obsolete Apple iMac? Apple eggsperts speak up

fieldgrade

fieldgrade

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I’m running a late 2015 iMac with latest iOS (according to my software updates), which is iOS Monterrey (12)

My wife is running an identical version of my iMac, but it is a 2017 model. Her’s just updated to Ventura iOs (13).

I remember running an iPhone 4 so long that it couldn’t/wouldn’t update iOs any longer (by design, apparently) and eventually any new apps I wanted wouldn’t load (like weather apps) ((I don’t run many)), because they required a certain iOS or later, which my phone didn’t have.

I just bequeathed my printer/scanner to my wife (her's died), and I bought a new one. If my Mac was any older it wouldn't run this new printer according to the documentation.

Has my Mac reached planned obsolescence? Soylent Green, if you will?
 
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My late 2015 MacBook Air will no longer update the OS. I did get a new one last year. I figure it got a good run at 7-8 years. My wife still uses it for browsing and printing her mailing labels but it’s too slow for my work and daily use. By comparison, my old dell gave me a solid 11 years but it had to run Linux the last 4 of its life as it wouldn’t run anything after Windows XP. I think if you get 7 years out of tech these days you are doing pretty well.
 
pinkbunny said:
Nah, you'll probably get hacked long before that.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

Apple fixes two zero-days exploited to hack iPhones and Macs

Apple has released emergency security updates to address two new zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in attacks to compromise iPhones, Macs, and iPads.
www.bleepingcomputer.com www.bleepingcomputer.com

:p
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I can understand what my wife is saying to me more easily (which is saying a lot) than I can understand the Klingon, or possibly Romulan that article is written in.

And thank you for the encouragement.
 
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fieldgrade said:
I can understand what my wife is saying to me more easily (which is saying a lot) than I can understand the Klingon, or possibly Romulan that article is written in.

And thank you for the encouragement.
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Exploits were made against iOS phones and MacOS computers, that were actively being used against them. Let bad guys run virus' on your stuff.
Apple patched newer phones and macs. Did not bother patching the older stuff.
Bad guys are coming out with new attacks all the time, so the longer you wait before upgrading, the more attacks there are that can be used against your system.
A company shouldn't have to keep patching something super old, so I don't blame Apple to not supporting the older stuff.

That's why you upgrade. Not to get newer, faster, shiny, but to keep ahead of the bad guys. At some point, what I'm saying, it's on you, if you wanna take that risk. Everyone is responsible for accepting their own level of risk tolerance.
 
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pinkbunny said:
Exploits were made against iOS phones and MacOS computers, that were actively being used against them. Let bad guys run virus' on your stuff.
Apple patched newer phones and macs. Did not bother patching the older stuff.
Bad guys are coming out with new attacks all the time, so the longer you wait before upgrading, the more attacks there are that can be used against your system.
A company shouldn't have to keep patching something super old, so I don't blame Apple to not supporting the older stuff.

That's why you upgrade. Not to get newer, faster, shiny, but to keep ahead of the bad guys. At some point, what I'm saying, it's on you, if you wanna take that risk. Everyone is responsible for accepting their own level of risk tolerance.
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This is why I asked fer cryin out loud. I don’t speak Romulan.

I have had no warnings, or memos, or suggestions that I need to update machines. In fact, if I click the “software updates” it says “ your Mac is up to date with blah blah blah, last checked today at 9:43 PM .”

Do you have an answer for why this is?

I only recognized this because my wife’s machine updated to Ventura, and mine didn’t.

Dammit.
 
Nevermind, I googled it.

I have some choice language for this, which I’ll use on some unwitting family member if they ask me the wrong question any time soon.
 
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You are fine with Monterey. Apple is still supporting it and doing security patches.

You could down load opencore legacy patcher to upgrade os.

Best thing though is to put in an ssd instead of a normal hard drive if yours is so equipped.
 
mellocollins said:
You are fine with Monterey. Apple is still supporting it and doing security patches.

You could down load opencore legacy patcher to upgrade os.

Best thing though is to put in an ssd instead of a normal hard drive if yours is so equipped.
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Thank you.

This might explain why I didn’t get any hints to upgrade.
 
I work with macOS everyday....I still can't keep the stupid names straight "Monterey" "Cougar"....blah blah blah. Just use the gosh darn numbers already.
 
pinkbunny said:
No, that's a hardware requirements issue. Ventura is only supported on 2017 and newer macbooks.
en.wikipedia.org

macOS Ventura - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Yer still speaking Romulan.

Geez, you're worse than my brother with the highest grades from an ivy league school with a masters in computer science paid for by his employer and patents to his name.

Am I at risk, or am I not. You wisecracked in your first post that I am.


Are you saying post #8 is false?


Tim said:
I work with macOS everyday....I still can't keep the stupid names straight "Monterey" "Cougar"....blah blah blah. Just use the gosh darn numbers already.
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13 versus 12.

You’re worse than Pink Bunny.

Darn you nerds to heck. I ask a simple question. smh
 
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fieldgrade said:
Yer still speaking Romulan.

Geez, your worse than my brother with the highest grades from an ivy league school with a masters in computer science paid for by his employer and patents to his name.

Am I at risk, or am I not. You wisecracked in your first post that I am.


Are you saying post #8 is false?





13 versus 12.

You’re worse than Pink Bunny.

Darn you nerds to heck. I ask a simple question. smh
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Yes. Not because of the problem at the moment, but because of your proclivities.
By your first post, you are attempting to use a computer until it breaks.
You computer is made with certain components. With newer, more powerful components, you can upgrade to a newer software. Without it, your updates will eventually cease.

Your current computer is not new enough to get the latest operating system. At this point, you are getting patch jobs on the old software.

It is safe, for now. But it will not be safe in the near future, by my estimate, towards the end of 2024, if Apple follows a similar track as they have in the past(https://endoflife.date/macos).
So, your level of safety is determined by your own proclivities, to use something past when its time to be replaced.

Which is why I said that your computer will be hacked long before the computer dies. There's Macs from the 80's still working. But your security updates are probably going bye-bye by the end of next year.
 
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pinkbunny said:
Yes. Not because of the problem at the moment, but because of your proclivities.
By your first post, you are attempting to use a computer until it breaks.
You computer is made with certain components. With newer, more powerful components, you can upgrade to a newer software. Without it, your updates will eventually cease.

Your current computer is not new enough to get the latest operating system. At this point, you are getting patch jobs on the old software.

It is safe, for now. But it will not be safe in the near future, by my estimate, towards the end of 2024, if Apple follows a similar track as they have in the past(https://endoflife.date/macos).
So, your level of safety is determined by your own proclivities, to use something past when its time to be replaced.

Which is why I said that your computer will be hacked long before the computer dies. There's Macs from the 80's still working. But your security updates are probably going bye-bye by the end of next year.
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Thank you.

You speak of my proclivities as if there’s something wrong with that. If I get a check engine warning light on my car, and a code comes up on the OBD II scanner, I know something is amiss.

If my computer says my software is up to date , I don’t know that it’s not.
 
fieldgrade said:
Thank you.

You speak of my proclivities as if there’s something wrong with that. If I get a check engine warning light on my car, and a code comes up on the OBD II scanner, I know something is amiss.

If my computer says my software is up to date , I don’t know that it’s not.
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Depends. Proclivities are a neutral thing, like I said, it depends on your risk tolerance.

If you are using your Mac just for surfing the web, and you never do any banking or buying things on it, that's one thing. Not much risk there. That's why that proclivity isn't particularly risky, because there's not much bad a bad guy can do when he hacks your computer.

If you are doing things that can be tied to your identity on there, that's a higher level of risk you are exposing yourself to. Worst they can do is hack your email address, take your website logins. Maybe use that to try to impersonate you, worst comes to worse file for tax breaks and credit cards and stuff with your identity. But you won't actively lose money with those problems, so the risk is lower with that. Even lower if you don't use that computer for email.

If you are using that computer to log into your email. Your bank. Amazon, walmart, best buy. That's a different, higher level of risk you are exposing yourself to, because it can cost you money.

There's a lot of instances where a company will run a super old, insecure computer. But it runs, say, a program that's not supported on newer computers, that's written by someone that retired decades ago, and didn't leave any notes, and makes them $10 million a day. So, they accept that risk, while trying to prepare a newer system, and newer software to replicate it.

All of security is risk tolerance based on the decisions you make.
 
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Ordered a new Mac just now. I do everything on that machine, so security breaches aren’t something I care to fool with.

My 2006 Samsung plasma TV outlived it.

I guess it’s about the software, not the hardware.
 
As long as apple is doing the security updates you are fine. I did not research the hack but, it very well maybe from an upgrade or feature in latest OS. The previous poster is right about the hardware. Mostly. The main cpu may be able to handle it but different different models shipped with different hardware. Aka not enough memory or especially a standard hard drive. With the new os it would be very slow and you would see the rainbow pin wheel spinning a lot.

A buddy just put monterey on a 2010 mac book pro after putting in more memory and a Solid State Driive(ssd). Runs like a champ. It gets security updates but no changes to OS. Very stable. He did load ventura but apple 🍎 did a big update and hosed the system after several weeks of use. Went back to monterey and is all good. A lot of imacs had regular hard drives instead of ssd to save cost. Ssd’s are much cheaper now and super fast compared to standard hd.

As I said, you are fine with monterey as long as apple is still providing security updates.
 
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So this begs the question…

I know how to dispose of my old Windows jalopies. I remove the hard drive and put a few bullets through it, or dismember it and then bludgeon it to death. The hard drive that is.

This 2015 Mac, I’m not sure. After a cursory examination, there appears to be no visible means of disassembly.
 
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What do you use it for? Just printing and scanning stuff? What model printer and scanner?

You can put something on it besides OSwhatever-
 
Galactus said:
What do you use it for? Just printing and scanning stuff? What model printer and scanner?

You can put something on it besides OSwhatever
Click to expand...

Nothing, after the new one arrives.

Edit to add: everything for now. All banking, commerce, email, browsing, surfing, printing, scanning. No gaming.
 
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pinkbunny said:
That's why you upgrade. Not to get newer, faster, shiny, but to keep ahead of the bad guys. At some point, what I'm saying, it's on you, if you wanna take that risk. Everyone is responsible for accepting their own level of risk tolerance.
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You'll get Win2k out of my cold dead hands!
 
2E2F019A-F810-408B-83C6-CB52B7B1A7FA.jpeg
69F33740-CDD2-47E6-975E-B62E3D89A70A.jpeg
Sorry for the thread Jack but, should I upgrade?
 
image.jpg
 
@fieldgrade, I’m no tech expert, but was surrounded by a lot (a LOT) of computer technology in my last job, and we had no tolerance for failure. Our IT director started itching for reasons to replace a laptop at 3 years, and a desktop at 5. I have replaced my all-purpose primary iMac every 7 years, though they were working fine (my wife’s mother gets the old ones, still doing fine for her use). New ones get faster, do more things, are more secure and have more cushion against future problems. They are more compatible with new applications coming down the pipe. It comes down to your risk tolerance. If you can get by without it for a while, and don’t have any important files at risk, I say milk that thing til it dies — but if you depend on the machine, I’d replace it every 7 years or whenever you get a clue there is a problem, whichever comes first. Life is too short to screw around with computer problems. I’m glad you decided to spring for a new one, you won’t regret it.
 
I have a 2015 MacbookPro that is running Monterey. Still pretty snappy compared to a Windows machine but my son recently got the MacbookAir M2 and it runs like a scared rabbit with a stunning display. Saving up my pennies now for one
 
Red Marley said:
@fieldgrade, I’m no tech expert, but was surrounded by a lot (a LOT) of computer technology in my last job, and we had no tolerance for failure. Our IT director started itching for reasons to replace a laptop at 3 years, and a desktop at 5. I have replaced my all-purpose primary iMac every 7 years, though they were working fine (my wife’s mother gets the old ones, still doing fine for her use). New ones get faster, do more things, are more secure and have more cushion against future problems. They are more compatible with new applications coming down the pipe. It comes down to your risk tolerance. If you can get by without it for a while, and don’t have any important files at risk, I say milk that thing til it dies — but if you depend on the machine, I’d replace it every 7 years or whenever you get a clue there is a problem, whichever comes first. Life is too short to screw around with computer problems. I’m glad you decided to spring for a new one, you won’t regret it.
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And at the end of the day, you can still get hacked without any weaknesses on your computer. Let me tell you a story:

Yesterday, my parents told me about a email they got from an old friend, to collaborate on a PDF, and that they couldn't get the pdf to open.
I checked it out. There was no malicious code in the PDF, so nothing for an antivirus to report on. Instead, it opened a picture that said, 'Log into your Microsoft or Gmail account here to access the PDF.'
This redirects you to a .ru website that says the same thing. Yes, a russian website. My parents selected 'Other email account,' and entered their AOL email and password.

No virus' were loaded onto their computer, no malicious code ran. But they were tricked into giving out their username and password by social engineering and a legitimate looking website(with a fake as hell web address).
Had to change their password today.
All that to say, keeping up with your software is good. But security fundamentals are fundamental.
 
pinkbunny said:
And at the end of the day, you can still get hacked without any weaknesses on your computer. Let me tell you a story:

Yesterday, my parents told me about a email they got from an old friend, to collaborate on a PDF, and that they couldn't get the pdf to open.
I checked it out. There was no malicious code in the PDF, so nothing for an antivirus to report on. Instead, it opened a picture that said, 'Log into your Microsoft or Gmail account here to access the PDF.'
This redirects you to a .ru website that says the same thing. Yes, a russian website. My parents selected 'Other email account,' and entered their AOL email and password.

No virus' were loaded onto their computer, no malicious code ran. But they were tricked into giving out their username and password by social engineering and a legitimate looking website(with a fake as hell web address).
Had to change their password today.
All that to say, keeping up with your software is good. But security fundamentals are fundamental.
Click to expand...
Nothing is user proof
 
pinkbunny said:
And at the end of the day, you can still get hacked without any weaknesses on your computer. Let me tell you a story:

Yesterday, my parents told me about a email they got from an old friend, to collaborate on a PDF, and that they couldn't get the pdf to open.
I checked it out. There was no malicious code in the PDF, so nothing for an antivirus to report on. Instead, it opened a picture that said, 'Log into your Microsoft or Gmail account here to access the PDF.'
This redirects you to a .ru website that says the same thing. Yes, a russian website. My parents selected 'Other email account,' and entered their AOL email and password.

No virus' were loaded onto their computer, no malicious code ran. But they were tricked into giving out their username and password by social engineering and a legitimate looking website(with a fake as hell web address).
Had to change their password today.
All that to say, keeping up with your software is good. But security fundamentals are fundamental.
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That is an ID10T IO error/problem.
 
2AFriend said:
I’m an independent Mac consultant here in Charlotte. I’m also member here so I can learn things about my “non-computer related hobby.” Anyway, if you have any Apple-related questions, I’m happy to try and help.

www.TechMeBack.com

Thanks!
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You have been added to my speed dial 😁
 
So my new Mac arrived today. They have been saying ever since it shipped a week ago it would arrive this Thursday, which is good because I’ll be here all day.

Then I get a text from Apple early this morning saying it’s out for delivery today. Good thing I planned to be here today, too.

Then I saw the delivery truck rolling up the street which explained everything.

Fed Ex
 
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