The Best Budget Mac for Linux?

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  • čas přidán 17. 05. 2024
  • Thanks pcbway.com for sponsoring today's video!
    Apple declared this iMac obsolete about half a decade ago, but I think it has plenty of life left in it. Let's max it out, and install a cutting edge Linux distro - KDE NEON!
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    #Linux #Apple #iMac
  • Věda a technologie

Komentáře • 478

  • @TommyAgramonSeth
    @TommyAgramonSeth Před 28 dny +463

    "2019 was half a decade ago" stop 😭

    • @DanielTolentino42
      @DanielTolentino42 Před 28 dny +8

      😢

    • @ottf24
      @ottf24 Před 28 dny +4

      He was referring to when apple stoped supporting it…

    • @andy23r
      @andy23r Před 28 dny +33

      Still 2019, being a half decade ago 🥶😞

    • @raven4k998
      @raven4k998 Před 28 dny +2

      16 gigs of ram max what happens if you slap 32 gigs in there try it i dare you😭

    • @matt-irby
      @matt-irby Před 28 dny +14

      @@andy23r Hearing him say that made my heart stop a little. Oof, my back's hurting now.

  • @JeffGeerling
    @JeffGeerling Před 28 dny +67

    Showing the new thermal paste takes a bit of bravery!

    • @ActionRetro
      @ActionRetro  Před 28 dny +17

      😅

    • @lenni-builder
      @lenni-builder Před 27 dny +3

      I also wonder if he just forgot to censor it or did that on purpose

    • @asnovasdodia
      @asnovasdodia Před 24 dny +2

      Probably way too much (bravery)

    • @der4rdi
      @der4rdi Před 8 dny +1

      Multiple people have shown by now that putting on more thermal paste than necessary makes virtually no difference in performance (but putting on too little will cause severe throttling), so I’m not sure why this discussion/debate still exists.

  • @Benzona
    @Benzona Před 28 dny +128

    Older Macs have an incredible shelf life. I still use a PowerMac as a file server and an 08 Mac Mini as a secondary machine to this day.

    • @Fay7666
      @Fay7666 Před 28 dny +14

      dat power draw for the powermac tho, especially considering how they only had 2 internal HDD slots (at least the one I have only has 2)

    • @supercellex4D
      @supercellex4D Před 28 dny +4

      computers have an incredible shelf life. High end ones at least. You just notice this with old macs because Apple sold at the top of the market back then but I have a 2014 PC AIO that I still use (writing this comment on it!)

    • @ClaireFelidae
      @ClaireFelidae Před 28 dny +6

      ​@@supercellex4DEven some older low end PCs can have long self lives as well. I have a first Gen i5 Acer Aspire laptop that is still running. Maxed out at 8gb of RAM and a SSD. I have it running OpenSuse Tumbleweed KDE and it runs well.
      However, Low end components did need replacing over time. New cooling fan, new battery a few times now, it's on its 3rd charger I think.

    • @stgigamovement
      @stgigamovement Před 28 dny +2

      I still have a working 2002 eMac with its original drive still running Panther, as well as an early 2006 white Intel Core 2 Duo iMac in its largest size (featuring a physically-giant 1920x1200 display), a 2013 MacBook Air and a thick-shell Aluminum iMac, all of which still work. I also have a case-damaged but still living Early 2008 MacBook Pro, though it had its drive replaced and RAM upgraded in 2013.
      Old Macs do last decades. Don't get me wrong, I'm no longer an Apple fan due to the iOS headphone jack removal, no Mac touch screens, and most importantly the move away from Intel x86 for Mac.

    • @Benzona
      @Benzona Před 28 dny

      @@supercellex4D Yes but in my experience Windows bloat destroys PCs a lot faster than Macs become useless.

  • @LeSpameurYT
    @LeSpameurYT Před 28 dny +81

    I bought this iMac for 50$ because the guy thought it was just a screen 😂
    I’m now using it everyday running Monterey, it’s still powerful!

    • @user-vj2le5xp2v
      @user-vj2le5xp2v Před 28 dny +3

      😂

    • @RWBHere
      @RWBHere Před 28 dny +3

      One day, he'll be kicking himself! 🤣👍

    • @easycompzeelandold2521
      @easycompzeelandold2521 Před 27 dny +2

      You can update to Ventura at ease with OCLP!

    • @VIRACYTV
      @VIRACYTV Před 26 dny

      You can put Sonoma on it.

    • @easycompzeelandold2521
      @easycompzeelandold2521 Před 21 dnem

      @@VIRACYTV Yes, I tried that too, but unfortunately, my SSD went corrupt and eventually failed. It might have been a faulty SSD. After replacing it with a new one, I noticed a significant decline in performance. My Late 2012 Mac mini Server, which has an i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM, became extremely slow and sluggish. This issue did not occur when I was using Ventura. So I decided to downgrade to the latest version of Ventura. Based on my personal experience, I can only recommend Ventura for better performance and reliability.

  • @andresbravo2003
    @andresbravo2003 Před 28 dny +83

    Konqi and Katie Appreciates you.

  • @LordManhattan
    @LordManhattan Před 28 dny +99

    "2019, half a decade ago", you really just wanted to make us all feel really old, didn't you 😂

  • @philtkaswahl2124
    @philtkaswahl2124 Před 28 dny +35

    The default theme of that distro also fits really well with the overall aesthetics.

    • @vendetta.02
      @vendetta.02 Před 28 dny +5

      yeah that's the default kde plasma theme uwu

    • @philtkaswahl2124
      @philtkaswahl2124 Před 28 dny

      @@vendetta.02 Never actually used said desktop environment myself since I usually prefer keeping it light with window managers like openbox or i3.

    • @NotTheGaslighter
      @NotTheGaslighter Před 28 dny

      ​@@philtkaswahl2124 never used KDE Plasma? are you even a Linux user if you haven't given it a good try?

  • @VincentBrabandt
    @VincentBrabandt Před 28 dny +38

    Note on the Nouveau driver: the reason it's so slow is because the GPU is set to run at the minimum clock speed, there's actually a script you could run to enable the highest clock speed (though it's still like ~60% performance of the proprietary drivers)
    Another thing though, I'm not sure if the latest Ubuntu 24.04 comes with the Nvidia drivers for 600-series GPUs anymore (I have a MacBook with 750m)

    • @DryPaperHammerBro
      @DryPaperHammerBro Před 28 dny

      Neon's using 2*2*.04

    • @antikommunistischaktion
      @antikommunistischaktion Před 28 dny +4

      The 600 series GPUs actually don't have the clock speed issue as the reclocking issue only started with the 800 series.

    • @VincentBrabandt
      @VincentBrabandt Před 28 dny +3

      @@antikommunistischaktion you're a bit wrong on this, anything pre-maxwell yes has unlocked clock speeds, but it's not automatic, you have to set it manually (like I said). Maxwell (800) and up (until Turing GPUs) needs a signed firmware, those are the ones that have issues.
      I painfully daily-drive Nouveau with my 750m, if there was auto-reclocking I would have noticed it.

    • @pavuk357
      @pavuk357 Před 27 dny

      Idk about Ubuntu 24.04, but when I tried to use Ubuntu 20.something on my old laptop with 820M it was weird. Ubuntu installed proprietary drivers as I ask, but it was the latest version of main branch. These old cards aren't supported by the latest main branch drivers and you actually need to use legacy branch ones or last supported main branch one. I have no idea why it wasn't detecting the card being old and switching to other branch automagically, though it wasn't only Ubuntu but Mint, PopOS and Manjaro too.

    • @domoncar6782
      @domoncar6782 Před 27 dny

      ​@@pavuk357if you still want to install supported drivers in 22.04, you need to install older drivers, which are not supported, but ppa with older drivers for 22.04 exist. Message if you want instructions on how to do that, it is very easy.

  • @joe-skeen
    @joe-skeen Před 28 dny +19

    Last week I found a bunch of iMacs on Facebook Marketplace from 2009-2013 for $20-$40 a piece. Perfect condition. I bought a few, put a lightweight Linux distribution on them, and voila! Beautiful computer lab for my kids.

    • @joe-skeen
      @joe-skeen Před 28 dny

      My biggest issue was installing the Wi-Fi drivers (as I didn't have a way to connect the ethernet at the time), but once that was figured out, they've been amazing beautiful devices

    • @joannelucille
      @joannelucille Před 28 dny +1

      So cool! Wish I had one as well 😅

    • @kaminekoch.7465
      @kaminekoch.7465 Před 27 dny +2

      Meanwhile where I live, somebody is trying to sell 2012 iMac for 600 euros lol.

    • @joe-skeen
      @joe-skeen Před 27 dny

      @@kaminekoch.7465 wow that's insane, if they haven't revamped it (upgrading hardware) and have a modern OS (probably not MacOS) preinstalled...

    • @joe-skeen
      @joe-skeen Před 27 dny

      And include tons of peripherals

  • @Gravarty
    @Gravarty Před 28 dny +32

    Calling 2012 iMacs “vintage” is so weird to me while I'm still trying to keep my iMac Late 2009 27” alive with hardware upgrades, OCLP and copium, thanks xD

    • @charliesretrocomputing
      @charliesretrocomputing Před 28 dny +4

      OCLP is amazing, what OS are you running on it? Not sure if you saw my comment but I think it's near the top, I'm installing Sonoma on my 2010 27"

    • @Gravarty
      @Gravarty Před 28 dny

      ​@@charliesretrocomputing Also on Sonoma. Apps like Chrome, Spotify and Discord etc. run fine, only Apple's new “universal” apps like weather and system settings take a bit to load because my GPU lacks Metal support (used MXM GPU's are still really expensive). The most stable “unsupported” version i had running was Monterey, which is still getting software updates I believe.

    • @freedomlinux
      @freedomlinux Před 28 dny +1

      How does it run? I found a 2009 iMac on the street last year, gave it 6GB RAM and macOS 13 with OCLP. It "works" but certainly not happy

    • @IsaaSooBarr
      @IsaaSooBarr Před 28 dny

      @@charliesretrocomputingmonterey is the best version for these old intel macs tbh, speaking from my own experience

    • @andrewdunbar828
      @andrewdunbar828 Před 26 dny

      12-year-old kids enjoying their retirements.

  • @CRYPTiCEXiLE
    @CRYPTiCEXiLE Před 28 dny +29

    KDE stands for Kool Desktop Env. the K-Desktop was the OG KDE before it became Plasma.

    • @raven4k998
      @raven4k998 Před 28 dny +3

      wait wait wait hold on
      30 bucks for ram
      9 dollar for redhsive kit
      30 dollars ssd
      what is this sorcery?

    • @Trickyflorence
      @Trickyflorence Před 28 dny

      Macs use laptop dimms, laptop ddr3 is ridiculously "cheap" for the most part and an SSD on eBay can be found really cheap if you look hard enough, heck I found a 450gb SSD from Intel used for 25 @@raven4k998

  • @rickkarrer8370
    @rickkarrer8370 Před 28 dny +13

    As soon as you got that board out, I was thinking "re-paste he CPU! while you're at it!"

  • @mikaelbiilmann6826
    @mikaelbiilmann6826 Před 28 dny +4

    I sold a 2013 imac a couple of months ago. I had put in an ssd instead of the hybrid hdd that died in 2017.
    It still worked wonderfully.
    Btw, if you are going to do this: be very careful when you open the screen as you have to remove the ribbon cables to the screen. Second: the power supply has exposed lines, so do not touch it!

  • @zetho.270
    @zetho.270 Před 28 dny +5

    I have Linux Mint installed with KDE Plasma desktop, and I can agree that KDE is beautiful

  • @Chompingbits
    @Chompingbits Před 28 dny +16

    I murdered my 2009 iMac replacing the SuperDrive and HDD. Those ribbon cables are really delicate.

    • @mikaelbiilmann6826
      @mikaelbiilmann6826 Před 28 dny +2

      My friend did the same on his 2013 iMac. I bought the iMac from him for very little money and bought another ribbon cable, put in an ssd and it was as good as new.

    • @BoboZimbabwe
      @BoboZimbabwe Před 28 dny

      Same. 2011 iMac murderer here.

    • @mikaelbiilmann6826
      @mikaelbiilmann6826 Před 28 dny +2

      @@BoboZimbabwe You guys didn’t murder them. 😁 You can fix them!

  • @charliesretrocomputing
    @charliesretrocomputing Před 28 dny +44

    I'm gonna install Sonoma on a 2010 iMac and daily-drive it for a month. That's "Seananigans" right there!

    • @MaxOakland
      @MaxOakland Před 28 dny +4

      Let me know how it goes. Is it slow?

    • @charliesretrocomputing
      @charliesretrocomputing Před 28 dny +7

      @@MaxOakland Right now it's running Monterey and it's slow, but I'm installing an SSD and it's the high-end i7 model with 12gb RAM, so I have a feeling it's gonna be pretty fast even on the latest macOS with OpenCore.

    • @VincentBrabandt
      @VincentBrabandt Před 28 dny +3

      I have 2 2013 MacBook pros (13" i5 & 15" i7) , I installed Sonoma on them and they run extremely nicely too

    • @half-qilin
      @half-qilin Před 28 dny +2

      I’d only recommend installing Big Sur or later on Metal-capable Macs (aka past 2012). Existing OpenGL patches are really slow, and Catalina is the newest version to use OpenGL natively. That said, I do use a 2012 15” Unibody MacBook Pro as a daily driver and it works great on Sonoma.

    • @rossgeography
      @rossgeography Před 28 dny +1

      ^ 2012

  • @jonathankleinow2073
    @jonathankleinow2073 Před 28 dny +14

    I remember being glad that I bought a loaded 2011 27" iMac because Apple was going to make it that much harder to upgrade the iMac with the new, thinner configuration. Oh, if we'd only known just how impossible they would make upgrades... I should go clean up and test that iMac. Maybe I can get Linux working on it, too.

  • @CatBacon-qc5ot
    @CatBacon-qc5ot Před 28 dny +5

    More heavy metal montages in the future, please, thanks.
    Great video, I live for this stuff. I've, just today, installed Fedora 40 KDE Plasma 6, XFCE, GNOME, and Debian 12 KDE Plasma, XFCE, GNOME, and Cinnamon, on my 2015 MacBook Air, everything runs beautifully. I ditched MacOS a long time ago on all of my Apple hardware, even my M1 Air, though I had to keep Sonoma on it in order to run Asahi Fedora.
    Keep up the amazing work, you're awesome, dude.

  • @danilaros
    @danilaros Před 27 dny +4

    I have this iMac model. I just put 16GB of ram and a ssd, install Fedora and is super stable and fast. Is been my computer since 2013 and I find no need to update. Linux is amazing🙂

  • @tdk0bob
    @tdk0bob Před 26 dny +2

    Honestly Neon is one of my favorite distros because of how clean its customization menus are here. Also it's Neofetch ascii-art always looks nice.

    • @tdk0bob
      @tdk0bob Před 26 dny

      Oh if you want to really make people confused get the Mac themes like Mojave or ventura kde has great themes for that.

  • @DarthEd77
    @DarthEd77 Před 28 dny +13

    I still "daily drive" a mid-2010 Mac Pro with 6 Westmere Xenon CPUs, 128 GB RAM, and a 2 TB SSD. Best Mac ever. Up until the release of Apple Silicon, it felt just as fast if not faster than any brand new Core i7 or i9 Mac. I'm still not seeing a very compelling reason to buy a new Mac. That said, I don't render CZcams videos or run Blender or anything like that that uses a tremendous amount of CPU or GPU power.

    • @billybartcody3591
      @billybartcody3591 Před 28 dny

      Haha, as a Mac Pro aficionado, I can tell you that if you hooked up an Apple silicon Mac, you would definitely notice the lack of fan noise by comparison. They're whisper quiet and cool to the touch, shocking to those of us used to living with the high temperatures and hullabaloo the fans put out on Intel machines.

    • @DarthEd77
      @DarthEd77 Před 28 dny

      @@billybartcody3591 Yeah, I’m sure that’s nice, but I don’t see that as a very compelling reason to buy a new Mac, personally.

    • @IdiotRace
      @IdiotRace Před 27 dny

      @@DarthEd77As long as you aren’t somewhere that has expensive power. I ran a 5,1 with dual 6 cores and an RX580 when I was working from the office. Now I’m wfh I use a 2018 Mini, but it runs so hot most of the time I end up blasting the fan at 100% and waiting for the next Mac Studio to replace it with. There is also a well specced trashcan pro sitting at work that I could’ve taken home but I know it was just gonna make my electricity bill spike with those old xeon cpus.

    • @Xe4ro
      @Xe4ro Před 27 dny +1

      To be fair, the Mac Pros are quite a bit stronger than the iMacs and way more modular.

    • @BilisNegra
      @BilisNegra Před 25 dny

      I guess you can use it as a space heater in the winter, too. I wonder what the power draw of such a behemoth might be.

  • @tanithis
    @tanithis Před 28 dny +3

    I swapped in an ssd into mine, plugged in the display to make sure everything was fine. Then unplugged the screen, put the adhesive and put the screen back on. Turned it on and realized I forgot to plug the screen in. That adhesive was so strong that I ended up cracking the glass in the corner trying to get it back off.

  • @steveg5122
    @steveg5122 Před 28 dny +3

    Fedora 40 has a pretty vanilla KDE 6.0 install, and has kernel 6.8.9 as of 5/18/24. It is a stable cutting edge distro as well.

    • @andrewr1355
      @andrewr1355 Před 24 dny +2

      Nice to see a fellow Fedora fanboy. I set up a used 2014 MBP with fedora yesterday and I’m going to use it to explore open source alternatives to the Mac eco system. Can’t pull myself away from that light up Apple on the lid. 😂

  • @orionfl79
    @orionfl79 Před 28 dny +6

    Just saying, a wee bit of a home brew mad sciencey type mod using metal tape and magnetic strips instead of adhesive makes those things WAY more serviceable. The only down side is that your screen will stick out a few millimeters but its not that noticeable. ;)

  • @mcal27
    @mcal27 Před 28 dny +8

    I dread it when I get an iMac upgrade job. I recommend heating the glued area of the screen before using the pizza cutter. I have had a couple crack on me when the adhesive was applied stubbornly… or use a razor blade then switch to pizza cutter. Not a favourite Mac of mine

    • @joe--cool
      @joe--cool Před 28 dny +3

      I was just about to comment on that. Ridiculous procedure to upgrade RAM. That would've been easier on my phone.
      Glueing that stuff together should be illegal. 8 screws from the back side would be better and sturdier.

    • @weab
      @weab Před 26 dny +1

      ​@@joe--cool For what it's worth I remember the 2017 iMac had a small hatch on the back for RAM access. Who knows how many years it took them to introduce that change though... lol

    • @haysoos123
      @haysoos123 Před 22 dny

      @@weabThe 27” versions from this era (2012) and further on all had the memory hatch. They just removed it from the 21”.

  • @MrAlan1828
    @MrAlan1828 Před 28 dny +2

    I have a 2013 i3 27" , adding ram 16gb on these is just simple, remove cover at back done. Upgraded the cpu to i7 , replaced the aging 1tb to 1tb SSD and installed Batocera Linux to play games and linux desktop. These imac are definately NOT obsolete. Tim Cook is

  • @MyurrDurr
    @MyurrDurr Před 28 dny +1

    I love the floating panel so much

  • @russellbrooks3622
    @russellbrooks3622 Před 27 dny +1

    I forgot you were a musician, too. Followed your old band on spotify.

  • @phillippereira6468
    @phillippereira6468 Před 27 dny +1

    The heavy metal montage was brilliant, please keep using it

  • @pcs9518
    @pcs9518 Před 28 dny +1

    I have tons of Apple and Windows machines that are “obsolete” running on the current operating systems through various work arounds and they perform flawlessly

  • @Mbro-dq2do
    @Mbro-dq2do Před 28 dny

    so dope!! Thank You for showing me how basic it really is

  • @BrianJones-wk8cx
    @BrianJones-wk8cx Před 28 dny +2

    Intel iMacs of any any vintage + Batocera = retro game station excellence. Thinking of fashioning a faux cabinet out of one.

  • @xmlthegreat
    @xmlthegreat Před 28 dny +2

    Literally watching this on KDE Neon on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 6 lol.

  • @Smittron
    @Smittron Před 28 dny +1

    Nice video. Thanks. I'm running Xubuntu 24.04 on a 2012 15" HP laptop with a dual core Intel CPU, 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD. No issues and a nice experience.

  • @ElShogoso
    @ElShogoso Před 28 dny +2

    You forgot to censor the thermal paste application!

  • @gregfarley715
    @gregfarley715 Před 28 dny +3

    This went too smooth, what have you done with the real Action Retro

  • @threequeersinabasement7994

    I use one of these iMacs with ubuntu as a TV like machine. Works great with all the subscription services as well as jellyfin.

  • @nuclearmonster
    @nuclearmonster Před 26 dny

    Great video! Loved watching you mod your 2012. I did this recently to a 2010 iMac. Worked great, and was a little easier thanks to magnets I think though the strong magnets would frequently grab screws off of my screwdrivers!

  • @rabscots910
    @rabscots910 Před 28 dny +5

    Finally.....KDE....
    I'm using Tuxedo - working beautifully with 7900 xtx. :))
    I would love to see this channel find a solution to the HDMI 2.1 and linux debacle. :))

  • @samshort365
    @samshort365 Před 28 dny

    Good job! I recently installed Manjaro on my sister's early 2009 iMac, doubled the ram and installed an SSD HD. It won't win any benchmark tests, but it's great for typical office and internet use and it's certainly not obsolete just yet!

  • @quadmods
    @quadmods Před 28 dny +1

    Very cool to see. Word of warning regarding the aftermarket adhesive kits, I had one kit fail at work after swapping a power supply on a 2013 iMac. 3-4 days later the screen fell out in the middle of the night smashing on the floor from desk height. Now imagine coming into work to whiteness this. As a technician I had the weirdest feeling for a few hours, not quite traumatic but uncomfortable nonetheless. TLDR Cheep adhesive kit cost $600 and changed me inside… 7:35

  • @BeesonsCars
    @BeesonsCars Před 27 dny

    I have had one of these set up for my grandma in her office for the past 6 years or so. With an external USB 3.0 SSD it's still quite quick on Catalina. Works absolutely fine for web browsing currently including content consumption, however I'm sure this will change as Catalina is quite old now.

  • @CRYPTiCEXiLE
    @CRYPTiCEXiLE Před 28 dny +3

    Also KDE is not just for Linux its also on BSD system as well.

  • @JessePlays3434
    @JessePlays3434 Před 28 dny +5

    As of yesterday, I just got a mid-2010 polycarbonate macbook! I proceeded to install Ubuntu 24.04.

    • @theaveragecactus
      @theaveragecactus Před 28 dny

      have you tried mint? it's based on ubuntu but with a lot of the less favourable stuff like snaps removed

    • @doctahjonez
      @doctahjonez Před 28 dny

      I got Debian on mine 😎

    • @schuetting
      @schuetting Před 28 dny

      I have 3 of them and they are still great! Greetings from Germany

  • @GuyJames
    @GuyJames Před 28 dny +1

    great job. I watched this video on the chunky predecessor, the iMac 12,1 from 2011 with an SSD and High Sierra (going to put Linux Mint Cinnamon on it soon)

  • @vanCaldenborgh
    @vanCaldenborgh Před 28 dny +3

    I noticed, the mid2011 21.5 iMac had a much better sound than this one released one year after. Especially after installing the EasyEffects equalizer the 2011 got a super standalone multimedia device in my kitchen, really rocks.

  • @patchbyte6856
    @patchbyte6856 Před 28 dny

    wow this is a really good on how to repurpose those "old" macs.

  • @nathantherandomguy1935
    @nathantherandomguy1935 Před 28 dny +1

    When he said 2019 and then half a decade ago I died inside.

  • @albertkovtoun662
    @albertkovtoun662 Před 26 dny

    The value here is insane actually. If you're doing simple things like browsing the web etc. This is perfect

  • @Tomonomonous
    @Tomonomonous Před 28 dny

    I picked up a 2011 MBP for $50 recently. Did some upgrades, tightened the hinge, replaced the thermal paste, and installed Debian. A perfectly good portable for a student!

  • @blackghost7263
    @blackghost7263 Před 25 dny

    Just installed Debian 11 on this late 2008 iMac ;) Functions perrrfectly.

  • @dukeseb
    @dukeseb Před 28 dny +6

    It’s so nice to start my morning with a retro video

  • @Cart1416
    @Cart1416 Před 28 dny +1

    I use kde neon on my main pc, planning to install it on a surface pro

  • @williams.ritter3010
    @williams.ritter3010 Před 7 hodinami

    i appreciate you,love your wit and enjoyed your show. i would,and i think many followers would like to know,what trouble did you run into for wfi?

  • @TheGameboyGTS
    @TheGameboyGTS Před 28 dny +1

    this video popped up while i was resetting a 2017 iMac slim, and a 2013 model, now i think i'm brave enough to do these upgrades myself. i got them for like, $1.25 each at auction
    only some screen cracks/chips

  • @The_Last_Ninja
    @The_Last_Ninja Před 28 dny +1

    I have done exactly the same with my Late 2012 IMac 27inch. Maxed it out with RAM and installed Linux Mint on it. Now it’s not ‘obselete’ and it’s also pretty snappy to boot! Up yours Apple….

  • @JasonTech96
    @JasonTech96 Před 28 dny +1

    I had that exact same iMac. It was great! Still a great machine in 2024 for basic use. Plus, you can install macOS Sonoma using OpenCore Legacy Patcher. Now, I have a 2017 iMac 4K model because I needed more power but the 2012's are still good in my opinion.

  • @CRYPTiCEXiLE
    @CRYPTiCEXiLE Před 28 dny +6

    i have a 2011 imac in very good condition upgraed to 24gb of memory... i use arch linux / freebsd on it :) great machine.. its in a storage closet with all my hobbyist computers ... i have a problem / addiction... i have too much computers... :P and I love linux :)

    • @rmcdudmk212
      @rmcdudmk212 Před 28 dny +2

      Same here. I own like 3 dual core laptops that i still uses for tinkering and playing around with older programs. We may need a 12 step program for old pc users. 😂

    • @vetrixfx9264
      @vetrixfx9264 Před 28 dny

      ​@@rmcdudmk212same. got a TP T60, X201, W520, an X61s is coming soon, some 2007/08 HP pavilion, a PB G4 12", a 2007 MBP 17" and probably a few others i forgot. Usually I play a few days w em and then I kinda forget them LMAO

  • @KORUPTable
    @KORUPTable Před 28 dny +1

    Hell for the price and the screen I might be picking one of these up!

    • @Xe4ro
      @Xe4ro Před 27 dny

      Pre 2014 these are only 1080p (21,5") 1440p (27") - Late 2014 the displays became Retina ^^

  • @blakecasimir
    @blakecasimir Před 28 dny +1

    Another great video, sir. I find it's easier to pull the screens off these iMacs by pre-heating them with a heat gun first. I'd also be concerned about models with Geforce and Radeon graphics eventually falling foul of dying GPUs. Seen many of them. Maybe put some thermal pads on the VRAM modules as well...

  • @FlintG
    @FlintG Před 27 dny

    Really cool to be able to do that, I would not want to upgrade the ram myself though lol too much effort. My mac mini from 2012 runs pop os and actually runs pretty well.

  • @aviat4ion
    @aviat4ion Před 28 dny +1

    My favorite linux distro 😀

  • @CasioMaker
    @CasioMaker Před 28 dny +7

    Heh, you can kinda customize it like a MacOS version and the common folk wouldn't notice the difference

    • @MaxOakland
      @MaxOakland Před 28 dny

      Can you get a menu bar on the top?

    • @rmcdudmk212
      @rmcdudmk212 Před 28 dny

      ​@@MaxOaklandDebian has an option for that. So do several other flavors of Linux. Check your settings menu. 👍

    • @GuyJames
      @GuyJames Před 28 dny +1

      @@MaxOakland yeah if you install Cinnamon you can just drag the menu bar to the top and it looks very much like MacOS. You can do it easily with KDE too but Cinnamon looks more Mac-y

    • @theaveragecactus
      @theaveragecactus Před 28 dny +1

      ​@MaxOakland yup, linux is so unlike macos or Windows in that you don't have to think of it like one static thing, you can make it however you want and change everything

    • @samshort365
      @samshort365 Před 28 dny

      I run Twister OS (Linux) on my Pi 400 and one of the built in themes offers a Mac GUI with a top menu. Although I haven't used it yet, there is a PC installer for this theme on their website that works on a few Linux distros. Twister OS itself is ARM based only.

  • @Aeduo
    @Aeduo Před 28 dny +1

    Before you try the proprietary Nvidia driver, make sure it still supports that GPU. Like on windows, they do drop support for older cards on newer drivers, but linux's graphics driver API isn't quite as stable as window's so there's a lot less chance that a modern even LTS kernel will work with a very old Nvidia driver.

  • @guardianbob
    @guardianbob Před 28 dny

    I love the ".sit happens" shirt!!

  • @randyhaglund7557
    @randyhaglund7557 Před 28 dny

    Got you beat Im watching this video and its my daily driver an HP with phenom2 x4-16gb came out in 2009!

  • @BradfordBeckett
    @BradfordBeckett Před 28 dny

    I’ve used OpenCore Legacy Patcher to breath new life into my old machines - including a 2011 iMac that works like a champ.

  • @johnbertram
    @johnbertram Před 28 dny

    Ddin't know that was how to upgrade these... Taking the screen off sounds scary, but actually looks pretty straightforward! Am hitting ebay right now...

  • @JuanjoNarive
    @JuanjoNarive Před 28 dny

    Great job!

  • @yorkletronik
    @yorkletronik Před 28 dny

    I also currently have KDe Neon on my mid-2012 Macbook Pro Retina. So far, so good! I am curious if you;ll be able to get nvidia drivers working since when I looked into it my GT650M was too old to work with the current nvidia driver :(

  • @russellbrooks3622
    @russellbrooks3622 Před 27 dny

    My daily driver PC is the same age. Still works great running Linux.

  • @xiradio
    @xiradio Před 28 dny +1

    Just as I was saying to myself "I'd re-paste those heatsinks", there you go. 👍 Also, Ultramarine Linux with KDE will upgrade to Fedora 40 and Plasma 6 once you install 39 from the download, if you're into Fedora and the newest rolling kernel.

  • @osgeld
    @osgeld Před 28 dny

    I maxed out my 2012 mac mini, slapped linux on it and it runs just great ... its my garage computer I even run freecad on it (as long as the shapes do not get too complex, its more or less the same system but intel graphics and no screen)

  • @easycompzeelandold2521

    OCLP can do a lot too for these systems! Ventura works great on these macs.

  • @ThePsychoticWombat
    @ThePsychoticWombat Před 28 dny +1

    Try NVK and Zink, probably superbroken on a 640(hinted by the variable to set it up) but should be a fun adventure.
    Stuff is happening for open source nvidia

  • @superkirpi1405
    @superkirpi1405 Před 28 dny +3

    Bravo very good works. 😇🥰

  • @geofftottenperthcoys9944

    Just listened to Amora Fin, pretty good I liked, and this is coming from an oldie (Well 57!)

  • @waydegutman7339
    @waydegutman7339 Před 24 dny

    Thank you for keeping these “old” Macs running and showing that Linux can make them useful. The iMac that I would like to get a hold of is the 2017 iMac with the Xeon cpu, that would be a fun rig. Wished I kept my Mac Mini. Oh, my daily driver is a 2009 Mac Pro with Linux Mint, Sparky Linux, and MX Linux running on it. Each OS have it own job to do.

  • @DamianMontero
    @DamianMontero Před 28 dny

    I literally needed a video editor because my online web photoshop editor was costing me too much. Installed GIMP and then BLAM! Krita... OK. WOW! Amazing!

  • @binarydinosaurs
    @binarydinosaurs Před 25 dny

    Had to smile when you stuck the masking tape on. Back in 2021 I bought a 2017 iMac and did the SSD/NVMe/RAM upgrade. Stuck the screen back on while it was testing. Only the testing ended up in production for a few days. Went downstairs for lunch one day and heard a crash - the screen's masking tape had come undone and the panel was on the floor. Thankfully it only cracked and didn't smash utterly so ever since then I've just kept it taped shut because new panels are £LOL.

  • @dokichokei
    @dokichokei Před 15 dny

    KDE's entire software lineup is amazing, KDE Plasma, Krita, KDE Connect etc. And don't forget that their old rendering engine - KHTML was forked to make webkit (which safari uses) which was later forked into Blink (which chromium uses)

  • @bluephreakr
    @bluephreakr Před 28 dny

    Legitimately surprised there isn't an adhesive magnetic kit with a plastic buffer which has magnets and a ferrous frame for the display at this point. _Sure_ you need two display adhesive kits but the ease-of-access would be priceless.

  • @gydo1942
    @gydo1942 Před 26 dny

    I recently got an old 2009 iMac, the chonky one with the core 2 duo. I'd installed Pop OS on it before, which runs surprisingly well. Although it boots very slow, probably because of the spinning disk. The display is absolutely beautiful though. Even though it's only 1920x1080, it leaves my modern monitor well behind it in terms of vibrant colors! Definitely not obsolete, it can still be very useful.

  • @isnannugraha1368
    @isnannugraha1368 Před 28 dny

    Still using my 2013 imac

  • @thebozzIDW
    @thebozzIDW Před 27 dny

    I have a slightly older iMac that is running PopOS fairly decently, but boy does the iMac that Action Retro is working on seem so much easier to upgrade the hard drive for. I looked up a video on how to upgrade to an SSD and it was pretty involved, more so then this one..

  • @JureRepinc
    @JureRepinc Před 26 dny +1

    Also great for preserving your privacy and digital freedoms and productivity, even on modern computers. GNU/Linux is a great update over closed bloated spyware that are proprietary operating systems today. Some of them are also showing you ads these days.

  • @jeinnerabdel
    @jeinnerabdel Před 28 dny +1

    According to KDE's website, KDE Neon isn't a distro per se. I disagree tho, it's Ubuntu with the latest KDE stuff in it and with a different name. That's technically what makes a distro.

  • @AbteilungsleiterinBeiAntifaEV

    KDE Neon isn't bleeding edge, it's literally based on Ubuntu LTS

  • @jpedrothejohn
    @jpedrothejohn Před 28 dny

    try using the opencore legacy patcher, i dont know anything abt it but i think it can make that mac run newer versions

  • @mallardtheduck1
    @mallardtheduck1 Před 28 dny

    I'm still using a 2010 iMac as a daily driver... Albeit with a few upgrades (more RAM, SSD, GPU). Runs Sonoma just fine with OCLP.

  • @geckoram6286
    @geckoram6286 Před 23 dny

    12:41 If you lower the biome blend to minimum it'll probably run better, I've heard it's really poorly optimized. Although, as you say, it's not a gaming machine. Great video!

  • @ukmk3supra
    @ukmk3supra Před 28 dny

    For those 2012 models, it's nice to be able to also upgrade the CPU - you should be able to slot a 3770S in there with no problems, get a bit more horsepower for cheap.
    I recently fished a 2015 non-retina 21.5" model out of our e-waste at work. It had the 5575 i5 CPU and 8GB RAM - found the logic board from the 4K retina model with the 5675 i5 in it and 16GB RAM, slots right in.

  • @haysoos123
    @haysoos123 Před 22 dny

    Yep the memory access is why I like the 27” versions of this iMac. Bigger screen and replaceable memory without opening the whole shebang.

  • @PlatinumGamingg
    @PlatinumGamingg Před 28 dny

    Tell you what I still use the i5 version of this and I have the 4x2 varient so 8gb of ram

  • @mhelmreich1
    @mhelmreich1 Před 26 dny

    I have a 5k imac which I am running LMDE6 on, it is a fully productive and useful and enjoyable computer.
    I am totally satisfied with it as a work computer for 3D CAD, 2D CAD, and general business work.
    No need to upgrade.
    The screen is just beautiful, the processor is pretty performant.
    I don't do [much] video editing, or gaming.

  • @laurencejohnson4106
    @laurencejohnson4106 Před 28 dny

    It now has a new lease of life!👍👍

  • @DhavidSetiawanKilluaDhavid

    I hate to pry this open...
    Some iMac like this didn't have RAM slot.
    Upgrading 2.5 HDD to SSD was like pain in the b....

  • @darthkielbasa
    @darthkielbasa Před 26 dny

    I bought a trash can Mac Pro and dual boot Ventura/OpenSuse after running Big Sur in a VM. Amazingly resilient hardware. The used Apple market is unbeatable imo

  • @W4rH4wkXX
    @W4rH4wkXX Před 28 dny

    .sit happens 🤣🤣 omg it's been a LONG time since i've seen that compression format

  • @CubeAtlantic
    @CubeAtlantic Před 28 dny

    IMacs were detailed & good vibes yrs ago i haven't had those Apple computers in yrs.