Should YOU Buy a 2011 27" iMac in 2022?? 

Personally, I would highly recommend this device. It might be a little outdated, but with the right specs, few simple and cheap upgrades and the right mindset, this device is a beast for whatever office task you need to do. Also for some light gaming (very light gaming). So if you’re on a budget and are looking for an awesome computer that won’t let you down, look no further!

I have a 2009 iMac running Monterey with opencore and it works just fine. I did upgrade the hard drive to a ssd and upgraded the ram from 4 to 16, and now it works better than before.

I have a mid2011 iMac 27” and It has the same Wi-Fi problem you mentioned. I’ve installed the OS on an external ssd and sometimes the system crash, but apart from these minor problems It’s still a good computer

good video, I have bought an imac 2013 late and runss smothly, new ssd and 16 GB ram updated....I love that machine

I had one when it came out, love your videos!

Methinks you left off running the open core post-installer. Which would have sped the machine up as well as taken care of the graphical artifacts.

I'd say, the video is eye opener, for lots of issues mentioned I hadn't even considered that they could've occurred.

Never an Apple product user but come look at that everything that came since 2009 looks AGELESS.

I have a 2011 27 inch iMac as my daily driver with an i5-2400 and 16 gigs of ram and an HD 6770M and a 512 GB SSD. This thing is good for what I do like some ROBLOX and web browsing and even iMovie. It currently runs macOS High Sierra 10.13.6

These iMacs have many more years of life left to go if you're willing to get your hands dirty. The glitches in this video are caused by the lack of a metal capable graphics card which all of these transparent notifications rely on. Many apps do not work on non metal such as final cut and now microsoft office is having issues. You can pick up a k610 GPU for ~$20 which is metal capable. If you flash it's vBIOS youll have a boot screen and metal support which will get rid of most of the glitches seen in this video. hope this comment is of use

I have the 2011 27 imac on High Sierra i5 32g Ram. I create videos, and run my recording studio Logic Pro X. Photo editing, Internet, Movie servers, A true work horse. Have never had any of these issues, so im assuming its the new technology that is killing this pc, or there is something wrong with it. My pc is older that the one you have and I Have Never had any problems

I personally think this is just a case of upgrading too far and expecting too much of what is an 11 year old computer at the end of the day. (12 as I write this.) I have a Mid 2011 iMac running Big Sur on the i7 2600, 16GB of RAM, Nvidia GTX 880m 8GB, 512GB SSD and a 2TB HDD. I edit videos in Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve, Premiere and After Effects. I also use this computer to design graphics in Photoshop and Illustrator and it has never once given me any trouble or an error of any kind. I've also used this to play Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition and Dying Light at 40fps plus, albeit with some dips here and there. (I do typically use another computer to game as this performance isn't perfect.) I plan to upgrade to 32gb of RAM in the near future and possibly upgrade the GPU even further. I will try to run this computer until it becomes a software compatibility problem, but at the moment with everything I use it is absolutely perfect. I would recommend buying one if you have the skills and knowledge to upgrade them, do not do anything without extensive research as there are risks attached as mentioned in the video, but it is a great computer and I love it.

Im glad I found this video. I have a 2011 21 inch that I got for $20. Instead of dumping money into it I’ll just get an m1 mini. Thanks!

I like my 2011s. If you still have yours and heat is still an issue try replacing thermal paste on the CPU and GPU. Would love to see an update with upgrades as well - maybe a better GPU? 2011s are definitely good bang for the buck - for what they do well.

I have the same machine, I change the "POS" Graphics Card with a Nvidia K2100m, I put 32GB and Install GNU/Debian 12 and work very well as a File Server, TM Server, DC Server and Backup server for itself, I'm very impressed.

It’s a good monitor you just have to upgrade the internal components.

I recently purchased a 27 inch 2011 imac for $100 AUS. I have put it side by side with my 27 inch 5k imac and holds its ground with my newer imac. Really there is not a great difference between 2.5k and 5k, but the brightness is superior on the 5k imac. Opening apps is faster on the 5k imac but not by a great deal. I don't do video editing so I cannot compare the difference. The advantage of the 2011 imac is the cost to value ratio. great computer for watching youtube videos and word processing.

Why not buy this 27" iMac for... say $350 and turn it to standalone display. There are kits available that can turn it to a display and connect it with either an apple laptop, or a mac mini, or even a mac studio. The display is awesome, its a shame to let it go to waste when u can use it ;-)

I am using the very same model I picked uo for $40 dollars on Craigslist. I think you have a lemon. I don't have your issues and it plays games perfectly. It's great for browsing. streaming etc.

Recently I’ve purchased a 2011 21” iMac for €100 ($105), and despite its age it performs well. The seller upgraded it with a 240gb ssd and 8gb of RAM which I’m planning to upgrade to 16gb. I’ve also installed Logic and Final Cut and it doesn’t fell like an old trash fire. It’s not perfect, but it’s also not a piece of old tech whose purpose is to be in a dump. This machine will not replace my 2018 13” MacBook Pro, but as a secondary device or a domestic machine is more than enough.

This is the tech guy nutella ! !

Honestly saying this is an amateur review. How can You expect all these not working features to work properly from device with Monterey installed. I own MBP Retina 2012 16gb ram 750SSD i7 2.7Ghz. Converts raw files smoothly. Works with 4K without any problem. Last week I compared my 11yrs old MBP with M1, 16Gb ram. Both devices did the same 3D scan procedure with similar results and time.M1 under Monterey, mine under win10 and Catalina. Before M1 this computer was fastest mobile device for converting files from one format to another. I.e. Raw to jpg, tiff etc I'll try how it works with Monterey because I had to install it. Preview works fine without any lag, raw conversion from DXO Photo also. Greetings.

I'm finding the trackpad you are using interesting.

i am running ventura on a imac 27 inch 2010 with no problems using opencore

I have IMac mid 2011 and i can’t install nothing,apps and games its imposible to instal

I've recently bought the 21,5" 2011 iMac, upgraded the HDD to an SSD and put in 16GB of RAM, did the opencore upgrade to big sur (without upgrading the GPU) and it all now runs perfectly fine! If you are not going to use the iMac for real heavy tasks, it's still a great option! (But don't get it from someone who is trying to scam you asking a lot of money for this mac)

I used to sneer at Apple products until I bought a 2nd hand 2013 27 inch imac. Simply wonderful.

Hello i have imac (27inch late 2009) 3,06 GHz intel core 2 duo 12GB 1067 MHZ DDR3 macintosh HD ATI RADEON HD 4670 256 MB. can you tell me the price please?

Thats youre opinon. My imac 27" 2011 runs very smooth. Just a few upgrades to ssd and more ram

my 2011 iMac is currently running macOS High Sierra with no upgrades. I'd like to upgrade it and use it as a stand alone but ideally for a second or main monitor for my Mac Mini or MacBook M1 Air. Seems difficult though as my HD is locked out . . . I looked up videos on all these issues but seem to hit dead ends at every turn

I just bought a 2011 27” iMac with the i7 and the 2gb gpu was only £90 so can’t complain

Shold I buy one 27 late 2011 20 Gb ram for 300 euro ? Better than a china notebook low cost ?

Thanks for the video. I am planning to get one just for tinkering. Do you think it can run on Ubuntu Linux?

I just unboxed a "brand new" 2011 still in sealed box with i5 I immediately did software update. now it wont connect to app store or load itunes. Any idea?

i have same wifi issue with my imac

Hi Taylor Brauer, what I don't understand is my computer man told me my 2012 macbook pro won't update past catalina because apple won't let them do so, so I wonder how can a 2011 imac update to monterey?

May i know this model imac have airdrop function?

Gonna get the i5 for $100…is that good??

They are worth buying with failed AMD graphics. By a more modern card that had metal support to replace it and you are good to go

Don’t blame the computer if you running one of the latest Mac OS . The computer is still good for home business, mount in kitchen for food recipes, run Mac OS server to host business website,lite gaming, mount in bathroom for display news and tv while in bath tube or shower,mount on patio for music entertainment

I have this exact version. It was rebuilt for me, and I'm still using it without issues. It is a bit slow compared to newer models. It used to run hot for a while. I'm not sure what I did, but I'm not having that issue now. The Wi-Fi has been okay, but I use a hardwire connection. I don't use it to edit videos, but I do a lot of photo editing without issues using Photoshop, got too frustrated with Lightroom editing My question is, I'm running macOS High Sierra 10:13.6. and not able to update the OS Monteray \. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Electrocuting yourself... UNPLUG IT. 100% consider this product. If it has an SSD, then this machine has longevity. the screen display is excellent, add memory which is easy (you don't need to take of LCD to do this, very simple accessible opening at bottom of display) and they run like a dream. As long as your not looking for the very latest software they are beautiful machines for your money. You got a dud machine or haven't done the necessary upgrades to conform to the platform. BAD research.

I have one and its graphics card is replaced two times. this model has a faulty graphics card

I think majority of the problems were u at fault its a good machine for the money

I have one of this iMacs. Do not buy, not even try to recover from the trash. Nice panel, but is not worth the time and money. If you are a techie person and your are learning, have fun.

You could change the OS…

One wonders how they processed photos 10 years ago?!😁

hey..what prgram u used at 5:33 to monitor temps?

Haha! Taylor, I was expecting a positive review of an old iMac, but instead, it sucks (the iMac)! Not your vlog of course very fun and informative. Cheers!

start of video “it sucks”. LOL At least you get right to the point!

My iMac 2020 is so slow I7 11th gen 72gb ram 512gb Latest OS Any tips . My m1 MacBook Air is so much faster no lag etc and that is a base model

Just bought one.

I found this model literally in the garbage 27 2011 16gb 2tb hdd when I try to boot up it can't load the os because gpu failure , I try many times to repair the card But I can't do it recently I buyed a card from ali express the nvidia k4100m 4gb that have the firmware flashed to use with the imac I hope it works !

Another solution is to just install a Windows 10 on this thing. Fully supported and the spec is still quite respectable especially for most of the demestic usage scenarios excluding havy gaming.

I bought a 2009 dual cpu mac pro and a 27 inch cinema display for $100 and I prefer to use it than my $2000 27 inch 5k imac.

Just found one today at the thrift store for $20

Actually High Sierra might be better as it is very snappy

2011 iMac can use Video Editing Software Adobe 2023

Editing works if you didn't hack it to have Monterey.

Hurt yourself upgrading?

you are not experienced enough to use a computer with an unofficially supported os: it requires knowledge and a few more steps this is not a mac for you, in your case it is better to always take the latest model (or the best deal on new models)

COOL

Why not just run Linux or Windows on this, instead of dealing with Apple's planned obsolescence?

You say that the imac sucks because the terrible Apple proprietary system. This PC with Linux has a lot to offer! What happen with millenials and their lack of creativity? come on guys!

Few bad takes there buddy..

This is bullshit. Officialy this iMac should works with Mac os high sierra. You install not supported soft Monterey, so what do you expect. I have this iMac 27'' mid 2011 with i7 3,4ghz 16gb ram and HD6970M 2GB and SSD 500GB, but I have high sierra and its works just perfect. I have windows 7 on secound partition, so I can even play som games on it. I cant imagine better computer with better display in this money.