Apple thinks this 2009 27" iMac is worthless. Let's refurbish and upgrade it to Monterey! 

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.

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

Thank you for the encouraging comment!!

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?

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

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??

@@babyrahorus go to Mr Macintosh channel on RU-vid, he has plenty of tutorials on how to download older versions of macOS

@@babyrahorus 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 :)

Thanks so much! Very much appreciated! Yes, that 2015 is a pain to open compared to the '09 in the video. The '15 has its screen glued, and you need to replace the glue each time you open it. I always like to hear about people saving equipment from the landfill! Keep up the good fight!

" because I'm getting increasingly irritated with the marketing that forces most users into buying the latest hardware" this is Apples Scheme and you could not have said it better because when I learned about Open Core and patching up Apple to get the latest OS I thought why can't Apple just make consumers lives easy like Microsoft? All OS must expire and that generally means "we will put a hole in your pocket because you cannot easily do OS upgrades" Ironically they have "Apple Care" but they don't really care. They are like drug dealers and want you hooked, just keep coming back for what's new lol lol

On the Intel side, the only two reasons most people would need anything newer than Ivy Bridge are video encoding and gaming. Common routine workloads just won't max out anything mid range and up from the last 12 years. 16 gigs ram and a decent ssd and you're golden. Normies can get away with 8.

an underrated comment @@armamentarmedarm1699 everything i need to do works fine on a 15 year old imac, and not just web browsing.

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

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 :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9koG8p9Ch0.html

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.

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.

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 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.

Yes, the OpenCore Legacy Patcher works as far back as the mid-2007 iMac. The biggest limitation is which graphics card it uses. According to the Patcher docs (dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html) yours is supported with GPU acceleration in "Public Beta". You will also not have Metal support just like me, which is fine for office tasks and web browsing. For CPU, you are limited to CPUs supported by your Mac's chipset. I believe yours is a Core 2 series, and I believe only Core 2 Duo chips are supported (no Core 2 Quads as I am aware). That being said, you probably won't be moving far enough up with any upgrade to justify the cost or effort, as I believe the included chip in the early 09' was decent to begin with. You might see some gains in a synthetic benchmark, but I seriously doubt you'll be able to see any improvement in real-world use. For example, in this other video I compare this late 2009 iMac with a 2020 iMac - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bO1XvSBG4d4.html which shows the CPU is significantly faster in benchmarks, but doesn't really translate to real-world office type tasks as much as we think. Upgrading the RAM like you're planning is an excellent idea. Also upgrading to an SSD will provide huge performance benefits; it allows the CPU to spend more time crunching on data, rather than waiting from the data to arrive from the hard drive. These 2 upgrades will give you far better performance for your $ than a CPU upgrade will :)

Thank you for your knowledge, you are a wizard. That helps so much!

@@EastPlanet Glad it was helpful! I actually just got a 20" iMac with Core 2 Duo (not sure if it's 2008 or 2009). I plan on doing a video on upgrading it as well. My videos are more geared towards entertainment than tutorial, but I'm considering a more in-depth tutorial approach on this one. Either way, I literally JUST got the computer, and have not tested any of it yet or mapped the video out yet, but spec-wise the Mac is very similar to yours.

@@rebootretro Omg that's awesome!! I'll be really looking forward to seeing what you do with it man, hope it all goes smoothly. Thanks for the heads up on that :)

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.

Linux Mint is an excellent alternative! One of my favourite distros.

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

I love the full screen photo booth in Lion Mountain Lion and Mavericks

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.

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.

The best place to shop for used computers! :D

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 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9koG8p9Ch0.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 also had a lot of weird issues with the 2008 Core 2 that didn't exist with any later Macs. I did have some issues with the USB stick too - either the latest version of OpenCore wouldn't work, or ONLY the latest version would work (I don't remember which). It might be worth trying to build the USB stick with different OpenCore versions to see. I'm sorry I can't be much more help. But you are definitely right, there are some weird issues happening with the 2008 iMacs.

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.

Thanks!! Yes, the DVD connection is just a standard SATA port so the system recognizes it the same as the internal HDD. Make sure you don't do what I did though; make sure you get the DVD dummy adapter with the correct thickness, lol. I've not tried Ventura yet; others have comment and say that WiFi isn't working on Ventura, so you'll need to use Ethernet or a USB dongle. Personally, Monterey works so well and is still officially in-service, I don't see a reason to test the waters with Ventura (at least at this point). To get Metal running, you'll need to check if yours has an upgradable GPU (not all iMacs did). I made another video here (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9koG8p9Ch0.html) which shows upgrading to a Metal-supported card. The stock card in any '09 will definitely not support Metal; on Monterey you can get legacy acceleration using patches (and the sleep mode graphics glitch) and I THINK this will work on Ventura but I'm not certain.

@@rebootretro That video features tasks that are slightly above my skill level. I'll stick with Monterey for the reasons you've outlined. Thanks again. I've been following you here on on Reddit

@@Fogghorn_Legghorn Cool, I'm glad you find my posts interesting :). I try to make videos informative, while also making them entertaining for people who are just curious but don't intend to replicate the project. Appreciate the comments, thank you!

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.

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

Thanks! This one won't run the latest Logic or Final Cut since they require a Metal-supported graphics card. If the graphics card was upgraded (which it could be), it "should" run them. At 1080p I suspect it would be usable, but render times will likely be pretty slow. At 1080p it would likely get the job done if you're a patient person. If you're going to do a lot of video editing, you might be better off upgrading to a new machine. I did another video here comparing the 2009 to the 2020 model: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bO1XvSBG4d4.html

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!

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. :)

Hi! You should be able to use the same patcher which you used to make the USB key. After the OS is installed, run the patcher again and choose to install Post-installation Patches. The process should be 100% automatic, and you should have full non-Metal acceleration after rebooting again. What issues are you having? The GPU upgrade is necessary if you need/want Metal support, or need to use more graphics-intense applications. If you are upgrading the GPU, you won't need to install the patched Radeon driver (or you may need a different patched driver depending on the GPU you buy). Which GPU depends on your requirements, budget, and tolerance/willingness to do some hacking. The easiest option is to get the latest MXM 3.0 Type B card (Mac version) pulled out of an iMac which is officially supported by Monterey. Then everything should work out of the box. You can get PC versions which are much cheaper (and sometimes faster), but you either have quirks like loosing brightness control, blank screen during bootup, etc without flashing the GPU to a Mac version or hacking the driver. And even after flashing/hacking, certain cards still don't work 100% perfectly. You really have to do extensive research, as there are pros/cons to each card. The one I was intending to use myself (if I ever do it) was a FirePro M5100 - because they perform OK, they're cheap and I currently have easy access to a red Dell version which is highly compatible after flashing. There are probably better cards to use, I just already have a lead on this one. If you're buying a pre-flashed version (like on eBay), you'll be very limited in what's available so your decision should be much easier. If you're flashing yourself (or not flashing and forgoing boot screens/brightness control/etc), you can use a much larger and cheaper variety of cards. If you're flashing, you either need a compatible PC or a USB flashing clip. If you're not into messing around with these things, I'd recommend a slightly more expensive pre-flashed Mac compatible card from eBay. Just google "card-model + Monterey + metal", and read up to see if anyone has any quirks or issues before you buy that model. Also note that not all cards use the same layout, so you need one which is the same and compatible with your heatsink. Hope this is helpful. Sorry, but I just haven't done enough research to know what the most ideal card would be for the upgrade. The most ideal card for me is the one I have easy access to :)

@@rebootretro Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with such helpful info! I'll definitely look into this further. Thanks, again, and take care!

I did a quick search, and it appears that the '09 27" with Core 2 processors has a Radeon HD 4670. If that's yours, it should be supported by the patcher. As for RAM, 8GB is plenty - I went WAY overkill with 32GB just because I had spare sticks on the shelf. Your 3GHz Core 2 Duo is slower but still a trooper; it should run fine for basic web browsing and office tasks like mine. You definitely want an SSD though, or the system will be incredibly sluggish. The graphics upgrade is a more in-depth mod which involves some relatively heavy disassembly. If you're not comfortable opening it, you should be able to get away with the current one if it is a Radeon HD 4670. Of course, it will have the same limitations on mine in the video; you won't have Metal support and you'll have the wake-from-sleep glitches. For web browsing and office tasks, Metal doesn't matter. And for the graphics glitch, my video here shows a workaround: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vR0_O7GedrI.html Good luck with your project! :)

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'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.

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.

If you don't need to run Mac specific software, Linux probably runs even better than Monterey! :D

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.

Thanks for the feedback. What issues are you having with OpenCore? Your 2011 should run Monterey perfectly. I'll help if I can.

@@rebootretro it is always awesome to get a reply from a user and I will say it may be hard but keep it up! This is what makes me love channels like yours. So I am your subscriber 100% Friend, if I may call you that. I want to say thank you for the initiative to help before I continue. How ever, I have got the machine to do Big Sur at the moment by following instructions on open core website but Monterey was really my target. It was really a minor fault that I was making when creating bootable OS for my USB Flash. The name of the flash was different from the name used in the command line when trying to create the boot disk so the bootable OS would not write and became frustrating. I felt the need to share this with you as I realized that it is only fair that I let you know since you would help. I will now try Monterey again friend lol and will let you know how that goes. Love this channel and keep up the great works!

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).

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Yes, on this 2009 model both CPU and GPU are upgradable. The Mac in the video already has one of the top tier Core i7 CPUs offered by Apple so it wasn't changed. I didn't upgrade the GPU because I didn't have a better one on-hand and didn't want to spend the money, since I don't need the features it brings. I could end up upgrading at some point in the future, in which case I will make a video. The official Github page shows supported machines: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html#imac It appears a 2011 is supported. Without a GPU upgrade, it appears there could be some graphics issues but they claim the GPU is socketed and upgradable :)

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.

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.

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" - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9koG8p9Ch0.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.

That's a really good idea. I'll put that on my list of planned projects. Currently working on another 2009 iMac repair video, but perhaps after that one. Thank you for the comment and idea! :)

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! RU-vid 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 RU-vid'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.

I actually did an entire video on the Tandy 200 (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JLZVVUNp3_A.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.

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

The 2009 only officially supports up to High Sierra, but you can hack Catalina on it using OpenCore Legacy just like in this video.

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

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 😁

I think yours might have a Core 2 Duo CPU, not a Core i5/Core i7. The Core 2 Duos are limited to 16GB on the 2009 models and limited to 6GB on the 2008 models, if I remember correctly. It has to do with chipset limitations; the Core i5/i7 use a newer chipset which support more RAM. Honestly though, if you're not opening 50+ browser tabs, editing large files in Photoshop, running virtual machines, etc, you probably won't benefit from more than 16GB anyway. The only reason I have 32GB is because I had a used spare set of RAM on the shelf collecting dust. The machine doesn't come anywhere close to using it all. If I was spending actual money on it, I probably wouldn't have put more than 8GB which is sufficient for basic web browsing. And if I need it for another project, I wouldn't hesitate to pull some out. Your SSD upgrade will make ALL the difference! An SSD will improve efficiency so much, that performance will be substantially better than any RAM upgrade could give. An SSD upgrade is always the best performance boost for the dollar. Good luck!

hi what process did you follow i also have early 2009 imac

​@@mikenewbold1699 I relied heavily on documentation from the OpenCore site: dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

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.

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.

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.

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%.

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

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 🤓

Thanks, glad you liked the video! In theory, you should be able to dual boot a modern Monterey with a classic Tiger on these older iMacs. I do have a couple G4 PowerMacs which will likely be restored on this channel at some point.

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.

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 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.

Honestly, it's been rock solid. A couple random crashes in the beginning which turns out the stock AMD GPU was failing. Upgraded to a Metal GPU (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9koG8p9Ch0.html), the system has been absolutely flawless since! In the last year I can't recall any instance where it kernel panicked or crashed.

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: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n9koG8p9Ch0.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.

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!