On Dec 6, 2023, at 9:59 PM, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

...

IIRC, the only 27” ones (only Intel, ARM has only come in 24” so far) that can run the latest without trickery are the 2019 one and the iMac Pro. Others you can run with varying degrees of success with OpenCore, but expect potential trouble (anecdotally, though, not much).

Thanks for the information! I haven't stayed up to date on what will run this-and-that w.r.t. the iMacs, this one is for my parents, their mid-2011 is really past end of serviceable life.

You're telling me! I'm actually typing this on my late 2011 one that's on its third GPU and has had a faulty backlight on the left hand side for many years. It wants to die, but I just won't let it (but I'm inheriting my wife's 2017 one now that she's upgraded to a new one, partly so I can still use my FireWire audio box for which the manufacturer never ported drivers to ARM...). I'd offer that one, but it's also VESA mount, which is less likely to be useful for parents. Though for what it's worth, unless they're looking for specific features, I'm not sure I'd recommend going for the absolute latest (Sonoma, macOS 14) anyway. Apple typically (though they do not guarantee it) maintain security updates for two revisions back, so Ventura (13) and Monterey (12) should still be getting security updates until the next one comes out, at which point Monterey drops. A few of the newer features from Ventura onward didn't get ported to Intel macs, either. It's a bit disappointing that they haven't come out with a larger ARM iMac than 24", I know a lot of people who have been waiting for that and are getting frustrated. - Dave

A refurb'ed (or new) mini is IMHO your best bet. ARM- even the M1 chip is amazing if you are coming from any Intel powered mac. My M1 Air still can trounce any intel mac from 2015- up to the last Intel. Then a decent LCD - OR you may even be able to the old imac as the display: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592 <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592> Oh maybe not- that looks like it _won't_ work for any recent ARM Macs...I included it here cause it was interesting. At this point I wouldn't buy any Intel Mac unless it was basically given away, support is dropping all over the place for the latest OS and it will be gone completely soon (from Intel Macs). I do think those large 27" Intel iMacs can run Ubuntu very nicely, I have it on my 2015 and it's very nice and stable.... but if you have actual hardware issues that may be a moot point. -andy

On Dec 7, 2023, at 7:54 AM, Jonathan Chapman via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

Dave,

...

It wants to die, but I just won't let it (but I'm inheriting my wife's 2017 one now that she's upgraded to a new one, partly so I can still use my FireWire audio box for which the manufacturer never ported drivers to ARM...).

Yeah, the one getting replaced is slowly starting to have hardware failures: first, wired Ethernet stopped working, then it started having GPU weirdness if left running too long. It probably doesn't help that they keep it in a modified pantry cabinet!

...

Though for what it's worth, unless they're looking for specific features, I'm not sure I'd recommend going for the absolute latest (Sonoma, macOS 14) anyway.

I'm just trying to avoid having to upgrade them too soon :P Figure more supported OS releases equals more time between hardware refreshes.

...

Apple typically (though they do not guarantee it) maintain security updates for two revisions back

Yup, I'm still running a mid 2015 15" retina MBP, and Monterey still gets updates. Last time I set up a Tiger machine, it could still pull updates from Apple automatically!

...

It's a bit disappointing that they haven't come out with a larger ARM iMac than 24", I know a lot of people who have been waiting for that and are getting frustrated.

I guess they're expecting people who want a big screen to use a standalone display and a Mini?

Thanks, Jonathan