundreds of DDR2 modules I have kicking around, no single 4GB modules so I was stuck on 4GB total (which was probably the largest motivation for upgrading). The screensaver trick didn't work all that well; the issue would come back sometimes and you'd have to re-do it. Ultimately it was better than nothing I suppose. Either way, you got an amazing deal on your upgrade; got a newer system with larger screen AND pocketed $20. Can't go wrong with that!
I have a 2009 27" iMac configured just like this one. Years ago I swapped out the optical disc drive to an SSD and already added RAM: 12GB now. I don't recall what version of OS in on it. I was hoping there'd be something else I can do to keep the machine viable.
Thats excellent! TBH, the 12GB RAM is probably more than plenty for general use - I can't stress enough how overkill I went with 32GB, lol. If you want to run more modern OSes, I'd recommend the GPU upgrade (I show it here th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html) since it brings Metal support for modern apps to work properly. Also, if you want the full modern Mac experience, you can also upgrade the WiFi card to bring back AirDrop, AirPlay receiver, etc. I will be doing the WiFi upgrade in an upcoming video! :)
I do similar activities, except I run Ubuntu. That lets me run used "PC" hardware, which is often being given away. An i7 from 2011 runs just fine, although uses a bit more electricity.
Do you mean officially? The Early 2009 can officially upgrade to 10.11 El Capitan. The Late 2009 can officially upgrade to 10.13 High Sierra. Unofficially, you can upgrade both to the latest macOS 15 Sequoia using OpenCore Legacy Patcher like shown in the video.
Thank you for your useful information. We also have a 2009 iMac. everything has been upgraded like you did but now the fan noise drives me crazy ... Do you have the same issue ??? thank you
Hi! I did not, but I kept all the factory temp sensors. The loud fans are usually caused by an unplugged or missing sensor. If you changed the hard drive, this is extremely common cause since many '09 machines pull temperature data from the HDD diagnostic port (which doesn't exist on most non-OEM drives). I used Macs Fan Control app to manually control my fans. In my case, I turned up the fan speed to "protect" my hardware from excess heat, by adjusting target temperatures. I think it's possible to also reduce the fan speeds with it too. When you open Macs Fan Control, you'll see all 3 fans and can see which one is the loud one. Make sure that sensor is actually plugged in properly. If it's the hard drive and you've replaced the hard drive recently, switch the fan speed from Auto and tie it to another sensor value in the same area or to a fixed speed. If this doesn't help, feel free to post back and I'll try to help if I can :)
That is a fantastic question, one which I've asked around and no one seems to have a solid answer. I just searched around again, and found only one guy who claims it is possible and works with Monterey. Since so many people have asked about Target Display, I'm going to order the cable to test it. I will test it, and if it works I will make a video showing how it works. Make sure you're sub'd :)
I just tested it, and YES! It does work. Pressed CMD+F2 enabled display input and I could use the iMac as a secondary screen. The only issue was trying to switch back to the iMac using CMD+F2, where the screen went back and the iMac crashed and had to be rebooted. It may have been a fluke, but I can confirm video input does, in fact, work. :)
Not for nothing but you did not need to destroy the optical drive. I have a 2009 24" and it has plenty of room to stick the SSD in the body of the Mac and secure it with double sided tape.
If your SSD is completely empty, you'll need something bootable or you'll just get the flashing folder error icon when you turn it on. Time Machine backups are not bootable. There are generally 2 common options here: 1. Boot your original hard drive and clone it to the SSD using something like Disk Utility or Carbon Copy Cloner. OR 2. Install the blank SSD, boot using a Mac OS install USB (you can make one pretty easily). From the Mac OS installer, there is an option to recover using a Time Machine backup. If the SSD is already installed but you want to use the clone method, plug your old drive into your Mac using an external SATA to USB adapter. Hold OPTION key when powering on until the boot picker shows, and choose the external drive.
I found, yes found, a tossed out iMac A1312. Seems to work but needs High Sierra reinstalled. So Monterey is the latest and greatest the iMac can support?
Nice find!! I know Ventura definitely works, and someone has told me that Sonoma works and also fixes the wake-from-sleep graphics glitch on AMD cards. I should make an updated video and test it :). From my understanding though (haven't confirmed), there are WiFi issues with Ventura and I suspect also Sonoma which require the WiFi card to be upgraded. Wired Ethernet should be fine.
I have iMac 21.5 from 2011 and this computer was running on Mac OS High Sierra. I decided to update it to Mac OS Catalina, with patch, because this iMac is not supported to the Mac OS Catalina. Anyways, i updated it to Mac OS Catalina, but i have similar problem to you, but you have fixed this, and i dont know how. I have a problem with no transparency on for example dock, flickering windows. I dont know how to repair that, Please help me.
The graphics problem I had was a driver issue and only affects Mac OS Big Sur 11.2.4 and later. If you're having a graphics issue on Catalina, you may have a failing GPU which is extremely common on these iMacs. It's also possible that Catalina requires graphics driver patches which could have been missed, so you could try to follow the guide again. I'm sorry, the issue you're having is almost certainly not the same as mine since you're using several versions older OS, and I don't have much experience with Catalina or the Dosdue1 patcher to help on it. If you are confident that your GPU is ok, you could try to install Big Sur 11.2.3 and use OpenCore Legacy Patcher.
@@kalvinluv I’m not affiliated with the OpenCore team, but yes they do amazing work!!! I just make videos, which help people understand the Docs easier :)
Mostly, yes. Certain patches (the 2009 for sure) prevents the delta updates from installing, so each update will be the full size update. They usually install like native, but will almost always require you to run the post-install patches again (to regain WiFi, Bluetooth, graphics, etc). If there are known issues with a particular version, they are documented on the Dortania GitHub page.
I have an early 2009 iMac and I want to do this change while I'm saving money to buy a PC because I can't afford to buy a new Mac with fewer and fewer ports and drives. The hardest part is, besides replacing the old hard drive to a SSD and the RAM, is to find a repair shop who can do that.
It's probably not worth paying a shop even if you can find one, unfortunately. Start to finish, after parts and labor, you'll likely be in more money than it's worth. If your only option is to hire a shop, I'd probably recommend save the money and put it towards a newer model. If you're on a really tight budget, you can sometimes find really new Macs with damaged screens for cheap. I'm currently running (daily driving) a 2015 iMac with quadcore i5 CPU and a completely smashed (unusable) screen - running on 2 external monitors, and it works perfectly. People have also run "headless" Macbooks. I know it's not ideal for your "fewer ports and drives" issue, but these 2009 systems are just getting older. While they're incredible value if you can get cheap used parts and upgrade yourself, you'd break all your savings by paying someone to upgrade it. Anyway, hope this gives you some ideas and some encouragement. :)
I am havin 2009 imac i am trying to upgrade it with the help of bootable usb but while i am trying to acess boot menu from shutting up and clicking on option key its just showing me white blank screen plz help 😢 i request plz plz
That’s terrible! The GPU failures were probably the biggest problem these Macs had. The nice thing is that many of them had socketed GPUs that were replaceable. I upgraded to a Metal supported GPU in this video: th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=3ex4lCtjY0F5-4b0 The GPU I used is pretty cheap these days, although it’s a lot of hassle to do the upgrade.
@@rebootretro I tried to search for a new GPU but found that very difficult to do the upgrade so finally I sold it to a guy who told me that he will fix the computer.
@gabesz Yes, it is very difficult! Definitely not the same as upgrading a GPU in a PC tower! And even afterwards there can be some problems, since it is not “officially” supported. Glad someone will fix it though!
This is why it's better to buy always a iMac or any laptop with just integrated Intel GPU. It never fails. Intel Iris are really good integrated reliable graphics chips.
I just purchased a 27 inch 2009 iMac for $100 CAD ( ~$75 USD ) with 16 GB of ram and the 2.8 ghz i7... I'm going to use it in target display mode with my 2018 Mac mini. Im curious If I can get docker running to setup a pie hole to block internet ads...
Please let us know what cables have you tried or planning to use. I have the same iMac and I’m trying to use it with 2017 MacBook Pro and PlayStation as a target display mode, also with Monterey having universal control no longer in beta would that work for iMac? If anyone knows how to use iMac as display with PlayStation that would be awesome, also a great video idea - use iMac as a universal monitor/tv
Very true. Also the paste gets pretty crusty on the cooler by this age too; I'm sure fresh high quality paste helps too. All you can do is run them cooler, and hope they don't die. Although if they do, it's a good excuse to upgrade to a Metal-compatible one.
No, because the operating system is not blocking the browser, new browsers are relying on features and functions of the new OS which don’t exist in older ones. It is entirely possible for someone (with source code) to compile a browser on older Xcode for older operating systems. They don’t because it’s a fair bit of extra work, and very few people are using older systems in relation to newer ones. A good example of this is the TenFour browser, which is a more modern version of FireFox which was backported to run on older very unsupported G3/G4/G5 Macs. The TLDR though, it’s much less hassle to upgrade your Mac to a newer operating system then try to get a new browser working. If you do need the older Mac OS version for other older software, you can always dual boot the current OS with something newer like Monterey
Yes, you can (and should) upgrade to an SSD which will give you substantial performance improvements. If possible, you should try upgrading to 8GB RAM (this will depend on your specific model). And you can do the OpenCore patch to install a newer version of Mac OS. I made a video here where I upgraded a 2008 Core 2 Duo iMac to Mac OS Monterey: th-cam.com/video/_a2utQaO_Gs/w-d-xo.html
Ah back when you could actually upgrade the hardware in a Mac like a real computer! Great way to prevent more e-waste. I really hate all the non-reparable and non-upgradable tech these days with soldered ram, storage, and glued together displays :(
I have the last 2009 27” iMac for sale. Already upgraded to SSD. The video is glitching, likely the LCD to Motherboard cable which is incredibly fragile and difficult to install. First $100 takes!
Is this kind of process possible with the 09 MacBook pro? It kicked the bucket around 2017 but I might be able to fiddle around with it to do some upgrades.
Yes, you certainly can. You’ll have to read up on notes specific to your Mac (i.e. if there are any known issues, glitches, etc), but as a general statement most 2009 Macs should support a similar upgrade like this.
Did you do the Monterey upgrade already and it became slow AFTER the upgrade? Or is it too slow and you want to upgrade it? If you have not done any upgrades yet, it would be best to do: 1. Upgrade original hard drive to an SSD (makes HUGE speed improvement!) 2. Have at least (or upgrade) to 8GB RAM 3. Use OpenCore to update to a modern Mac OS version The SSD upgrade will make it insanely faster even without upgrading anything else.
Do you mean the 2006 iMac 5,1? Theoretically it should be possible... As long as it has the Core 2 Duo CPU, not the Core Duo. I'm pretty sure the Core Duo is missing necessary features. I do have 2006 iMacs, both with Core 2 Duo and Core Duo CPUs, so it's possible I could make a video on that in future. Thanks for the idea!
Yes, for sure. Although with the included GPU running Monterey, you may not be able to run Apple Photos due to GPU Metal support. But you can still use other photo programs, or store them in folders without any issue.
No, the camera and mic work perfectly on my 09. It is used semi-regularly with FaceTime and works flawlessly. If yours was opened to do internal upgrades (SSD/HDD/etc), it's possible the cable got damaged/disconnected. I believe both the mic and camera are on the same PCB and connect via the same connector to the main logic board. It could be a driver issue too (OCLP post patches didn't install correctly), but I think the biggest suspect at this point is the internal cable connecting to the main logic board based on your symptoms. Hopefully this helps!
@@joeschafranek6677 Excellent! That does make sense that privacy settings could block this. I hadn't though of this. Congrats on finding the solution!! :D
I got the same model recently 2nd hand with a failed AMD graphics card. Opened it up, took every out and cleaned it. Had to replace the ODD/ gfx card fan due to noise. Then I ordered a NVIDIA Quadro K1100M, a cooler for MXM-A graphic cards (because I don’t have the means to modify the MXM-B one from the AMD card. I also ordered the Slimline SATA cable for the additional HDD/SSD underneath the ODD. Gonna use it to run the OS off. Last but not least the iMac will get 32GB of RAM.
my imac 21 2009 didnt like any of the opc. the ram ussage was up to 10gb on with nothing running and every app would crash. had to go back to high sierra
I had a similar setup with a 2011 21.5? iMac. The big issue I had that the ssd couldn’t fix was h265 encoding/decoding. That issue alone forced my hand with upgrading.
I work for apple and its astonishing what products they call "Vintage or Obsolete". There are so many instances where I want to help clients fix there older computers but apple would rather sell them a new one. If I didn't work for Apple I would be refurbishing people's older computers and keeping them out of the landfill.
They'll often even condemn newer hardware too, because it's "too expensive to fix". They tend to charge more for some logic boards then the whole computer is worth. Wouldn't it be great to be on the receiving end of all Apple's discards and "obsolete" hardware? The sad part is that even if you have the knowledge and skill as an employee, you still have to play by their rules. It's good that you care about saving people money and keeping them out of landfills, even if Apple doesn't :)
th-cam.com/video/_a2utQaO_Gs/w-d-xo.html I did exactly this with a 2008 as well! I believe most 2008 iMacs should run Monterey, via OpenCore like I did. Most 2008's I think are limited (unofficially) to 6GB RAM, but single 4GB DDR2 modules aren't all that common. You should make sure you have a bare minimum 4GB RAM and an SSD boot drive. Many people get hung up on wanting a CPU upgrade too, but your biggest performance per dollar is going to be an SSD upgrade. With 4GB RAM and an SSD, you should have a very usable system for basic tasks such as web browsing and video watching. Your biggest weakness is going to be RAM, but if you limit yourself to running one app (and/or one browser tab) at a time you should have a pretty good experience overall, despite this computer being 15 years old.
I had to take my late 2009 I Mac to apple repair , and they considered the board is to be replaced but because it’s “obsolete ‘“ cannot be fixed . Please advise . The Mac switches off before it finishes to load after turning on ..has OS 10.3 .I had added ram to 8gb. I still want to save it , Is it possible ?
They say "cannot be fixed" because new parts are no longer available. At this age, you have to fix it with used parts, which official Apple repair won't do. A good independent repair shop will be able to fix it, although labour cost may could outweigh the value of the computer at this point. Make sure to get a quote beforehand. These iMacs had a few issues: If it's shutting FULLY OFF (no fans/completely dead), then I suspect it is the power supply. If the screen goes black but the fans still run and you can see faintly it is still lit up, I would suspect the GPU has failed. If you can still hear the fans, but there is no faint glow (backlight) of the black screen, it could be the backlight inverter has failed. Those are the most common issues I've found with the 2009 models. The main logic board could be faulty, but this was not very common from my experience. The most common were the issues above. All of these parts should be available used, but again may not be worthwhile depending on the parts + labor cost.
It works with most Macs from that era. The official support list is here, which notes any issues for a particular model: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html
I did that to one of my keyboards the same way except when I put the new cord in I also included a USB port since it was one on the cord that I was going to waste anyway said it just cutting that off. I saw it on as well so now my Mac keyboard also has a USB port on it like the old days
I imagine the Siri animation probably uses Metal acceleration, which would open when you summon Siri. If you're on the stock GPU, Metal would be patched out by the OpenCore patcher. I did upgrade the GPU in the 2009 iMac to a Metal-supported one: th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html Just note that the GPU I used is known to have some issues on 2011 models, so you may want a different GPU if you ever do this upgrade.
hi i'm using 2011 imac 27 inch it has 8gb of ram and gpu AMD 6970 it run very slow and freezing on catalina, montery and big sur. what should i do to improve that. also on catalina it says final cut doesn't support graphic card but on high siera it works? what could be a problem on that help
Hi, unexplained freezing can sometimes (but not always) be caused by early GPU failure. GPU failure on 2008 to 2011 iMacs was extremely common, and typically results in graphical artifacts (lines/blocks/distortion of picture on-screen) or system lockups/freezing. Your GPU is not officially supported past High Sierra, so it is using a patched driver and does not have full graphics acceleration (Metal) which is required by Final Cut. Since the 2011 has a removable GPU, you would need to upgrade your GPU to one which supports Metal acceleration. I made a video here showing how I did it on a 2009 iMac 27" - th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html It's important to note that while my AMD M5100 GPU upgrade works great in a 2009, there are some known issues with that GPU in 2011 iMacs so you may want to select a different one. Also, it is not a simple upgrade, it is very technically advanced and requires a lot of time, patience and troubleshooting. I don't want to be discouraging, but it is very important to understand that this is NOT a plug and play upgrade. This upgrade is very unsupported by Apple and requires a lot of hacking to make it work. I will say though that the results are fantastic once completed, and the system does work pretty near flawlessly with full Metal support afterwards.
Yes, but if you do an SSD upgrade you will need cut through the adhesive that glues the screen together. iFixIt has a good tutorial. The OpenCore part works the same.
Hello. I have a 2010 imac 21.5 inch. I followed the same process and there were many guides online. But my Mac does not load more than "less than a minute" i had kept it left over for an hour but still it doesn't work. Any idea about the problem and how I can solve it?
Hi! If I recall, it's happened to me a few times (since I reinstalled a few times). I left mine running for a couple hours, and sometimes it would actually complete. If not, I force rebooted it and it didn't seem to have any adverse effects. I'm not sure why it gets stuck, but it seems somewhat common.
Hi Justintyme 7739, what I don't understand is my computer man told me my 2012 macbook pro won't update past catalina because apple won't let them do so, so I wonder how can a 2011 imac update to monterey?
The computer guy is telling you what officially works, which is what Apple allows to run on your 2012. Most Intel Macs are capable of running Monterey, but Apple blacklists them so they won't boot it and removes drivers so it won't function if it does boot. What I've done is use software called OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) which tricks Monterey to think it's allowed to run. OCLP also installs the necessary drivers that Apple removed. Using OCLP, your 2012 should run Monterey flawlessly. I've done that same upgrade here: th-cam.com/video/pzfKYTE9OyM/w-d-xo.html
@@michael-dy8tz Many shops won't because running unsupported software sometimes results in unexpected glitches, which they get blamed for but have no way to foresee. And the shops don't want customers constantly coming back trying to claim warranty on things that are unpredictable and out of their control. There are surely some small independent shops which will do this work though, under the understanding that this is not officially supported by Apple and that they aren't responsible if it stops working.
Not sure about Hacintoshes, but I think OpenCore on official Apple hardware is much smoother. You’re right, after each update you need to reapply the post-installation patches. I image it’s more hassle on a Hacintosh since the post patches will be different for every system.
@@rebootretro The problem is always the same. The modified drivers work with a certain release. Usually, the modified drivers are on a layer not affected by upgrades. After the upgrade they are still used and often are not compatible. The effect is that the system does not come up. The only option is to prevent upgrades by actively rejecting it every single day. That is too much hassle.
No, unfortunately the Core 2 chips use LGA 755 socket and there are no Core i chips for that socket. I have heard that people has successfully modded Apple Core 2 platforms to accept quad core and Xeon chips. It’s a pretty advanced mod though.
Good morning friend I have one question, after successfully installing Ventura on mid 2011 imac, I did the re-patching which is the last thing to by following the Open Core tutorial. So the OS boots ok and everything on the unit is working excellent! However, it's just that I don't understand why open core will pop up every now and then. So is it safe to just un-install open core from the unit completely? otherwise I am assuming it will keep popping up? My first thought is to just un-install open core because it has served it's purpose but I am not sure if it is ok to do so. Please help if you can....Thank you!
I'm not sure what you mean by popping up? Do you mean right when the Mac is powered up, or do you mean after Mac OS has fully booted? There are two important parts to OpenCore: 1. The OpenCore boot loader. An old Mac will refuse to boot Ventura, but it will boot generic loaders like Linux, BSD, or even Windows. OpenCore is a Unix-like loader which an old Mac will happily boot. The OpenCore loader then spoofs the system type to Ventura so that Ventura "thinks" it is running on a supported Mac. If you want to keep your boot drive complete vanilla (unmodified), you can permanently have a USB drive plugged into your Mac with the OpenCore boot partition on it. But most people install the OpenCore partition directly to their boot drive. So the OpenCore loader and boot partition does not do any patching to Mac OS - all it does is pre-boots the system and tricks a newer OS into running. It's sort of an intermediate "helper". 2. The post patches. Newer versions of Mac OS remove drivers for older hardware that Apple no longer uses. The post-installation patches puts these old drivers back, or makes modifications to the system so that old hardware will run. Lastly, there is the OpenCore app itself, but this is not really an important part anymore after the first 2 portions are complete. The OpenCore app is used to write the bootloader for part 1 above, and then used to modify drivers in part 2 above. After these are done, the OpenCore app itself is no longer necessary. However, if you install Software Updates, it may overwrite the patched drivers with official ones and require you to run part 2 again to repatch drivers. If you're talking about removing OpenCore, I would assume you're referring to the OpenCore app itself? It should be kept around, however it should not be popping up automatically. The OpenCore bootloader can't be removed (the part that shows up when you first turn on your Mac), or it you won't be able to boot any OS newer than the officially supported one. You can hide that screen, so that it automatically boots directly into the default OS rather than hanging and waiting for you to click it, if that's what you're referring to? Anyway, hope this helps some! If you let me know the specific screen that keeps popping up, I will probably have a better idea. Glad you got Ventura running!
So now I can buy an old iMac 27" from 2011. Offcource I wil run the newest MacOS. But also I want to use it as a monitor to connect to my Windows 11 Mini PC. Can you telle me how to connect my Windows 11 MiniPC to the iMac 27" 2011, so I can play also with Windows 11 on the iMac ??
The feature you're talking about is Target Display. I'm not sure if it works on Monterey, since I don't think any Mac which officially supports Target Display also officially supports Monterey. And in order to activate Target Display mode, you have to do it from within Mac OS. Also, very important, Target Display only works with Thunderbolt display. The connector is the same as Mini DisplayPort, but it is not compatible (I did try). I have read that it is possible to use Windows with Target Display IF your Windows PC supports Thunderbolt display - but you'll need to do some Googling to confirm.
I just checked and it appears to be missing on mine as well. There are 3rd party AirPlay casters, like AirFoil which might work? I'm not currently using my AirPlay speakers, so I didn't notice until plugging them in to test this.
It wouldn't be economical to ship your iMac to me unfortunately. Shipping and packing costs would be very high, and also a high risk of damage since the entire screen is glass. I did have to send one once, only 1.5hr drive away, and the shipping and material cost was approaching $100 - that's only ONE direction and also using a discounted commercial shipping account. I would suggest to check around for a small local independent shop. It would have to be a small independent, because larger businesses likely won't want to do mods like this. If you are tech savvy and want to reduce the upgrade cost, you could also just have a shop install the SSD and do the rest of the upgrade yourself. The SSD portion of the upgrade is the only area you will expose dangerous high voltages. The RAM and software are pretty safe to upgrade yourself. I'm always here to answer any questions if you do decide to do this yourself. :)
What do you mean by jailbroken? Do you mean to run the latest Mac OS on it? OpenCore should let you run the latest Mac OS on most Macs from that era. If you mean jailbroken like an iPhone/iPad, it just gives you root access to install non-approved software. Mac OS is different and you already have root access to install non-approved software, even on a stock 2011 MacBook. :)
The issues with my laptop is that it’s very slow especially in start up. I believe it runs os el capitan. It does not allow me to update the software at all so now it’s just stored in a cabinet without use. Years ago, I saw in it a feature that allowed it to run as if it was a windows so I assumed it was jailbroken as we used to do with ipods and ipads lol but really i don’t have much understanding of computers
Sorry I never responded! TH-cam wrongly flagged your reply as spam and I only saw it now. What you're referring to is "Boot Camp", which is a feature on Macs which allow them to run Windows. This can be done on pretty near any Intel Mac. No jailbreaks/hacks/etc required, Apple officially supports it! :D As far as running slow and update issues, these are likely two different problems: 1. To make it fast, you would probably need to upgrade from a traditional hard drive (HDD) to a solid-state hard drive (SSD). You may need to add some RAM as well. These days the computer will be absolutely useless without at least 4GB, and likely won't run well with less than 8GB. 2. El Capitan is very outdated these days, and doesn't get updates anymore. This is a problem for things like web browsing, because as the web progresses we need the browser to be updated (Safari/Chrome/etc). But when the operating system (El Capitan) does get updates anymore, it no longer supports new browsers either. This is where the OpenCore comes in (shown in the video). When Apple stops providing updates for an old Mac, OpenCore allows those updates to still be installed on an old Mac. Hope this is a good explanation. Again, I'm so sorry about missing your comment! It's ironic, because TH-cam's filters sometimes allow actual spam to be posted, but then block legitimate comments! I have to be mindful to check the "held" section more frequently.
Yes, you can do a similar upgrade on a 2007. However, it does require a CPU supporting SSE4.1 which may require you to upgrade the CPU first. Also, there are issues with the stock Bluetooth card, which can be overcome by upgrading it, not using it (if you don't need it), or installing a USB Bluetooth dongle. Here is the official list of supported hardware: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html#imac
I just got one of those computers. I’m trying to work on it but it’s on that gray screen and says I’m missing something to update from captain. What should I do?
If I recall, Apple has some restrictions as to what patches must be installed in order to upgrade (or what versions of Mac OS you can upgrade from). If possible, make a bootable USB installer, wipe the drive and install a fresh copy of Monterey.
Until apple realized they were "too repairable" and started change them in later models, lol. The 2009/2010 27" has fully upgradable CPU, hard drive, GPU, replaceable PSU, etc and fully supports DisplayPort input. What a fantastic machine!
I have a mid 2012 iMAC, 32MB of memory, A dead internal hard drive, added a new SSD which is now my boot drive and everything works great. I tried using Open Core Legacy Patcher to upgrade to Ventura. I wanted to do this because I can't get the newest versions of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop because they are not compatible with my old machine. If I could get Ventura installed then I think I should be able to install the upgrades for Lightroom and Photoshop. That would save me about $2200 by not having to buy a new iMAC. I also don't want to buy an M1 unit now when they expect an upgrade to the iMAC's having the M2 or possibly an M3 chip by the end of the year. I TRIED AND TRIED (three times) using Open Core Legacy Patcher and while it seems like all went well, when it rebooted it was still on Catalina........meaning I got no where. Do you have any suggestions for me? I would love to get this upgrade to work. Thanks.
I'm not sure what part your're stuck at, so let's just go over the overall. There are 2 parts to OpenCore: 1. The Bootloader - Since the Ventura loader will not load on an unsupported Mac, you use OpenCore bootloader which then subsequently boots the unsupported operating system. 2. The post-installation patches - This restores drivers and applies hacks so that Ventura supports the older hardware which Apple dropped support for. So you need to create an official Ventura install USB key (this is officially supported by Apple, and there are many guides to do this). Next, you download the OpenCore app on your Catalina system. When launching the OpenCore app, you'll need to choose "build OpenCore" and then install it on your Ventura USB key. This modifies your USB key to have the OpenCore loader in addition to the official Ventura installer. Now that you have patched Ventura installer, you can reboot while holding the OPTION key. This allows you to choose the boot menu, in which case you'll choose the one called EFI with the OpenCore logo. Now a second boot menu comes up, and in this second one you choose the Ventura installer. Now you can install Ventura like normal. After installation finishes, you have to hold OPTION again and choose EFI again. But this time, you can choose your local hard drive since you installed Ventura. Ventura will NOT boot without first booting to EFI, since Ventura is not officially supported. You must always choose EFI boot option first so that you can start Ventura FROM the loader. You are now in Ventura. From here, you reinstall the OpenCore app. Now you build OpenCore again, but this time install to your main hard drive. This will allow you to boot Ventura without using your USB key. Lastly, install post-installation patches, which will fix your WiFi/Bluetooth/etc, anything that Apple removed that is necessary for an older Mac. Important note, to get on the internet BEFORE the post-installation patches are installed, you likely will need to use an Ethernet cable since WiFi won't yet be working. That is the overall procedure, please feel free to post back if you're still having trouble and specify what stage it's giving you trouble.
No, sorry, if you have the Core 2 version it will only accept dual core LGA775 CPUs. In theory it should work, but I believe the chipset does not support it. It may be possible through extensive modding, but dropping that CPU into a stock iMac will not boot. Later versions used LGA1156 CPUs which support a Core i7 quad core. The other option if you want better performance is to use the nice big Apple as a screen, and hook it up to a more modern Mac or PC like I did here: th-cam.com/video/TQwCJYiLqSo/w-d-xo.html If yours is a 27" Core 2 model, yours supports Target Display via DisplayPort which makes it one of the best iMacs to use as a monitor :)
@@rebootretro Yes I have E7600. Theoretically Q9550s and E7600 are the same:) LGA775. Do you think it is possible to make an upgrade by changing the Logic Board from EMC 2309 to EMC 2374? Compatible? Lastly is 32 GB RAM that is 4x8GB possible? I tried 8GB but it was not accepted.
@@huub1972Apple sometimes makes subtle changes to various components, so it's hard to say if you can go from 2309 to 2374 - you'd be best to Google around to see if anyone has done it. I know that a 2011 and a 2009 have virtually identical chassis, but the LCD has to be modified to interchange them, for example. According to EveryMac.com (excellent resource!), a 27" Late 2009 Core 2 Duo has 4x RAM slots and will accept 16GB max (presumably 4x 8GB). I can't confirm this personally though. Older Core 2 Duo iMacs (like the 2008) will only accept 6GB due to chipset limitations (4GB + 2GB). It is important to check your exact model, since Apple makes several models which look identical but are electronically very different. Also, they can be fussy about RAM speed too, so best to match factory speed if possible.
Hello, I have 20-inch, Early 2009 imac Intel Core 2 Duo - Ram 8Gb - NVIDIA 256 MB Without ssd I can't upgraded to ssd. What's the best MacOS for my iMac? Thanks.
Honestly they'll all be a little sluggish without an SSD. I think High Sierra will probably run the smoothest, however you'll probably run into issues with software support since HS is very outdated now. HS is the last officially supported OS for your machine, I think. If you can live with it running slower, I'd probably go with Monterey clean install and avoid installing anything else unnecessary. At least with Monterey it will support the latest web browsers and security updates. Ultimately, High Sierra should run faster, but Monterey will give you a more usable (but slower) machine.
@@Raafat Catalina will run smoother since it is older and less bulky. If it was me and it was running well, I would probably keep Catalina unless installing an SSD upgrade in future. The trade off is you will not get security updates with Catalina. If you want/need security updates, you should upgrade to Monterey. It should be very usable with Monterey, but will probably run slower without SSD upgrade. Personally, I would probably take a smoother Catalina system with outdated security, but that is just my opinion :)
@@Raafat You could also partition your drive (or install on external USB drive) to test Monterey and see how it performs. This way you won't damage your Catalina existing system if you decide Monterey is too slow.
Just stumbled on this good video. I have same model with i7 and 32gb Ram. I've cleaned/dusted it when swapping SSD. My main concern (even in beginning) is that they can get real hot on top. Normally, that isn't a problem. So I installed Montery with Opencore and after a bit of usage it did get hot. This time it scared me. So how's yours behaving in terms of heating? Am i overconcerned? I rolled it back and used dosdude's Catalina. Thanks!
Yes, Apple runs them too hot in general (IMO), in order to keep the fan noise down. I've never run my fans at stock speed because I believe this kills hardware faster (so I can't compare Monterey to prior). I HIGHLY recommend using Macs Fan Control (or something similar) to override the default fan speeds regardless of OS. The settings I currently use are: - ODD fan set for GPU sensor @ 30c to 80c - HDD fan set for HDD sensor @ 30c to 60c - CPU fan set for CPU Core (avg) @ 25c to 70c I can't guarantee you'll have success or be happy with those settings, but I have done extensive testing and am extremely happy with those values for myself. If your ambient temperatures in your room are higher, you'll probably need to adjust your values. For basic browsing and desktop use the fans are barely audible, and the entire iMac is drastically cooler to the touch. It is important to note that obviously running the fans faster will wear them out sooner, however I'd rather replace a fan than a GPU or mainboard. Hope this helps!
Thanks i will use SMC 🙂. I also have the 2011 27 inch and it seems to perform cooler. I think the hardware of the 2009 is pushed to limits bij the patched OS, obvious the 2011 handles it slightly better? @@rebootretro
My early 2009 24” MAC had the hd hanging up on boot up. I bought a Firewire 800 ssd and used Carbon Copy Clone to make the external drive bootable. I clicked to boot from the external and now have a faster running dinosaur. Apple has enough money. They don’t need more of mine.
The RAM was used and pulled from old laptops. The RAM needs to be DDR3, but almost any 8GB modules will work fine. I believe they were 1333mhz but I don’t remember 100%.
Yes, for sure! A 2010 is extremely similar to a 2009. I have another video where I also upgrade the GPU, which fixes the graphical glitches (th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html). In the future, I'll be doing a video where I upgrade the WiFi card as well - so that AirDrop, Handoff, etc works again too.
While it's really cool that this still works and you managed to upgrade it, I feel the "saved $1800" in the thumbnail is incredibly misleading. No matter how much RAM or fast storage you add in, the i7-860 in this thing is very much outdated and cannot compare to a modern CPU. Even i3s these days are faster than this.
Hey, thanks for the comment! :) True, but ultimately I needed to replace the old 24" iMac, and my choice (for a 27") was either refurbish this used one or buy a new one. So a more correct term was perhaps "deferred" instead of "saved" :) My biggest problem with the latest 27" model is that its still Intel, as they haven't upgraded 27" to Apple Silicon yet. I don't want to invest in a platform Apple is killing off. I feel that Apple will probably kill software updates much earlier than usual in hopes to move everyone to Apple Silicon, leaving a brand new iMac with a similar lifespan as my used 2009 iMac. But you bring up an interesting point... Even though this i7-860 is much slower for CPU-intense tasks, but how much slower is it for basic day to day tasks like word processing or TH-cam watching? Would it be discernable to the average user? Maybe I should borrow a current model 27" to benchmark against this 2009 iMac and make a video... I am very curious how they would compare, and how big the performance gap would be.
@@rebootretro Your point is certainly valid. I myself use a 2017 13" MBP as a daily driver for work and its CPU power is a joke by now. But I do have a custom built desktop PC for stuff that actually need the power. The issue I have is that the $1800(?) pricing covers the entire gamut of stuff that you can do with a new iMac. Yes, most people will not use its full power. But that is obviously not relevant to the pricing. And I bet there are definitely people who go pedal to the metal with their computers, using all the power available. As for that kind of comparison, yeah, I would definitely like to see that.
Unfortunately, I didn't get Metal running. I used the OpenCore Legacy Patcher, which installs a patched graphics driver, bringing back legacy hardware acceleration. Without the patch, Mac OS won't load any graphics driver and the UI is so laggy, it's unusable. So I have all the dock animations, legacy accelerated screensavers, hardware accelerated video playback, etc, but anything that requires Metal such has Apple Photos, Maps app, Metal accelerated screensavers, etc, doesn't work or is incredibly buggy. For what this computer is used for, it doesn't matter to me since Metal apps aren't needed. If I really wanted Metal, I would need to replace the MXM graphics card with a Metal supported one. If you're on an '09 27" too, then you should be able to do this. You can find Metal supported ones which aren't terribly expensive on eBay.
It was already unsupported. He used tools (originally created for hackintosh machines iirc) that have commonly been used to install newer OS' on older machines that apple abandons.
@@Bewefau I think all Core i systems can support up to 32gb, but I’m very sure the Core 2 Duo systems do not. They both existed in 2009, but have different chipsets and entirely different CPU sockets. Everymac.com can confirm though.
Had this iMac from new until 2015 first thing I updated was the ram to 12gb when I bought the iMac , I ended up having to get rid after updating OS to maverick the fans would spin up constantly, the CD stopped working , and it was a nightmare to get the OS reset to snow leopard as without the disc drive I could not use the OS disc that came with the iMac, and you couldn't back date the OS though Apple updates , so had to buy a USB with mountain lion OS on it to get the iMac back into a usable state, then I sold it . I loved the computer, but it was the first and the last mac I ever owned, I hated not being able to upgrade . I have now built 4 pc's myself and the one I am currently using has a 40 inch 4k monitor 64gb ram Ryzen 5900x with a 3070ti and 20tb of storage and all the RGB I could install lol , when I was looking into buying a new iMac it just didn't make any sense financially for me, it was much cheaper in 2015 just to build my own and in doing, so I now actually known what all the crap in a computer does .
Yup, there is certainly a financial premium on Apple hardware. If you don’t need Mac OS or any of its proprietary features, a PC is often better value as far as performance for the dollar. And being able to customize and upgrade is a huge plus!
I agreed about this. No wonder why a cheap PC can do it better than a expensive m3 mac. My ancient PCs are still going strong. Office, Surfing, Gaming, no issues. Even without upgrades! Should be avoiding Apple Completly.
I don't believe the chipsets support anything more than a dual core CPU. I think someone once hacked it, but it was incredibly involved and came with some issues. Although the performance gains aren't nearly as much, you can swap in a newer/faster Core 2 Duo chip. In my opinion though, I don't feel Core 2 Duo upgrades are worthwhile. The performance gained doesn't justify the cost and effort, and honestly the included chips really are decent to begin with.
@@chrisplissken4626 You'll actually get a much better performance boost with an SSD upgrade if you haven't already. If you're only using the iMac for general tasks like shown in the video, you probably won't benefit from more than 8GB RAM, although more never hurts :) I did a video on a 2008 iMac with Core 2 Duo, and even with 4GB RAM it's performance is very respectable. Still a very usable machine for sure! th-cam.com/video/_a2utQaO_Gs/w-d-xo.html
@@chrisplissken4626 You'll have to check to confirm, but I believe your model is the only one in this series with a non-removable/non-upgradable soldered GPU, unfortunately. For general web browsing, it doesn't matter though. If you install the graphics patches after upgrade, it will bring back basic hardware acceleration which will make the UI snappy as per normal and give smooth video playback. The only time you'll have an issue is with Metal-only apps, like the Apple Maps app - although Google Maps website via Google Chrome works perfectly. Even the latest Photoshop supports both Metal and legacy acceleration and works with the older patched graphics.
Yes, but even if the fan runs full speed the system will also full throttle the CPU and/or GPU if it’s getting incorrect temperature data. I use a 2015 iMac with a smashed screen using external monitors - I wanted to remove the screen and put a plexiglas cover. But the temperature sensor is built into the LCD, and if it isn’t detected then the fans run full speed and the CPU throttles so bad it’s unusable. Whether the temperature data is correct or not is irrelevant. What matters is that the numbers must be within safe limits. If the numbers are outside safe limits according to the bad sensor, it will throttle like crazy even if in reality it is ice cold. The system performance on most Apple products is at the mercy of the temperature sensors.
You install it using OpenCore Legacy Patcher just like any unsupported Mac. When it boots into Mac OS for the first time, the graphics will be so laggy it will be almost unusable... But then you run the post-install patcher (from the OCL bundle), which brings back legacy hardware acceleration. This gives you acceleration for things like UI animations and video playback acceleration (for non-Metal apps). Anything that requires Metal will not display, crash or be glitchy (like Maps app) as you might have guessed. As a web browsing and word processing computer, it works great though. EDIT: It is possible that Safari will have graphical glitches if it relies on Metal to any degree. I haven't really tested this as we use Google Chrome (which works perfectly).
I have one of the last iMacs with the intel chip and it has become so slow it’s getting near unusable. Apple says it’s good for recycling only but I’d like to get more time out of it if possible. A Genius installed an older operating system but as soon as I restored my files from Time Machine it reverted to Ventura. Too bad I don’t have your skills to get it running properly again.
If it is one of the last Intel ones, it can't be very old and shouldn't be that slow! If you open "About this Mac", what year does it say? Which CPU model? How much RAM? Do you know if it has an SSD? Maybe I can give you some ideas to improve it. You probably don't need anywhere near the amount of work I did on the 2009 to fix yours.
@@rebootretro it’s just over six years old, bought in 2017, 8 gb ram, 3 Ghz quad 4 intel i5, Retina 4k radeon pro 555 with 2 gb memory. The hard drive is 1 terabyte, not an SSD. I’ve moved the majority of photos and videos to an external drive to try to clear up some space on the drive but it’s not made much difference. Every app loads slowly, and it can be minutes of watching the beachball of doom when you wake it up, load a page in Safari, or do a cold start.
@@Quince828Try to install Ventura to an external SSD - even though USB 3, will be much faster than the external HDD. Thunderbolt even faster, and you won't have to open it up 🐶 0:00
Please let me know what exact SSD you used. Mine Monterey USB installer is refusing to detect my OWC SSD installed in my DVD Bay. Googling suggested Apple is preventing SSD detection unless it is is Apple SSD, however I don't think you are using Apple SSD (at least I hope not).
Its definitely not an Apple SSD. I don't recall exactly, but I think it's an OEM Samsung SSD out of a dead Dell laptop. I would double check your DVD bay adapter. You can also temporarily remove the HDD and connect the SSD to confirm. Apple has previously prevented TRIM support on non-Apple SSDs, but I'm not aware that they've ever prevented them from being used. I could be wrong, although I've installed Mac OS on dozens of aftermarket SSDs over the years.
Please let us know what cables have you tried or planning to use. I have the same iMac and I’m trying to use it with 2017 MacBook Pro and PlayStation as a target display mode, also with Monterey having universal control no longer in beta would that work for iMac? If anyone knows how to use iMac as display with PlayStation that would be awesome, also a great video idea - use iMac as a universal monitor/tv
This is an area I'm not too familiar, unfortunately. I don't know if Target Display will work if the iMac is running Monterey, since I don't think Monterey officially supports any iMac with Target Display. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please. If you're using High Sierra, Target Display should work. There is a catch though; While the iMac supports Mini DisplayPort (or HDMI with converter) as an output, it ONLY supports Thunderbolt as input for Target Display. I tested this and was thoroughly disappointed, because I wanted to use it as an HDMI display. So to use for your 2017 MacBook, it should work fine. For a PlayStation or anything else, likely no-go unless it happens to support Thunderbolt video out. On a side note though, you can get cheap HDMI to USB capture devices from Amazon/eBay which would allow you to watch any HDMI input. Not sure how the input lag or quality would be; it might pass for TV watching, but I'm not sure about gaming or as a computer monitor.
Sort of. The code is all open source. If you were a programmer, you'd be able to review the code and compile it yourself - and KNOW it's secure. For the rest of us, we trust that there's enough eyes reviewing portions of it that any deliberate "funny business" would be caught. So while there isn't "concrete proof" per se, chances are that someone would notice and speak up if anything deliberately nefarious was being done. A similar concept to how Linux is collaborated and distributed, although admittedly with a much smaller user and contributor base. As far as security of the operating system itself, they tend to try keeping the official security systems in place (i.e. like SIP/System Integrity Protection). Although it's possible that OpenCore could introduce a security vulnerability that goes unnoticed, from what I've seen about the project this would never be intentional and would be fixed as soon as someone noticed it.
I ended up upgrade to a Metal GPU! Watch here: th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html
New video is up comparing this 27" 2009 to the cheapest brand new 27" 2020 available :) th-cam.com/video/bO1XvSBG4d4/w-d-xo.html
I picked up a 2008 iMac, upgraded it with a ssd, added more ram, did the dose dude patch to have the latest os. Works just as good as the new stuff.
"2TB of spinning Rust." Hysterical!!! However, Apple considers things vintage at the 2 year mark. Until last year I was rocking a 7+ that worked well, so I upgraded to a premium plus used 12 Pro from Amazon. The look of horror on the 15 year olds at the Apple Store was priceless when I brought it in :)
I have a stock 2009 imac running Linux Mint. It runs all current software in 2023 and is as fast as it was when I bought it brand new.
Great video btw Justin. Thanks for making this. Namaste x
Linux is an excellent option for these Macs! I will probably do a video at some point about it. Benchmarking to compare them would likely be difficult though...
@@rebootretro Hi Justin. That would be good see.
I tried a few different flavours of Linux, but Mint was the only one that didn't throw up WiFi connectivity or GPU problems. It works seamlessly. However, Time Machine files are encoded and only work on Macs. I managed to pull all the files but it took time. I suggest people do this before wiping Mac OS. Namaste x
I have the same 27” iMac from 2009…doesn’t start at all…before I get repaired how can I get lynx “Mint” properly installed and functioning
I love this video. I'm watching it on a 21" 2009 iMac with a Core 2 Duo running Monterey with an SSD. I use it daily in my kitchen while cooking, and it still works perfect. "Obsolete" is entirely relevant to the use case, and often comes across to me as arrogantly presumptive.
This is the era in which Apple made such powerful, reliable Mac's that their customers *didn't need* to upgrade every few years, like many other PC owners. The fact you were able to use this from one decade into the next, let alone the one after that? Truly a marvel of engineering. They don't make em like they used to- for exactly this reason!
Great video, i have done this with a 2009 21 inch iMac, if you retain the sensor from the old cd drive and stick it onto the frame there is no need for macs fan control, the fans only spin up to full speed when the system detects a missing sensor
This is very true. I did move the CD sensor over, however I find Apple is not aggressive enough with its cooling. Apple prefers to run hot in order to run quieter, and I prefer to run a little louder as I believe cooler hardware is less prone to failure. I’m only using Macs Fan Control to pull the GPU a few degrees lower since they’re so frequently prone to failure. Not sure if this will make a practical difference long term but I guess we’ll see :)
Side note: when recently re-baking my mid 2011 27’s GPU my fans went full blast after reassembly and were showing errors. After multiple rebuilds I noticed that all I needed to fix them was to just give the sensors a little press to make sure they were adhered well.
Suddenly errors disappeared and fans worked normally.
@@hanspecanshow did the fans stop
My machine is exactly the same model, but with 12 Gb of SDRAM, and dual drives, a 480 Gb SSD, plus the original 1Tb HDD. It runs like a charm. It's still my daily driver and my workhorse for all my graphic design jobs. The only thing that's really vital is to get rid of the original ATI GPU (it's a bottleneck and it ends up failing). I'm currently using the 2011 iMac AMD Radeon 6970M GPU with 1Gb of RAM and the performance improvement is really noticeable.
Ya, those stock GPUs were pretty terrible for failure. I've dealt with too many of them over the years!
Hello! Is this AMD 6970M reliable or will it fail too after a couple of years?
@@twinstars1234 All Apple AMD GPUs at 2011 dies after a Time. This is why the MacBooks, Mac Minis, MacBook Pros are so cheap from 2011
I had a 13 year old Imac, and made it a Chromebook. With the linux operating system, it flies. With linux you can put solfware on the hard drive. Everything must be or come from the Cloud. Really like Google Docs. When I loaded my jump drive with the os, I can take it any where and use any computer and start working. Simply plug it in to USB port, restart, and F2 on PC or Alt/option on Mac. Don't even need to ever install on the computer hard drive, unless I want to. If you are used to a Chrome Browser, won't even know any difference using linux.
I bought half a dozen VGC vintage iMacs circa 2011 for $1000 a few years ago at auction for my small culture school here in Tokyo, from a business that had upgraded to more current models. They were a mix of i5/i7 4/8GB models with functioning 4750 and 4770 graphics boards. I used them to replace the 2Gb Core 2 duo 2008(?) Macs I used to use...
I dedusted the interiors and replaced the hard disk on all of them. They have been running flawlessly for over 3 years.
I'm loath to upgrade them to Monterey since they are completely trouble free, but may have to as VS Code is depreciating High Sierra Support at the end of this year.
Do you always have to update to the newest version of VS Code?
@@zizlog_sound it’s still got a lot of bugs. Especially Java support.
This is amazing, my main machine is a late 2009 21.5 inch iMac! They are still great workhorses.
Yup! With upgrades, it feels just as snappy as any modern machine. It's a shame how many of these are likely trashed just because they can't be updated to the latest OS. As it sits, this trooper still has lots of life left in it.
Hey I was currently given a late 2009 iMac from a relative and it works really well. But I’ve come to realize that I can’t gain access to certain websites because I’m currently running maverick ( 10.9.5 ). I’m not entirely sure how to update my mac. I tried going base off some videos but everytime I try to log into my apple account on the apple store it says my password was incorrectly entered but I’m 100% sure that it isn’t. Any advise or help you can lend??
@@faddupastfour go to Mr Macintosh channel on TH-cam, he has plenty of tutorials on how to download older versions of macOS
@@faddupastfour You can try this official link to the High Sierra download page: apps.apple.com/us/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12
High Sierra is the last official version of Mac OS that supports the 2009 iMac. I don't believe that Apple requires you to sign in for Mac OS upgrades, only for apps.
If you're trying to unofficially upgrade to Mac OS 12 Monterey (like in the video), this process must be done entirely WITHOUT the App Store since Apple won't allow unofficial installs through the App Store.
If you're still having trouble, you can post back and I will try to help :)
I have a late 2009 27” iMac still running. I upgraded the ram to its maximum and added an external 1TB solid state hard drive.
I am keeping the machine because it has a cd/dvd drive and MS Word. That CD/dvd reader/burner comes in handy at times.
Thanks for posting this.
Thanks for the comment! Yup, it's handy to have the CD drive. My daily drivers don't have them anymore, and it was a little frustrating the other day when I needed to burn one, lol. So I have to boot up another system, or grab the external drive. Glad you're still making use of the 2009, they were (and still are) great systems!
2017 iMac with 7500 i5. KUBUNTU 23.04. The best PC I have owned. Plasma DE is eye candy. Never toss a premium machine.
I ran Kubuntu years back when I was very new to Linux... Having only really used Windows prior, it was much more inviting than other flavours. Probably the first Linux distro I daily drove. That's over 10 years ago now though, lol.
Thanks to your video I bought imac late 2009 27` (but unlucky with core2duo) for my parents as youtube/web serfing/online streaming machine for use on their kitchen!
This thing cost me about 90 dollars with shipping,was the dirtiest machine i ever opened,and had failed GPU,but....I baked GPU, installed SSD booted OCLP....and now it's great 2k 27 inches media machine!Thanks for the video!
For what you're using it for, the Core 2 still holds up alright. If you've got 8GB RAM and an SSD, it should still be very comfortably usable. And at $90, you basically paid for shipping and got a free Mac, lol. Congrats! Great deal!
Just one note: use something like Macs Fan Control or similar to make the GPU run cooler. The bake trick is usually temporary, but from my experience running it cooler can extend the time before it fails again. If it does fail again at some point, might be a chance to upgrade to a Metal GPU :) th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html
Apple does not think old macs are worthless, they simply think we are too poor to afford a new mac. And that's what "Think different" really mean.
Those of us who buy our Mac hardware at garage sales, salvage yards and dumpsters truly "Think Different" ;)
Now your speaking my language.😊
My early 2009 iMac runs El Capitan (the newest OS it officially supports). But theoretically I could legacy patch it to Monterey
Edit: I legacy patched it to Ventura
To buy a new current, iMac would take me over a year at 120 a month given my income. Once all my debt is paid I can charge $1000 and then come up with the cash for the rest but I have a 2010, 2008, 2009 that work fine it’s only Apple that decides they’re obsolete.
@@georgesenda1952 i have Ventura patched on my mid 2012 MacBook Pro which im commenting from and it works absolutely fine. games like minecraft run absalutely fine no issues at all there
Are use a 2008 iMac I just put in four gigs of RAM and Linux mint and it runs absolutely perfect. I’ve been using this computer as my daily and watching TV on it as well since 2008! You are so right all these Macs are amazing computers if you just get rid of that bulky OS X and put Lenix in them! I also have an HP G3 elite with a core I seven that I don’t even use because my macs do the job already with no problem when these days I’m gonna try to put windows 10 and 11 on my 2008 iMac and see how that runs. I don’t know if it will run good but mint runs absolutely perfect.
If you upgrade to an SSD and have your 4GB RAM, it should run Mac OS Ventura alright for web browsing. But it will run Linux Mint better, I think :). You could triple boot Mac, Linux and Windows!
@@rebootretro sorry I was using voice to text. I meant that is what I do. I run meant on there. I took Mac OS X off because it’s not supported anymore and I’m tired of trying to get websites to load but with mint it runs perfect and I don’t think Windows is gonna work because it’s too big of a program, but I have an actually tried it, because mint is so awesome! Like I said, I have newer computers that I don’t use because my iMac is the perfect computer/TV I use it for literally everything I even use it as a monitor for my Xbox. I’ve also installed men on an A1 to eight Mac mini and it seems to run perfect on there as well. I haven’t tried it as much but everything that I have tried. It works perfect. Next thing I’m going to do is heat up the CPU on the Mac mini and change it over to a socket CPU so I can put the t9500 processor in it.
Watching this video made me miss my 2009 iMac 27in. Used it for 9 years until the mainboard got fried by a power surge. If it weren’t for that, I’d probably still use it.
Impressive work! I upgraded my 2009 27" iMac with an SSD and used it daily for a decade, which is an amazing lifespan IMO. I've sold it now but might have kept it for even longer if I had known about OpenCore Legacy Patcher!
Did you have to install new software on ssd first
@@namogotnowtv9088 I think I did a clean install of MacOS, and used the optical slot to mount it, but no special software, no.
Oh, yeah, that Tandy 200 at the beginning....
I still have one, upgraded with a SuperROM, still working fine
I actually did an entire video on the Tandy 200 (th-cam.com/video/JLZVVUNp3_A/w-d-xo.html). Something about that Tandy makes me want to do all my script writing on it. I never had one back when it was current, but theres something just so nostalgic about using it. One of my favourite vintage systems for sure!
@@rebootretro It has the BEST keyboard of any machine I've EVER typed on, and I learned on the classic IBM Selectric (doesn't THAT take you back?)
And the OS/application suite was AMAZING for the time. Bill Gates has a soft spot in his heart for the Tandy 100 because it's the last project he wrote significant code for personally, and, of course, the 200 is really just a 100 with a better screen and form factor.
Do you have any upgraded ROM on yours? When I bought mine on eBay, the listing said nothing about the SuperROM, so that being in it was an AWESOME surprise. The addition of spell-checking capability is especially nice.
I've also bought TWO PowerBook 1400's, years ago, at flea markets for $15 TOTAL between the two, that both had upgraded processors that were selling individually at the time for about $75 each. One was a NuPower, I forget the other manufacturer. Nice surprises once I looked under the hood. Still have those, too. Need to open a vintage computer museum....😁
@@richardadams4928 Pretty sure mine is completely stock. In the video, I pulled out batteries that had 1995 expiry date I think. I'm pretty sure my unit was barely used. I don't know much about the SuperROM, was that an official upgrade or 3rd party one?
@@rebootretro Hey, RR, I did watch and enjoy the T200 video since writing this, nice find! The SuperROM was a 3rd party add-in that went in the ROM expansion slot in the bottom and upgraded all the stock applications, including the aforementioned spell checker, which I believe was the most requested upgrade for the stock software. It was lauded as a near MUST in contemporaneous magazines, but (as expected) it wasn't cheap. I'd bet they're rarer than hens' teeth today. I also have the 3.5" floppy drive, which is probably also very rare.
I have a T100 as well, would LOVE to have the DVI (Disk/Video Interface) have never seen anyone selling an operational one. Would have been a VERY cool accessory back in the day.
@@richardadams4928 Ya, the spell checker would be have been a massive upgrade for sure! Basically the difference between having a "typewriter" and a "word processor". The floppy drive would have been cool. I think I can transfer data via serial port though. Admittedly, I've not had a whole lot of time to play with it to learn more about it. It's one of my favourite portable vintage systems, but one that I don't know enough about yet.
I replaced mid 2010 macOS with Linux Mint best thing I ever done
If you don't need to run Mac specific software, Linux probably runs even better than Monterey! :D
I thought I was the only one who did this almost exact upgrade. My only difference is my 24" iMac had 6gb ram and I upgraded the cpu to a perin dual core in order to install Monterey. Wish I knew about the screen saver trick. Anyway the 27" I paid 50 dollars. And sold the 24" for 70 dollars.
Nice! You had the 6GB upgrade; out of the seemingly hundreds of DDR2 modules I have kicking around, no single 4GB modules so I was stuck on 4GB total (which was probably the largest motivation for upgrading). The screensaver trick didn't work all that well; the issue would come back sometimes and you'd have to re-do it. Ultimately it was better than nothing I suppose. Either way, you got an amazing deal on your upgrade; got a newer system with larger screen AND pocketed $20. Can't go wrong with that!
I have a 2009 27" iMac configured just like this one. Years ago I swapped out the optical disc drive to an SSD and already added RAM: 12GB now. I don't recall what version of OS in on it. I was hoping there'd be something else I can do to keep the machine viable.
Thats excellent! TBH, the 12GB RAM is probably more than plenty for general use - I can't stress enough how overkill I went with 32GB, lol. If you want to run more modern OSes, I'd recommend the GPU upgrade (I show it here th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html) since it brings Metal support for modern apps to work properly. Also, if you want the full modern Mac experience, you can also upgrade the WiFi card to bring back AirDrop, AirPlay receiver, etc. I will be doing the WiFi upgrade in an upcoming video! :)
I do similar activities, except I run Ubuntu. That lets me run used "PC" hardware, which is often being given away. An i7 from 2011 runs just fine, although uses a bit more electricity.
i'm using one of these i picked up from the dump and repaired, everyday, still, main computer. 10.11 does everything i need it to do.
The best place to shop for used computers! :D
Hello, what is the most recent Mac OS that supports the 2009 IMAC? Thank you.
Do you mean officially? The Early 2009 can officially upgrade to 10.11 El Capitan. The Late 2009 can officially upgrade to 10.13 High Sierra. Unofficially, you can upgrade both to the latest macOS 15 Sequoia using OpenCore Legacy Patcher like shown in the video.
Thank you for your useful information. We also have a 2009 iMac. everything has been upgraded like you did but now the fan noise drives me crazy ... Do you have the same issue ??? thank you
Hi! I did not, but I kept all the factory temp sensors. The loud fans are usually caused by an unplugged or missing sensor. If you changed the hard drive, this is extremely common cause since many '09 machines pull temperature data from the HDD diagnostic port (which doesn't exist on most non-OEM drives).
I used Macs Fan Control app to manually control my fans. In my case, I turned up the fan speed to "protect" my hardware from excess heat, by adjusting target temperatures. I think it's possible to also reduce the fan speeds with it too.
When you open Macs Fan Control, you'll see all 3 fans and can see which one is the loud one. Make sure that sensor is actually plugged in properly. If it's the hard drive and you've replaced the hard drive recently, switch the fan speed from Auto and tie it to another sensor value in the same area or to a fixed speed.
If this doesn't help, feel free to post back and I'll try to help if I can :)
Download Mac's fan control and you can lower the fan speeds
He left in the original HDD so no sensor issues. You can use a SATA splitter cable or bridge the sensor cable to prevent high fan RPM
Can you still use Target Display Mode if you upgrade to Monterey?
That is a fantastic question, one which I've asked around and no one seems to have a solid answer. I just searched around again, and found only one guy who claims it is possible and works with Monterey. Since so many people have asked about Target Display, I'm going to order the cable to test it. I will test it, and if it works I will make a video showing how it works. Make sure you're sub'd :)
I just tested it, and YES! It does work. Pressed CMD+F2 enabled display input and I could use the iMac as a secondary screen. The only issue was trying to switch back to the iMac using CMD+F2, where the screen went back and the iMac crashed and had to be rebooted. It may have been a fluke, but I can confirm video input does, in fact, work. :)
Man, I really liked this video. Thank you very much. Even after years it is still very useful!!
Thank you for the encouraging comment!!
Apple 27” 2009,2010,2011 iMacs Never died. More RAM, a new SSD and you are happy.
Not for nothing but you did not need to destroy the optical drive. I have a 2009 24" and it has plenty of room to stick the SSD in the body of the Mac and secure it with double sided tape.
I have a time machine back up on my 2009 late imac. Still runs great. Since SSD is empty do I just plug in my external drive with Time machine?
If your SSD is completely empty, you'll need something bootable or you'll just get the flashing folder error icon when you turn it on. Time Machine backups are not bootable. There are generally 2 common options here:
1. Boot your original hard drive and clone it to the SSD using something like Disk Utility or Carbon Copy Cloner.
OR
2. Install the blank SSD, boot using a Mac OS install USB (you can make one pretty easily). From the Mac OS installer, there is an option to recover using a Time Machine backup.
If the SSD is already installed but you want to use the clone method, plug your old drive into your Mac using an external SATA to USB adapter. Hold OPTION key when powering on until the boot picker shows, and choose the external drive.
i did linux mint on mine as a dual boot but wish i had seen this sooner!
that's cool and it seems lots of people are installing this patch.
I found, yes found, a tossed out iMac A1312. Seems to work but needs High Sierra reinstalled. So Monterey is the latest and greatest the iMac can support?
Nice find!! I know Ventura definitely works, and someone has told me that Sonoma works and also fixes the wake-from-sleep graphics glitch on AMD cards. I should make an updated video and test it :). From my understanding though (haven't confirmed), there are WiFi issues with Ventura and I suspect also Sonoma which require the WiFi card to be upgraded. Wired Ethernet should be fine.
@@rebootretro cool! Thank you 🤓
I have iMac 21.5 from 2011 and this computer was running on Mac OS High Sierra. I decided to update it to Mac OS Catalina, with patch, because this iMac is not supported to the Mac OS Catalina. Anyways, i updated it to Mac OS Catalina, but i have similar problem to you, but you have fixed this, and i dont know how. I have a problem with no transparency on for example dock, flickering windows. I dont know how to repair that, Please help me.
The graphics problem I had was a driver issue and only affects Mac OS Big Sur 11.2.4 and later. If you're having a graphics issue on Catalina, you may have a failing GPU which is extremely common on these iMacs. It's also possible that Catalina requires graphics driver patches which could have been missed, so you could try to follow the guide again. I'm sorry, the issue you're having is almost certainly not the same as mine since you're using several versions older OS, and I don't have much experience with Catalina or the Dosdue1 patcher to help on it. If you are confident that your GPU is ok, you could try to install Big Sur 11.2.3 and use OpenCore Legacy Patcher.
Bro you and the coders in open core legacy patcher are God sent.!!! This world needs you 🙏🙏🙏🙌🙌🙌
@@kalvinluv I’m not affiliated with the OpenCore team, but yes they do amazing work!!! I just make videos, which help people understand the Docs easier :)
I wonder if it possible to run software updates within the installed OS version without breaking the OpenCore bootloader?
Mostly, yes. Certain patches (the 2009 for sure) prevents the delta updates from installing, so each update will be the full size update. They usually install like native, but will almost always require you to run the post-install patches again (to regain WiFi, Bluetooth, graphics, etc). If there are known issues with a particular version, they are documented on the Dortania GitHub page.
I have an early 2009 iMac and I want to do this change while I'm saving money to buy a PC because I can't afford to buy a new Mac with fewer and fewer ports and drives.
The hardest part is, besides replacing the old hard drive to a SSD and the RAM, is to find a repair shop who can do that.
It's probably not worth paying a shop even if you can find one, unfortunately. Start to finish, after parts and labor, you'll likely be in more money than it's worth. If your only option is to hire a shop, I'd probably recommend save the money and put it towards a newer model. If you're on a really tight budget, you can sometimes find really new Macs with damaged screens for cheap. I'm currently running (daily driving) a 2015 iMac with quadcore i5 CPU and a completely smashed (unusable) screen - running on 2 external monitors, and it works perfectly. People have also run "headless" Macbooks. I know it's not ideal for your "fewer ports and drives" issue, but these 2009 systems are just getting older. While they're incredible value if you can get cheap used parts and upgrade yourself, you'd break all your savings by paying someone to upgrade it. Anyway, hope this gives you some ideas and some encouragement. :)
I am havin 2009 imac i am trying to upgrade it with the help of bootable usb but while i am trying to acess boot menu from shutting up and clicking on option key its just showing me white blank screen plz help 😢 i request plz plz
i have a 2011 imac and a 2021 mac mini and they both work the same. I upgraded the imac to an SSD in 2014.
I had a same iMac for years. Upgraded to 16gb RAM and an 1TB SSD. Sadly the GPU failed three years ago :(
That’s terrible! The GPU failures were probably the biggest problem these Macs had. The nice thing is that many of them had socketed GPUs that were replaceable. I upgraded to a Metal supported GPU in this video: th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=3ex4lCtjY0F5-4b0 The GPU I used is pretty cheap these days, although it’s a lot of hassle to do the upgrade.
@@rebootretro I tried to search for a new GPU but found that very difficult to do the upgrade so finally I sold it to a guy who told me that he will fix the computer.
@gabesz Yes, it is very difficult! Definitely not the same as upgrading a GPU in a PC tower! And even afterwards there can be some problems, since it is not “officially” supported. Glad someone will fix it though!
This is why it's better to buy always a iMac or any laptop with just integrated Intel GPU. It never fails. Intel Iris are really good integrated reliable graphics chips.
I just purchased a 27 inch 2009 iMac for $100 CAD ( ~$75 USD ) with 16 GB of ram and the 2.8 ghz i7... I'm going to use it in target display mode with my 2018 Mac mini. Im curious If I can get docker running to setup a pie hole to block internet ads...
Please let us know what cables have you tried or planning to use. I have the same iMac and I’m trying to use it with 2017 MacBook Pro and PlayStation as a target display mode, also with Monterey having universal control no longer in beta would that work for iMac? If anyone knows how to use iMac as display with PlayStation that would be awesome, also a great video idea - use iMac as a universal monitor/tv
i had a fan control set up, but still had the gpu go south, you gotta open them up once in a while and blow out the dust.
Very true. Also the paste gets pretty crusty on the cooler by this age too; I'm sure fresh high quality paste helps too. All you can do is run them cooler, and hope they don't die. Although if they do, it's a good excuse to upgrade to a Metal-compatible one.
Is there a way to change internal parameter to upgrade browser in an old operative system?
No, because the operating system is not blocking the browser, new browsers are relying on features and functions of the new OS which don’t exist in older ones. It is entirely possible for someone (with source code) to compile a browser on older Xcode for older operating systems. They don’t because it’s a fair bit of extra work, and very few people are using older systems in relation to newer ones. A good example of this is the TenFour browser, which is a more modern version of FireFox which was backported to run on older very unsupported G3/G4/G5 Macs. The TLDR though, it’s much less hassle to upgrade your Mac to a newer operating system then try to get a new browser working. If you do need the older Mac OS version for other older software, you can always dual boot the current OS with something newer like Monterey
Can I upgrade anything with the Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" ?
Yes, you can (and should) upgrade to an SSD which will give you substantial performance improvements. If possible, you should try upgrading to 8GB RAM (this will depend on your specific model). And you can do the OpenCore patch to install a newer version of Mac OS. I made a video here where I upgraded a 2008 Core 2 Duo iMac to Mac OS Monterey: th-cam.com/video/_a2utQaO_Gs/w-d-xo.html
Ah back when you could actually upgrade the hardware in a Mac like a real computer! Great way to prevent more e-waste. I really hate all the non-reparable and non-upgradable tech these days with soldered ram, storage, and glued together displays :(
Yup! Now the only people who can do upgrades are high skilled techs like @dosdude1, who solder individual RAM modules and reprogram ROM chips, lol.
Macs are real computers. Just as PCs are
I have the last 2009 27” iMac for sale. Already upgraded to SSD. The video is glitching, likely the LCD to Motherboard cable which is incredibly fragile and difficult to install. First $100 takes!
Is this kind of process possible with the 09 MacBook pro? It kicked the bucket around 2017 but I might be able to fiddle around with it to do some upgrades.
Yes, you certainly can. You’ll have to read up on notes specific to your Mac (i.e. if there are any known issues, glitches, etc), but as a general statement most 2009 Macs should support a similar upgrade like this.
Help me I have 2009 safari ain't working take long to come on need advice upgrade it
Did you do the Monterey upgrade already and it became slow AFTER the upgrade? Or is it too slow and you want to upgrade it?
If you have not done any upgrades yet, it would be best to do:
1. Upgrade original hard drive to an SSD (makes HUGE speed improvement!)
2. Have at least (or upgrade) to 8GB RAM
3. Use OpenCore to update to a modern Mac OS version
The SSD upgrade will make it insanely faster even without upgrading anything else.
Got same problem never been up graded got it as gift from friend was wondering if u know y don't come on was on befor now struggles
Can you do something like this to a 2009 iMac 5.1?
Do you mean the 2006 iMac 5,1? Theoretically it should be possible... As long as it has the Core 2 Duo CPU, not the Core Duo. I'm pretty sure the Core Duo is missing necessary features. I do have 2006 iMacs, both with Core 2 Duo and Core Duo CPUs, so it's possible I could make a video on that in future. Thanks for the idea!
Movies, series etc. I will watch, surf the Internet, store photos and videos, and also work study. Is this computer enough?
Yes, for sure. Although with the included GPU running Monterey, you may not be able to run Apple Photos due to GPU Metal support. But you can still use other photo programs, or store them in folders without any issue.
I’m running monterey on and 09 iMac and all works well except for the camera and microphone..is this the same for you? Or others?
No, the camera and mic work perfectly on my 09. It is used semi-regularly with FaceTime and works flawlessly. If yours was opened to do internal upgrades (SSD/HDD/etc), it's possible the cable got damaged/disconnected. I believe both the mic and camera are on the same PCB and connect via the same connector to the main logic board. It could be a driver issue too (OCLP post patches didn't install correctly), but I think the biggest suspect at this point is the internal cable connecting to the main logic board based on your symptoms. Hopefully this helps!
@@rebootretro I found a fix via tcc and manually adding apps to my allow list on the privacy settings
@@joeschafranek6677 Excellent! That does make sense that privacy settings could block this. I hadn't though of this. Congrats on finding the solution!! :D
I got the same model recently 2nd hand with a failed AMD graphics card. Opened it up, took every out and cleaned it. Had to replace the ODD/ gfx card fan due to noise. Then I ordered a NVIDIA Quadro K1100M, a cooler for MXM-A graphic cards (because I don’t have the means to modify the MXM-B one from the AMD card. I also ordered the Slimline SATA cable for the additional HDD/SSD underneath the ODD. Gonna use it to run the OS off. Last but not least the iMac will get 32GB of RAM.
my imac 21 2009 didnt like any of the opc. the ram ussage was up to 10gb on with nothing running and every app would crash. had to go back to high sierra
I had a similar setup with a 2011 21.5? iMac. The big issue I had that the ssd couldn’t fix was h265 encoding/decoding. That issue alone forced my hand with upgrading.
I’ve done lots of h265 movie & TV transcoding on my 2011 iMac with a i5-2500S. I just let it crunch away and eventually it finishes. (-;
I work for apple and its astonishing what products they call "Vintage or Obsolete". There are so many instances where I want to help clients fix there older computers but apple would rather sell them a new one.
If I didn't work for Apple I would be refurbishing people's older computers and keeping them out of the landfill.
They'll often even condemn newer hardware too, because it's "too expensive to fix". They tend to charge more for some logic boards then the whole computer is worth. Wouldn't it be great to be on the receiving end of all Apple's discards and "obsolete" hardware?
The sad part is that even if you have the knowledge and skill as an employee, you still have to play by their rules. It's good that you care about saving people money and keeping them out of landfills, even if Apple doesn't :)
What can I do for a 2008 I mac. I'd like to get a little more time
th-cam.com/video/_a2utQaO_Gs/w-d-xo.html
I did exactly this with a 2008 as well! I believe most 2008 iMacs should run Monterey, via OpenCore like I did. Most 2008's I think are limited (unofficially) to 6GB RAM, but single 4GB DDR2 modules aren't all that common. You should make sure you have a bare minimum 4GB RAM and an SSD boot drive. Many people get hung up on wanting a CPU upgrade too, but your biggest performance per dollar is going to be an SSD upgrade. With 4GB RAM and an SSD, you should have a very usable system for basic tasks such as web browsing and video watching. Your biggest weakness is going to be RAM, but if you limit yourself to running one app (and/or one browser tab) at a time you should have a pretty good experience overall, despite this computer being 15 years old.
@@rebootretro . Thanks
I had to take my late 2009 I Mac to apple repair , and they considered the board is to be replaced but because it’s “obsolete ‘“ cannot be fixed . Please advise .
The Mac switches off before it finishes to load after turning on ..has OS 10.3 .I had added ram to 8gb. I still want to save it , Is it possible ?
They say "cannot be fixed" because new parts are no longer available. At this age, you have to fix it with used parts, which official Apple repair won't do. A good independent repair shop will be able to fix it, although labour cost may could outweigh the value of the computer at this point. Make sure to get a quote beforehand.
These iMacs had a few issues:
If it's shutting FULLY OFF (no fans/completely dead), then I suspect it is the power supply.
If the screen goes black but the fans still run and you can see faintly it is still lit up, I would suspect the GPU has failed.
If you can still hear the fans, but there is no faint glow (backlight) of the black screen, it could be the backlight inverter has failed.
Those are the most common issues I've found with the 2009 models. The main logic board could be faulty, but this was not very common from my experience. The most common were the issues above. All of these parts should be available used, but again may not be worthwhile depending on the parts + labor cost.
The graphics of the old Mac's OS were very beautiful.
I love the full screen photo booth in Lion Mountain Lion and Mavericks
A lot has happened since 2009.
Today's cheapest Mac Mini M3 is 599 USD. That machine is 4 times as fast as the 27" iMac from 2009.
Can this be done with each Imac from that generation? I'm looking to grab an old Imac and restore one
It works with most Macs from that era. The official support list is here, which notes any issues for a particular model: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html
I did that to one of my keyboards the same way except when I put the new cord in I also included a USB port since it was one on the cord that I was going to waste anyway said it just cutting that off. I saw it on as well so now my Mac keyboard also has a USB port on it like the old days
Is the viewing angle still great?
Nice I upgraded my 2011 iMac to Monterey but it has a problem it sorta has a seizure when using Siri
I imagine the Siri animation probably uses Metal acceleration, which would open when you summon Siri. If you're on the stock GPU, Metal would be patched out by the OpenCore patcher.
I did upgrade the GPU in the 2009 iMac to a Metal-supported one: th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html
Just note that the GPU I used is known to have some issues on 2011 models, so you may want a different GPU if you ever do this upgrade.
hi i'm using 2011 imac 27 inch it has 8gb of ram and gpu AMD 6970 it run very slow and freezing on catalina, montery and big sur. what should i do to improve that. also on catalina it says final cut doesn't support graphic card but on high siera it works? what could be a problem on that help
Hi, unexplained freezing can sometimes (but not always) be caused by early GPU failure. GPU failure on 2008 to 2011 iMacs was extremely common, and typically results in graphical artifacts (lines/blocks/distortion of picture on-screen) or system lockups/freezing.
Your GPU is not officially supported past High Sierra, so it is using a patched driver and does not have full graphics acceleration (Metal) which is required by Final Cut. Since the 2011 has a removable GPU, you would need to upgrade your GPU to one which supports Metal acceleration. I made a video here showing how I did it on a 2009 iMac 27" - th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html
It's important to note that while my AMD M5100 GPU upgrade works great in a 2009, there are some known issues with that GPU in 2011 iMacs so you may want to select a different one. Also, it is not a simple upgrade, it is very technically advanced and requires a lot of time, patience and troubleshooting. I don't want to be discouraging, but it is very important to understand that this is NOT a plug and play upgrade. This upgrade is very unsupported by Apple and requires a lot of hacking to make it work. I will say though that the results are fantastic once completed, and the system does work pretty near flawlessly with full Metal support afterwards.
Can this be done to a 27” late 2013 iMac?
Yes, but if you do an SSD upgrade you will need cut through the adhesive that glues the screen together. iFixIt has a good tutorial. The OpenCore part works the same.
Hello. I have a 2010 imac 21.5 inch. I followed the same process and there were many guides online. But my Mac does not load more than "less than a minute" i had kept it left over for an hour but still it doesn't work. Any idea about the problem and how I can solve it?
Hi! If I recall, it's happened to me a few times (since I reinstalled a few times). I left mine running for a couple hours, and sometimes it would actually complete. If not, I force rebooted it and it didn't seem to have any adverse effects. I'm not sure why it gets stuck, but it seems somewhat common.
@@rebootretro thankyou. That day I kept my iMac overnight for installation. It happened 😁
Hi Justintyme 7739, what I don't understand is my computer man told me my 2012 macbook pro won't update past catalina because apple won't let them do so, so I wonder how can a 2011 imac update to monterey?
The computer guy is telling you what officially works, which is what Apple allows to run on your 2012. Most Intel Macs are capable of running Monterey, but Apple blacklists them so they won't boot it and removes drivers so it won't function if it does boot. What I've done is use software called OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) which tricks Monterey to think it's allowed to run. OCLP also installs the necessary drivers that Apple removed.
Using OCLP, your 2012 should run Monterey flawlessly. I've done that same upgrade here: th-cam.com/video/pzfKYTE9OyM/w-d-xo.html
@@rebootretro That's fantastic to know! Thanks @justintyme7739, but I bet it would be hard for me to get a computer guy to do this, what do you think?
@@michael-dy8tz Many shops won't because running unsupported software sometimes results in unexpected glitches, which they get blamed for but have no way to foresee. And the shops don't want customers constantly coming back trying to claim warranty on things that are unpredictable and out of their control. There are surely some small independent shops which will do this work though, under the understanding that this is not officially supported by Apple and that they aren't responsible if it stops working.
@@rebootretro I see, that's great info. @justintyme7739, Thanks!
I used to have Hackintoshs like that but it is not worth while. Too much hassle during upgrades
Not sure about Hacintoshes, but I think OpenCore on official Apple hardware is much smoother. You’re right, after each update you need to reapply the post-installation patches. I image it’s more hassle on a Hacintosh since the post patches will be different for every system.
@@rebootretro The problem is always the same. The modified drivers work with a certain release. Usually, the modified drivers are on a layer not affected by upgrades. After the upgrade they are still used and often are not compatible. The effect is that the system does not come up. The only option is to prevent upgrades by actively rejecting it every single day. That is too much hassle.
I also have a late 2009 27inch, with a core 2 duo, is it possible to upgrade it to a core 7 from the same socket ?
No, unfortunately the Core 2 chips use LGA 755 socket and there are no Core i chips for that socket. I have heard that people has successfully modded Apple Core 2 platforms to accept quad core and Xeon chips. It’s a pretty advanced mod though.
Good morning friend I have one question, after successfully installing Ventura on mid 2011 imac, I did the re-patching which is the last thing to by following the Open Core tutorial. So the OS boots ok and everything on the unit is working excellent! However, it's just that I don't understand why open core will pop up every now and then. So is it safe to just un-install open core from the unit completely? otherwise I am assuming it will keep popping up? My first thought is to just un-install open core because it has served it's purpose but I am not sure if it is ok to do so. Please help if you can....Thank you!
I'm not sure what you mean by popping up? Do you mean right when the Mac is powered up, or do you mean after Mac OS has fully booted?
There are two important parts to OpenCore:
1. The OpenCore boot loader. An old Mac will refuse to boot Ventura, but it will boot generic loaders like Linux, BSD, or even Windows. OpenCore is a Unix-like loader which an old Mac will happily boot. The OpenCore loader then spoofs the system type to Ventura so that Ventura "thinks" it is running on a supported Mac. If you want to keep your boot drive complete vanilla (unmodified), you can permanently have a USB drive plugged into your Mac with the OpenCore boot partition on it. But most people install the OpenCore partition directly to their boot drive. So the OpenCore loader and boot partition does not do any patching to Mac OS - all it does is pre-boots the system and tricks a newer OS into running. It's sort of an intermediate "helper".
2. The post patches. Newer versions of Mac OS remove drivers for older hardware that Apple no longer uses. The post-installation patches puts these old drivers back, or makes modifications to the system so that old hardware will run.
Lastly, there is the OpenCore app itself, but this is not really an important part anymore after the first 2 portions are complete. The OpenCore app is used to write the bootloader for part 1 above, and then used to modify drivers in part 2 above. After these are done, the OpenCore app itself is no longer necessary. However, if you install Software Updates, it may overwrite the patched drivers with official ones and require you to run part 2 again to repatch drivers.
If you're talking about removing OpenCore, I would assume you're referring to the OpenCore app itself? It should be kept around, however it should not be popping up automatically. The OpenCore bootloader can't be removed (the part that shows up when you first turn on your Mac), or it you won't be able to boot any OS newer than the officially supported one. You can hide that screen, so that it automatically boots directly into the default OS rather than hanging and waiting for you to click it, if that's what you're referring to?
Anyway, hope this helps some! If you let me know the specific screen that keeps popping up, I will probably have a better idea. Glad you got Ventura running!
So now I can buy an old iMac 27" from 2011.
Offcource I wil run the newest MacOS.
But also I want to use it as a monitor to connect to my Windows 11 Mini PC.
Can you telle me how to connect my Windows 11 MiniPC to the iMac 27" 2011, so I can play also with Windows 11 on the iMac ??
The feature you're talking about is Target Display. I'm not sure if it works on Monterey, since I don't think any Mac which officially supports Target Display also officially supports Monterey. And in order to activate Target Display mode, you have to do it from within Mac OS. Also, very important, Target Display only works with Thunderbolt display. The connector is the same as Mini DisplayPort, but it is not compatible (I did try). I have read that it is possible to use Windows with Target Display IF your Windows PC supports Thunderbolt display - but you'll need to do some Googling to confirm.
When I did mine I lost the ability to use airplay speakers so I had to go back to High Sierra. Did you have this problem too?
I just checked and it appears to be missing on mine as well. There are 3rd party AirPlay casters, like AirFoil which might work? I'm not currently using my AirPlay speakers, so I didn't notice until plugging them in to test this.
Can you fix mine like how you did yours? If so, what would the price to make it like yours be??
It wouldn't be economical to ship your iMac to me unfortunately. Shipping and packing costs would be very high, and also a high risk of damage since the entire screen is glass. I did have to send one once, only 1.5hr drive away, and the shipping and material cost was approaching $100 - that's only ONE direction and also using a discounted commercial shipping account.
I would suggest to check around for a small local independent shop. It would have to be a small independent, because larger businesses likely won't want to do mods like this.
If you are tech savvy and want to reduce the upgrade cost, you could also just have a shop install the SSD and do the rest of the upgrade yourself. The SSD portion of the upgrade is the only area you will expose dangerous high voltages. The RAM and software are pretty safe to upgrade yourself.
I'm always here to answer any questions if you do decide to do this yourself. :)
@@rebootretro you’re awesome ! Thanks!
Is there any recommendations for a jailbroken 2011 Mac laptop?
Thanks so much for your time & content!
What do you mean by jailbroken? Do you mean to run the latest Mac OS on it? OpenCore should let you run the latest Mac OS on most Macs from that era. If you mean jailbroken like an iPhone/iPad, it just gives you root access to install non-approved software. Mac OS is different and you already have root access to install non-approved software, even on a stock 2011 MacBook. :)
The issues with my laptop is that it’s very slow especially in start up. I believe it runs os el capitan. It does not allow me to update the software at all so now it’s just stored in a cabinet without use.
Years ago, I saw in it a feature that allowed it to run as if it was a windows so I assumed it was jailbroken as we used to do with ipods and ipads lol but really i don’t have much understanding of computers
Sorry I never responded! TH-cam wrongly flagged your reply as spam and I only saw it now.
What you're referring to is "Boot Camp", which is a feature on Macs which allow them to run Windows. This can be done on pretty near any Intel Mac. No jailbreaks/hacks/etc required, Apple officially supports it! :D
As far as running slow and update issues, these are likely two different problems:
1. To make it fast, you would probably need to upgrade from a traditional hard drive (HDD) to a solid-state hard drive (SSD). You may need to add some RAM as well. These days the computer will be absolutely useless without at least 4GB, and likely won't run well with less than 8GB.
2. El Capitan is very outdated these days, and doesn't get updates anymore. This is a problem for things like web browsing, because as the web progresses we need the browser to be updated (Safari/Chrome/etc). But when the operating system (El Capitan) does get updates anymore, it no longer supports new browsers either. This is where the OpenCore comes in (shown in the video). When Apple stops providing updates for an old Mac, OpenCore allows those updates to still be installed on an old Mac.
Hope this is a good explanation. Again, I'm so sorry about missing your comment! It's ironic, because TH-cam's filters sometimes allow actual spam to be posted, but then block legitimate comments! I have to be mindful to check the "held" section more frequently.
Would this also apply to a 2007?
Yes, you can do a similar upgrade on a 2007. However, it does require a CPU supporting SSE4.1 which may require you to upgrade the CPU first. Also, there are issues with the stock Bluetooth card, which can be overcome by upgrading it, not using it (if you don't need it), or installing a USB Bluetooth dongle. Here is the official list of supported hardware: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html#imac
I just got one of those computers. I’m trying to work on it but it’s on that gray screen and says I’m missing something to update from captain. What should I do?
If I recall, Apple has some restrictions as to what patches must be installed in order to upgrade (or what versions of Mac OS you can upgrade from). If possible, make a bootable USB installer, wipe the drive and install a fresh copy of Monterey.
many of us have 27" Imacs from 2009 to 2010 , some of the best and flexible
Until apple realized they were "too repairable" and started change them in later models, lol.
The 2009/2010 27" has fully upgradable CPU, hard drive, GPU, replaceable PSU, etc and fully supports DisplayPort input. What a fantastic machine!
I have a mid 2012 iMAC, 32MB of memory, A dead internal hard drive, added a new SSD which is now my boot drive and everything works great. I tried using Open Core Legacy Patcher to upgrade to Ventura. I wanted to do this because I can't get the newest versions of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop because they are not compatible with my old machine. If I could get Ventura installed then I think I should be able to install the upgrades for Lightroom and Photoshop. That would save me about $2200 by not having to buy a new iMAC. I also don't want to buy an M1 unit now when they expect an upgrade to the iMAC's having the M2 or possibly an M3 chip by the end of the year. I TRIED AND TRIED (three times) using Open Core Legacy Patcher and while it seems like all went well, when it rebooted it was still on Catalina........meaning I got no where. Do you have any suggestions for me? I would love to get this upgrade to work. Thanks.
I'm not sure what part your're stuck at, so let's just go over the overall.
There are 2 parts to OpenCore:
1. The Bootloader - Since the Ventura loader will not load on an unsupported Mac, you use OpenCore bootloader which then subsequently boots the unsupported operating system.
2. The post-installation patches - This restores drivers and applies hacks so that Ventura supports the older hardware which Apple dropped support for.
So you need to create an official Ventura install USB key (this is officially supported by Apple, and there are many guides to do this). Next, you download the OpenCore app on your Catalina system. When launching the OpenCore app, you'll need to choose "build OpenCore" and then install it on your Ventura USB key. This modifies your USB key to have the OpenCore loader in addition to the official Ventura installer.
Now that you have patched Ventura installer, you can reboot while holding the OPTION key. This allows you to choose the boot menu, in which case you'll choose the one called EFI with the OpenCore logo. Now a second boot menu comes up, and in this second one you choose the Ventura installer. Now you can install Ventura like normal.
After installation finishes, you have to hold OPTION again and choose EFI again. But this time, you can choose your local hard drive since you installed Ventura. Ventura will NOT boot without first booting to EFI, since Ventura is not officially supported. You must always choose EFI boot option first so that you can start Ventura FROM the loader.
You are now in Ventura. From here, you reinstall the OpenCore app. Now you build OpenCore again, but this time install to your main hard drive. This will allow you to boot Ventura without using your USB key. Lastly, install post-installation patches, which will fix your WiFi/Bluetooth/etc, anything that Apple removed that is necessary for an older Mac.
Important note, to get on the internet BEFORE the post-installation patches are installed, you likely will need to use an Ethernet cable since WiFi won't yet be working.
That is the overall procedure, please feel free to post back if you're still having trouble and specify what stage it's giving you trouble.
Hi Is it possible to upgrade to Q9550S CPU? You mentioned quad core
No, sorry, if you have the Core 2 version it will only accept dual core LGA775 CPUs. In theory it should work, but I believe the chipset does not support it. It may be possible through extensive modding, but dropping that CPU into a stock iMac will not boot.
Later versions used LGA1156 CPUs which support a Core i7 quad core.
The other option if you want better performance is to use the nice big Apple as a screen, and hook it up to a more modern Mac or PC like I did here: th-cam.com/video/TQwCJYiLqSo/w-d-xo.html If yours is a 27" Core 2 model, yours supports Target Display via DisplayPort which makes it one of the best iMacs to use as a monitor :)
@@rebootretro Yes I have E7600. Theoretically Q9550s and E7600 are the same:) LGA775. Do you think it is possible to make an upgrade by changing the Logic Board from EMC 2309 to EMC 2374? Compatible? Lastly is 32 GB RAM that is 4x8GB possible? I tried 8GB but it was not accepted.
@@huub1972Apple sometimes makes subtle changes to various components, so it's hard to say if you can go from 2309 to 2374 - you'd be best to Google around to see if anyone has done it. I know that a 2011 and a 2009 have virtually identical chassis, but the LCD has to be modified to interchange them, for example.
According to EveryMac.com (excellent resource!), a 27" Late 2009 Core 2 Duo has 4x RAM slots and will accept 16GB max (presumably 4x 8GB). I can't confirm this personally though. Older Core 2 Duo iMacs (like the 2008) will only accept 6GB due to chipset limitations (4GB + 2GB). It is important to check your exact model, since Apple makes several models which look identical but are electronically very different. Also, they can be fussy about RAM speed too, so best to match factory speed if possible.
Stick Ubuntu on it, it will support everything without any need for patching.
Found this today, coolest thing I have seen all week, Monterey on an 2009 iMac! Wowy! I might try to get into this process....
The easiest option was Linux 💀🙏
maybe, but that's boring.
patching the drivers with OCLP is so much more interesting, and also keeps macOS on it.
Hello, I have 20-inch, Early 2009 imac Intel Core 2 Duo - Ram 8Gb - NVIDIA 256 MB
Without ssd I can't upgraded to ssd. What's the best MacOS for my iMac?
Thanks.
Honestly they'll all be a little sluggish without an SSD. I think High Sierra will probably run the smoothest, however you'll probably run into issues with software support since HS is very outdated now. HS is the last officially supported OS for your machine, I think.
If you can live with it running slower, I'd probably go with Monterey clean install and avoid installing anything else unnecessary. At least with Monterey it will support the latest web browsers and security updates.
Ultimately, High Sierra should run faster, but Monterey will give you a more usable (but slower) machine.
@@rebootretro I'm currently MacOS catalina looks very good, macos monterey better?
@@Raafat Catalina will run smoother since it is older and less bulky. If it was me and it was running well, I would probably keep Catalina unless installing an SSD upgrade in future.
The trade off is you will not get security updates with Catalina. If you want/need security updates, you should upgrade to Monterey.
It should be very usable with Monterey, but will probably run slower without SSD upgrade. Personally, I would probably take a smoother Catalina system with outdated security, but that is just my opinion :)
@@Raafat You could also partition your drive (or install on external USB drive) to test Monterey and see how it performs. This way you won't damage your Catalina existing system if you decide Monterey is too slow.
@@rebootretro Really thanks for the info 💙
Will a early 2009 imac support Catalina, I’m hoping to hack into high Sierra which I have been using forever nkw
The 2009 only officially supports up to High Sierra, but you can hack Catalina on it using OpenCore Legacy just like in this video.
Just stumbled on this good video. I have same model with i7 and 32gb Ram. I've cleaned/dusted it when swapping SSD.
My main concern (even in beginning) is that they can get real hot on top. Normally, that isn't a problem.
So I installed Montery with Opencore and after a bit of usage it did get hot. This time it scared me. So how's yours behaving in terms of heating?
Am i overconcerned?
I rolled it back and used dosdude's Catalina.
Thanks!
Yes, Apple runs them too hot in general (IMO), in order to keep the fan noise down. I've never run my fans at stock speed because I believe this kills hardware faster (so I can't compare Monterey to prior). I HIGHLY recommend using Macs Fan Control (or something similar) to override the default fan speeds regardless of OS. The settings I currently use are:
- ODD fan set for GPU sensor @ 30c to 80c
- HDD fan set for HDD sensor @ 30c to 60c
- CPU fan set for CPU Core (avg) @ 25c to 70c
I can't guarantee you'll have success or be happy with those settings, but I have done extensive testing and am extremely happy with those values for myself. If your ambient temperatures in your room are higher, you'll probably need to adjust your values. For basic browsing and desktop use the fans are barely audible, and the entire iMac is drastically cooler to the touch.
It is important to note that obviously running the fans faster will wear them out sooner, however I'd rather replace a fan than a GPU or mainboard.
Hope this helps!
Thanks i will use SMC 🙂. I also have the 2011 27 inch and it seems to perform cooler.
I think the hardware of the 2009 is pushed to limits bij the patched OS, obvious the 2011 handles it slightly better? @@rebootretro
My early 2009 24” MAC had the hd hanging up on boot up. I bought a Firewire 800 ssd and used Carbon Copy Clone to make the external drive bootable. I clicked to boot from the external and now have a faster running dinosaur. Apple has enough money. They don’t need more of mine.
Thank You.
Would you like to recommend me the 32GB RAM (Brand model).
The RAM was used and pulled from old laptops. The RAM needs to be DDR3, but almost any 8GB modules will work fine. I believe they were 1333mhz but I don’t remember 100%.
Is it possible to do this on an imac 2010?
Yes, for sure! A 2010 is extremely similar to a 2009. I have another video where I also upgrade the GPU, which fixes the graphical glitches (th-cam.com/video/n9koG8p9Ch0/w-d-xo.html). In the future, I'll be doing a video where I upgrade the WiFi card as well - so that AirDrop, Handoff, etc works again too.
@@rebootretro ty
While it's really cool that this still works and you managed to upgrade it, I feel the "saved $1800" in the thumbnail is incredibly misleading. No matter how much RAM or fast storage you add in, the i7-860 in this thing is very much outdated and cannot compare to a modern CPU. Even i3s these days are faster than this.
Hey, thanks for the comment! :)
True, but ultimately I needed to replace the old 24" iMac, and my choice (for a 27") was either refurbish this used one or buy a new one. So a more correct term was perhaps "deferred" instead of "saved" :)
My biggest problem with the latest 27" model is that its still Intel, as they haven't upgraded 27" to Apple Silicon yet. I don't want to invest in a platform Apple is killing off. I feel that Apple will probably kill software updates much earlier than usual in hopes to move everyone to Apple Silicon, leaving a brand new iMac with a similar lifespan as my used 2009 iMac.
But you bring up an interesting point... Even though this i7-860 is much slower for CPU-intense tasks, but how much slower is it for basic day to day tasks like word processing or TH-cam watching? Would it be discernable to the average user? Maybe I should borrow a current model 27" to benchmark against this 2009 iMac and make a video... I am very curious how they would compare, and how big the performance gap would be.
@@rebootretro Your point is certainly valid. I myself use a 2017 13" MBP as a daily driver for work and its CPU power is a joke by now. But I do have a custom built desktop PC for stuff that actually need the power.
The issue I have is that the $1800(?) pricing covers the entire gamut of stuff that you can do with a new iMac. Yes, most people will not use its full power. But that is obviously not relevant to the pricing. And I bet there are definitely people who go pedal to the metal with their computers, using all the power available.
As for that kind of comparison, yeah, I would definitely like to see that.
New video is up comparing this 27" 2009 to the cheapest brand new 27" 2020 available :) th-cam.com/video/bO1XvSBG4d4/w-d-xo.html
You cant replace the cpu?
How did you get the metal workaround for the Radeon?
Unfortunately, I didn't get Metal running. I used the OpenCore Legacy Patcher, which installs a patched graphics driver, bringing back legacy hardware acceleration. Without the patch, Mac OS won't load any graphics driver and the UI is so laggy, it's unusable. So I have all the dock animations, legacy accelerated screensavers, hardware accelerated video playback, etc, but anything that requires Metal such has Apple Photos, Maps app, Metal accelerated screensavers, etc, doesn't work or is incredibly buggy. For what this computer is used for, it doesn't matter to me since Metal apps aren't needed. If I really wanted Metal, I would need to replace the MXM graphics card with a Metal supported one. If you're on an '09 27" too, then you should be able to do this. You can find Metal supported ones which aren't terribly expensive on eBay.
After you came up with this video, they canceled the updates and discontinued support for these models
It was already unsupported. He used tools (originally created for hackintosh machines iirc) that have commonly been used to install newer OS' on older machines that apple abandons.
can all 2009 imac's support 32 gb of ram ?
@@Bewefau I think all Core i systems can support up to 32gb, but I’m very sure the Core 2 Duo systems do not. They both existed in 2009, but have different chipsets and entirely different CPU sockets. Everymac.com can confirm though.
Had this iMac from new until 2015 first thing I updated was the ram to 12gb when I bought the iMac , I ended up having to get rid after updating OS to maverick the fans would spin up constantly, the CD stopped working , and it was a nightmare to get the OS reset to snow leopard as without the disc drive I could not use the OS disc that came with the iMac, and you couldn't back date the OS though Apple updates , so had to buy a USB with mountain lion OS on it to get the iMac back into a usable state, then I sold it . I loved the computer, but it was the first and the last mac I ever owned, I hated not being able to upgrade . I have now built 4 pc's myself and the one I am currently using has a 40 inch 4k monitor 64gb ram Ryzen 5900x with a 3070ti and 20tb of storage and all the RGB I could install lol , when I was looking into buying a new iMac it just didn't make any sense financially for me, it was much cheaper in 2015 just to build my own and in doing, so I now actually known what all the crap in a computer does .
Yup, there is certainly a financial premium on Apple hardware. If you don’t need Mac OS or any of its proprietary features, a PC is often better value as far as performance for the dollar. And being able to customize and upgrade is a huge plus!
I agreed about this. No wonder why a cheap PC can do it better than a expensive m3 mac. My ancient PCs are still going strong. Office, Surfing, Gaming, no issues.
Even without upgrades! Should be avoiding Apple Completly.
I have a question i have a mid 2009 iMac i believe is a 27inch with a core 2 duo ,4gbs of ram and a 1tb spinner ..can i throw in there a quad core ?
I don't believe the chipsets support anything more than a dual core CPU. I think someone once hacked it, but it was incredibly involved and came with some issues. Although the performance gains aren't nearly as much, you can swap in a newer/faster Core 2 Duo chip. In my opinion though, I don't feel Core 2 Duo upgrades are worthwhile. The performance gained doesn't justify the cost and effort, and honestly the included chips really are decent to begin with.
@@rebootretro thanks! At least now i know to just max the ram ,mines is DDR3 ram so it's not half bad
@@chrisplissken4626 You'll actually get a much better performance boost with an SSD upgrade if you haven't already. If you're only using the iMac for general tasks like shown in the video, you probably won't benefit from more than 8GB RAM, although more never hurts :)
I did a video on a 2008 iMac with Core 2 Duo, and even with 4GB RAM it's performance is very respectable. Still a very usable machine for sure! th-cam.com/video/_a2utQaO_Gs/w-d-xo.html
@@rebootretro how about a video card? As a minor upgrade ? Aside of the SSD?...can it be done?
@@chrisplissken4626 You'll have to check to confirm, but I believe your model is the only one in this series with a non-removable/non-upgradable soldered GPU, unfortunately.
For general web browsing, it doesn't matter though. If you install the graphics patches after upgrade, it will bring back basic hardware acceleration which will make the UI snappy as per normal and give smooth video playback. The only time you'll have an issue is with Metal-only apps, like the Apple Maps app - although Google Maps website via Google Chrome works perfectly. Even the latest Photoshop supports both Metal and legacy acceleration and works with the older patched graphics.
With my early 2009 iMac there's no need for macs fan control for the gpu fan. The temperature sensor is f*#%ed and the fan runs at full pelt anyways
Yes, but even if the fan runs full speed the system will also full throttle the CPU and/or GPU if it’s getting incorrect temperature data. I use a 2015 iMac with a smashed screen using external monitors - I wanted to remove the screen and put a plexiglas cover. But the temperature sensor is built into the LCD, and if it isn’t detected then the fans run full speed and the CPU throttles so bad it’s unusable.
Whether the temperature data is correct or not is irrelevant. What matters is that the numbers must be within safe limits. If the numbers are outside safe limits according to the bad sensor, it will throttle like crazy even if in reality it is ice cold. The system performance on most Apple products is at the mercy of the temperature sensors.
@@rebootretro my early 2009 iMacs gpu fan is always at full throttle even though it has never been taken apart
@@rebootretro my 2009 iMac is slow but that’s due to it being 14 years old
And the only fan that was originally spinning at max all the time was for the DVD drive
How did you load the latest os...I'm still on High Sierra's... Without updating the GPU to metal.?
You install it using OpenCore Legacy Patcher just like any unsupported Mac. When it boots into Mac OS for the first time, the graphics will be so laggy it will be almost unusable... But then you run the post-install patcher (from the OCL bundle), which brings back legacy hardware acceleration. This gives you acceleration for things like UI animations and video playback acceleration (for non-Metal apps). Anything that requires Metal will not display, crash or be glitchy (like Maps app) as you might have guessed. As a web browsing and word processing computer, it works great though.
EDIT: It is possible that Safari will have graphical glitches if it relies on Metal to any degree. I haven't really tested this as we use Google Chrome (which works perfectly).
I have one of the last iMacs with the intel chip and it has become so slow it’s getting near unusable. Apple says it’s good for recycling only but I’d like to get more time out of it if possible. A Genius installed an older operating system but as soon as I restored my files from Time Machine it reverted to Ventura. Too bad I don’t have your skills to get it running properly again.
If it is one of the last Intel ones, it can't be very old and shouldn't be that slow! If you open "About this Mac", what year does it say? Which CPU model? How much RAM? Do you know if it has an SSD? Maybe I can give you some ideas to improve it. You probably don't need anywhere near the amount of work I did on the 2009 to fix yours.
@@rebootretro it’s just over six years old, bought in 2017, 8 gb ram, 3 Ghz quad 4 intel i5, Retina 4k radeon pro 555 with 2 gb memory. The hard drive is 1 terabyte, not an SSD. I’ve moved the majority of photos and videos to an external drive to try to clear up some space on the drive but it’s not made much difference. Every app loads slowly, and it can be minutes of watching the beachball of doom when you wake it up, load a page in Safari, or do a cold start.
@@Quince828Try to install Ventura to an external SSD - even though USB 3, will be much faster than the external HDD. Thunderbolt even faster, and you won't have to open it up 🐶 0:00
@@hjsmtl9772 The imac only has usba and external drives aren’t thunderbolt
Please let me know what exact SSD you used. Mine Monterey USB installer is refusing to detect my OWC SSD installed in my DVD Bay. Googling suggested Apple is preventing SSD detection unless it is is Apple SSD, however I don't think you are using Apple SSD (at least I hope not).
Its definitely not an Apple SSD. I don't recall exactly, but I think it's an OEM Samsung SSD out of a dead Dell laptop. I would double check your DVD bay adapter. You can also temporarily remove the HDD and connect the SSD to confirm. Apple has previously prevented TRIM support on non-Apple SSDs, but I'm not aware that they've ever prevented them from being used. I could be wrong, although I've installed Mac OS on dozens of aftermarket SSDs over the years.
Please let us know what cables have you tried or planning to use. I have the same iMac and I’m trying to use it with 2017 MacBook Pro and PlayStation as a target display mode, also with Monterey having universal control no longer in beta would that work for iMac? If anyone knows how to use iMac as display with PlayStation that would be awesome, also a great video idea - use iMac as a universal monitor/tv
This is an area I'm not too familiar, unfortunately. I don't know if Target Display will work if the iMac is running Monterey, since I don't think Monterey officially supports any iMac with Target Display. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
If you're using High Sierra, Target Display should work. There is a catch though; While the iMac supports Mini DisplayPort (or HDMI with converter) as an output, it ONLY supports Thunderbolt as input for Target Display. I tested this and was thoroughly disappointed, because I wanted to use it as an HDMI display. So to use for your 2017 MacBook, it should work fine. For a PlayStation or anything else, likely no-go unless it happens to support Thunderbolt video out.
On a side note though, you can get cheap HDMI to USB capture devices from Amazon/eBay which would allow you to watch any HDMI input. Not sure how the input lag or quality would be; it might pass for TV watching, but I'm not sure about gaming or as a computer monitor.
Is there any proof that Open Core is secure.
Sort of. The code is all open source. If you were a programmer, you'd be able to review the code and compile it yourself - and KNOW it's secure.
For the rest of us, we trust that there's enough eyes reviewing portions of it that any deliberate "funny business" would be caught.
So while there isn't "concrete proof" per se, chances are that someone would notice and speak up if anything deliberately nefarious was being done. A similar concept to how Linux is collaborated and distributed, although admittedly with a much smaller user and contributor base.
As far as security of the operating system itself, they tend to try keeping the official security systems in place (i.e. like SIP/System Integrity Protection). Although it's possible that OpenCore could introduce a security vulnerability that goes unnoticed, from what I've seen about the project this would never be intentional and would be fixed as soon as someone noticed it.