I've been running a 2013 27" iMac, under Mojave for a good number of years now
(bought it off a colleague in 2016). It has had an SSD fitted a few years ago.
It's marvellous. However ...
I'm beginning to feel I need a backup: everything we do online, domestically, is done on this Mac, quite apart from its being the core of a big part of my own life. So if it ever ceases to work I want to be able to shift fairly seamlessly and certainly very swiftly to a mirror Mac.
Can anyone recommend "Used Macs" suppliers? I cannot afford Apple prices; and
anyway last time I looked, they weren't offering much in the way of desktops.
I don't want any kind of laptop: a desktop is what I need!
Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:
I've been running a 2013 27" iMac, under Mojave for a good number of years now
(bought it off a colleague in 2016). It has had an SSD fitted a few years ago.
It's marvellous. However ...
I'm beginning to feel I need a backup: everything we do online, domestically,
is done on this Mac, quite apart from its being the core of a big part of my >> own life. So if it ever ceases to work I want to be able to shift fairly
seamlessly and certainly very swiftly to a mirror Mac.
Can anyone recommend "Used Macs" suppliers? I cannot afford Apple prices; and
anyway last time I looked, they weren't offering much in the way of desktops.
The Apple refurbished store is your best bet. Other sources are rife with scams and stolen goods.
I don't want any kind of laptop: a desktop is what I need!
The new Mini is a bit of a steal at £599 - *if* you don't want to upgrade anything. Otherwise it rapidly becomes expensive. You will need an external monitor, mind.
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least
a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set up to boot from the external storage.
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least
a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set up to boot from the external storage.
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least
a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set up to boot from the external storage.
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least
a 1TB upgrade.
On 17 Nov 2024 at 18:20:05 GMT, Theo wrote:
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set up to boot from the external storage.
I've had a mixed experience using a fast USB thumb drive to store 140GB photos. Every so often it disconnects, and/or a photosync (IIRC) service crashes, and this sends the iMac into a rebuilding database spin.
Tried it now with 2 drives. Gave up in the end, and some much needed housekeeping freed up 100GB on the iMac, leaving space for the photos library.
My point being attached drives don't seem reliable enough to act as a permanent internal SSD replacement.
On 17 Nov 2024 at 18:20:05 GMT, Theo wrote:
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >>> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set >> up to boot from the external storage.
I've had a mixed experience using a fast USB thumb drive to store 140GB photos. Every so often it disconnects, and/or a photosync (IIRC) service crashes, and this sends the iMac into a rebuilding database spin.
Tried it now with 2 drives. Gave up in the end, and some much needed housekeeping freed up 100GB on the iMac, leaving space for the photos library.
My point being attached drives don't seem reliable enough to act as a permanent internal SSD replacement.
On 17 Nov 2024 at 18:20:05 GMT, Theo wrote:
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >>> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set >> up to boot from the external storage.
I've had a mixed experience using a fast USB thumb drive to store 140GB photos. Every so often it disconnects, and/or a photosync (IIRC) service crashes, and this sends the iMac into a rebuilding database spin.
Tried it now with 2 drives. Gave up in the end, and some much needed housekeeping freed up 100GB on the iMac, leaving space for the photos library.
My point being attached drives don't seem reliable enough to act as a permanent internal SSD replacement.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> writes:
On 17 Nov 2024 at 18:20:05 GMT, Theo wrote:
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >>>> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set >>> up to boot from the external storage.
I've had a mixed experience using a fast USB thumb drive to store 140GB
photos. Every so often it disconnects, and/or a photosync (IIRC) service
crashes, and this sends the iMac into a rebuilding database spin.
Tried it now with 2 drives. Gave up in the end, and some much needed
housekeeping freed up 100GB on the iMac, leaving space for the photos library.
My point being attached drives don't seem reliable enough to act as a
permanent internal SSD replacement.
Thumb drives seem more suited to temporary storage, e.g. For sneaker
net. Having said that I do install Linux distros to them for test
purposes and plug them into my ageing Intel MBA's USB port. But I don't
run them for too long as they get rather warm after a while! I wonder if
heat is causing your thumb drives to disconnect? I've had no heat
problems when using an external SSD such as my Samsung X5.
Can anyone recommend "Used Macs" suppliers? I cannot afford Apple prices; and
anyway last time I looked, they weren't offering much in the way of desktops.
I don't want any kind of laptop: a desktop is what I need!
I've been running a 2013 27" iMac, under Mojave for a good number of years now
(bought it off a colleague in 2016). It has had an SSD fitted a few years ago.
It's marvellous. However ...
I'm beginning to feel I need a backup: everything we do online, domestically, is done on this Mac, quite apart from its being the core of a big part of my own life. So if it ever ceases to work I want to be able to shift fairly seamlessly and certainly very swiftly to a mirror Mac.
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least
a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set up to boot from the external storage.
On 2024-11-17, Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >>> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set >> up to boot from the external storage.
Interestingly from 15.1 onwards users will be able to install large size apps of over 1 GB to external storage. Some app related data may of course be written to your internal drive. There are other limitations too such as the app has to be installed via the App Store and the external SSD needs to be APFS formatted. More details and comments in this article.
<https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/install-mac-apps-external-storage-macos/>
On 19 Nov 2024 at 07:50:52 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
wrote:
On 2024-11-17, Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >>>> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set >>> up to boot from the external storage.
Interestingly from 15.1 onwards users will be able to install large size apps
of over 1 GB to external storage. Some app related data may of course be
written to your internal drive. There are other limitations too such as the >> app has to be installed via the App Store and the external SSD needs to be >> APFS formatted. More details and comments in this article.
<https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/install-mac-apps-external-storage-macos/>
So one could offload Xcode to an external device, f'rinstance?
TimS <tim@streater.me.uk> wrote:
On 19 Nov 2024 at 07:50:52 GMT, "Alan B" <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid>
wrote:
On 2024-11-17, Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:So one could offload Xcode to an external device, f'rinstance?
Alan B <alanrichardbarker@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
The base model 256GB internal SSD is a bit limiting. I'd go for at least >>>>> a 1TB upgrade.
That's be an £400 extra please.
Much cheaper to just get a USB/Thunderbolt SSD, install MacOS on it and set
up to boot from the external storage.
Interestingly from 15.1 onwards users will be able to install large size apps
of over 1 GB to external storage. Some app related data may of course be >>> written to your internal drive. There are other limitations too such as the >>> app has to be installed via the App Store and the external SSD needs to be >>> APFS formatted. More details and comments in this article.
<https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/install-mac-apps-external-storage-macos/> >>
Well I’ve initialised an external SSD using DU to APFS format and named it Big Apps! I have now successfully installed Xcode 16 to It. I modified App Store settings to allow this feature and selected the external SSD as the target. macOS first created a folder called Applications on the drive (as
I thought would happen) plus a Library folder and then downloaded the Xcode app to it. It seems to run OK but sadly my development skills haven’t been tested for many years. No sign of any CORAL66 tools ;-) Some additional components were installed on first launch and maybe these were installed to my internal drive?
Interestingly from 15.1 onwards users will be able to install large size apps
of over 1 GB to external storage. Some app related data may of course be >>>> written to your internal drive. There are other limitations too such as the
app has to be installed via the App Store and the external SSD needs to be >>>> APFS formatted. More details and comments in this article.
<https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/install-mac-apps-external-storage-macos/>
So one could offload Xcode to an external device, f'rinstance?
Well I’ve initialised an external SSD using DU to APFS format and named it >> Big Apps! I have now successfully installed Xcode 16 to It. I modified App >> Store settings to allow this feature and selected the external SSD as the
target. macOS first created a folder called Applications on the drive (as >> I thought would happen) plus a Library folder and then downloaded the Xcode >> app to it. It seems to run OK but sadly my development skills haven’t been >> tested for many years. No sign of any CORAL66 tools ;-) Some additional
components were installed on first launch and maybe these were installed to >> my internal drive?
I'm just thinking that if Xcode - a serious PIGGY at 12Gbytes here - can be moved off the boot drive that would be a plus.
On 19 Nov 2024 at 15:57:29 GMT, TimS wrote:
Interestingly from 15.1 onwards users will be able to install large size apps
of over 1 GB to external storage. Some app related data may of course be >>>>> written to your internal drive. There are other limitations too such as the
app has to be installed via the App Store and the external SSD needs to be
APFS formatted. More details and comments in this article.
<https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/install-mac-apps-external-storage-macos/>
So one could offload Xcode to an external device, f'rinstance?
Well I’ve initialised an external SSD using DU to APFS format and named it
Big Apps! I have now successfully installed Xcode 16 to It. I modified App >>> Store settings to allow this feature and selected the external SSD as the >>> target. macOS first created a folder called Applications on the drive (as >>> I thought would happen) plus a Library folder and then downloaded the Xcode >>> app to it. It seems to run OK but sadly my development skills haven’t been
tested for many years. No sign of any CORAL66 tools ;-) Some additional
components were installed on first launch and maybe these were installed to >>> my internal drive?
Neat! But wondering if performance is affected significantly . . .
I'm just thinking that if Xcode - a serious PIGGY at 12Gbytes here - can be >> moved off the boot drive that would be a plus.
Can an external drive get close to the internal HD speeds of a recent Mac? Even something like, say, a SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD rated at 2000 MB/s?
I was looking at an M4 iMac in Currys the other day, and loading/opening MS Word took several seconds. Much the same as my current/recent Intel iMac in fact. If the external drive is a significant bottleneck I'd have thought opening large apps would soon become tedious.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
Can an external drive get close to the internal HD speeds of a recent Mac? >> Even something like, say, a SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD rated at 2000 >> MB/s?
A Thunderbolt 4 or 5 SSD can. eg this is a Thunderbolt 5 SSD at 6000MB/s - 2TB for £358 or 4TB for £597: https://flexxmemory.co.uk/products/owc-envoy-ultra-thunderbolt%E2%84%A2-5-ssd-6-000-mb-s-portable-ssd-2tb-4tb-rugged-fast-external-drive?variant=50587755217199
Meanwhile Apple will charge you £800 for 2TB and won't sell 4TB for the M4 Mini, so if you want that you'll have to go up to the M4 Pro which is a £2k uplift over the base Mini.
(although only the M4 Pro is Thunderbolt 5, so the M4 would only get up to 3800MB/s with that drive over Thunderbolt 4)
I was looking at an M4 iMac in Currys the other day, and loading/opening MS >> Word took several seconds. Much the same as my current/recent Intel iMac in >> fact. If the external drive is a significant bottleneck I'd have thought
opening large apps would soon become tedious.
I don't think that's going to be all about storage bandwidth - if the Mac
has a 6GB/s SSD then in 2-3s it would be loading about 12-18GB which is basically all the memory of the machine. Word isn't small but it's not that big. If the load time is similar to your much slower iMac it suggests the storage is not the bottleneck, but something else - perhaps chatting to a Microsoft server to validate your licence, or something like that.
Can an external drive get close to the internal HD speeds of a recent Mac? Even something like, say, a SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD rated at 2000 MB/s?
I was looking at an M4 iMac in Currys the other day, and loading/opening MS Word took several seconds. Much the same as my current/recent Intel iMac in fact. If the external drive is a significant bottleneck I'd have thought opening large apps would soon become tedious.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
Can an external drive get close to the internal HD speeds of a recent Mac? >> Even something like, say, a SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD rated at 2000 >> MB/s?
I was looking at an M4 iMac in Currys the other day, and loading/opening MS >> Word took several seconds.
That's suspiciously slow. Only apps like illustrator take a noticeable
amount of time to load on my M2 Pro MBP.
Much the same as my current/recent Intel iMac in
fact.
Yeah, that's not right.
I've been running a 2013 27" iMac, under Mojave for a good number of years now
(bought it off a colleague in 2016). It has had an SSD fitted a few years ago.
It's marvellous. However ...
I'm beginning to feel I need a backup: everything we do online, domestically, is done on this Mac, quite apart from its being the core of a big part of my own life. So if it ever ceases to work I want to be able to shift fairly seamlessly and certainly very swiftly to a mirror Mac.
Can anyone recommend "Used Macs" suppliers? I cannot afford Apple prices; and
anyway last time I looked, they weren't offering much in the way of desktops.
I don't want any kind of laptop: a desktop is what I need!
Cheers
John
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