Absolutely love my 2013, I strapped a Samsung T5 to the stand and installed Catalina on it. Mine boots in 27, seconds and the comp just runs beautiful now. Must do IMO

I bought a 2013 iMac a year ago in mint condition and I'm extremely happy with it. It is an i5 and has 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB hard drive, which is plenty for me. It's extremely responsive, runs very smoothly, and it does everything that I want and need it to.

I have a similar tale to tell. I too have a 2013 iMac. It was the top one of the 3 different versions. It came with an i7, a fusion drive comprising of a 128Gb blade SSD & 3TB HD. Upon getting it I added another 16Gb of RAM to the 8Gb it came with. I have been very happy with this machine. Eventually the 3TB HD failed so I switched to booting it from an external thunderbolt 1 SSD. So I’m used to a bit quicker disk access. Fast forward to 2021 and Apple silicon is putting an end to BOOTCAMP so I splurge on what will be the last Intel iMac 27. Again I went for the top model. I added a 1TB SSD & maxed out the GPU. Cost about the same number of dollars as the last one. So actually cheaper in real terms. I’ve also upped the RAM to 32GB of 3rd party memory. After all this, in terms of everyday use, there is no difference in user experience. The boot time is effectively the same. Big Sur if anything feels more sluggish than Catalina. It’s all a bit underwhelming really. So I feel for you man. All these benchmarks count for nothing if you don’t improve the user experience. Im surprised I don’t see more disappointed upgraders maybe everyone waited for Apple Silicon?

I own a late 2013 imac and it works pretty good with el captain and 3.4ghz proc and I5; thanks for this video

I read your article online. Does this also affect video editing speeds and other demanding applications?

i was about to order a new imac cause my 2013 was taking as long as yours to boot up but i installed a 2TB NVMe SSD and now it works great. i also upgraded my ram to 32 GBs

still the 2013 imac runs faster than many 2020 office Pcs

Wow I can’t imagine having a spinning hard drive now. Even fusion drives are not great. My iMac with SSD boots up in about 12-15 seconds and is ready to open programs up right away with no lag

The issue are the slow 5400 rpm drives. My family has 2 iMacs (2011 i5 with 8gb of ram and a 1tb hdd and a 2017 with an i5, 8gb of ram and a 1tb hdd) and the new one actually runs slower because of OS X Catalina. Which slowed it down to a crawl. Because the 2011s came with a 7200 rpm hdd, my iMac which cost a 6th of the price boots and runs faster.

God that boot sequence!😳

IMACs are AMAZING. I am still on a 2013 with SSD and it is still awesome.

Thank! I am glad that I read it before I was just about to upgrade my later 2012 imac to a 2019 imac. Even if we can use an external SDD to improve old imac, what about the compatibility with new Mac OS?

Its 2020 and i have fan accounts and like making edit but my asus is slow so this video has rlly bosted me to get a 2013 imac tysm

Was there any chance Spotlight was indexing the full hard drive and thereby made it slower?

My iMac 2013 i5 boots up in 15 seconds with a T5 1TB SSD hooked via USB. Got it for $120 from Office Depot. Best and easiest upgrade I've ever done. I won't upgrade until the new M1 30" come out.

Startup speeds are varied mostly by storage types. Since it is an HDD, that will cause a super slow start up. Fusion drives will make it slightly faster but ssd will cause startups to be at least 4 times faster. So the main difference will be seen on a metal test

I hired a technician to upgrade my iMac from 8GB to 16GB and had an internal 1TB Samsung SSD installed. My iMac boots up fast but it operates slow or crashes sometimes when I use Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. One Adobe rep said it's the Intel Iris Pro 1538MB causing the issue and I will need to upgrade to a new iMac. Is there a way to get around this without needing to buy a new Mac?

i have a 2013 late imac. the one you have, so yeah 1TB hard drive 2,7GHz 4-core i5 and intel iris pro 5200 and its still heating.

Damn that is painfully slow. My 2017 2TB fusion drive (has 128gb nvme) 5K imac takes 31 seconds to boot up. It’s getting upgraded soon to a 1TB nvme soon.

Wow the trick with the external SSD works! My iMac 2013 8GB RAM was sluggish and even slower after the Catalina update. It took about 3 minutes to boot and about 5 minutes to start up programs like Photoshop or InDesign. With a Carbon Copy of my HD to an external Samsung T5 the systems is faster than it ever was: booting in seconds, Photoshop an InDesign in seconds.

Kinda old video, but used imacs are crazily cheap. You can get some high end models of 2012 for 500$ which cost a fortune back then and are still better than the entry models of nowdays.

My software runs a lot better on my 2019. I have a few older Macs and boot up time is about the same unless you get a SSD.

Guess makes me glad I waited for the new m1 to come out. I was going to buy a last gen in 2020.

I don’t have a desktop so I don’t know what to compare except my iPhone

Damn that takes ages to boot up..

Go get a SSD for the 2013 imac and return the new 2019 imac. It feels much more better

In all honesty, you didn't really need a new computer, well not to justify an i3 $1,800 machine. The 2014 model you have is still quite a good machine. What I would have done is take it somewhere qualified (unless you feel confident doing it yourself) where they can remove the screen and install an SSD. This is exactly why apple gets a bad wrap. I recommend at least exchanging, and buying one with no spinning drive at all. If cost is an issue, Costco sells (at least where I live) 27" fusion models for around $1,800 with pretty good specs.

Hi John. Found a used 21.5' iMac from late 2013 for around 500 bucks. Does this sound like a good deal? Apple iMac slim 21.5 Intel Quad Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) core i5 2.9GHZ 16GB DDR3 RAM 1TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics processor with 1 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory. super drive USB port 3.0 Wifi, bluetooth card reader Mac OSX Late 2013 FYI, I translate and QC a lot of subtitle files and sometimes when translating/QCing variety shows (usually span between 60-90 minutes with like 2000 lines on average, done on a cloud software), my current device tends to lag a lot. My current asus vivobook has 4gb RAM and 128GB SSD. So that's why I've been eyeing used imac. Thanks!

I've got a 2010 base level mac and it boots up in 52 seconds!

So frustrated with my 2019. My husband refuses to use it because it has been so slow since the day we got it. I finally got fed up and called Apple. They wasted a week of my time bouncing me from person to person, running diagnostics, admitting it is very slow, but saying things look fine. Eventually someone told me that the spinning drive can’t handle OS newer than 10!!! After over a decade of being an Apple person, I’m disgusted they released this and won’t admit their mistake. Absolute waste of money.

Found a used 27'' iMac from late 2013 for 500 bucks. Do you reckon it's a good deal? Specs: 3,2 GHz Quad-Core Intel i5 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1 GB 1 TB hdd

I don't think I've ever seen iMacs take this long to boot. My 2013 one does it in probably 10-20 seconds. I am guessing this has to do with the hard drive.

Safari test was unfair, since the program was not fully closed/had the 'open' dot on the 2013 model.

Does the 2013 come with iphoto preinstalled or is it on a disc?

My 2004 and 2012 iMacs restarted in 45 seconds. My 2019 takes about 4 minutes. I returned it for one with better specifications and it is still 4 minutes to reboot. Also freezes after software updates and must be shut down and restarted with the power button. I can’t believe no body talks about how bad these things became after Steve Jobs died. I’m not so confident my 2019 iMac will last over ten years like my other two did working perfectly the entire time. I’m curious how the M1 iMacs perform.

Newer is better and you will see difference when playing games, editing video or doing anythin that needs processing/graphic power. Also, take into account that newer has much better screen resolution. I am still using my late 2013 iMac and I am satisfied of it as it is.

In a remarkable turn of events, machines in 2019 are slow when using 5400rpm hard disks. Get both machines SSD's, forget fusion drives.

Ya when I bought my iMac 27 i7 I had to return it and sent for SSD storage, night and day difference, never tried the Fusion drive, how is it?

Both the i3-8100B and the i5-4570R are very comparable, including 65 watts TDP. The move to DDR4 should have brought some improvement -- if the motherboard exploited it. This was also that period where Intel was "sparing" on thread count, in both instances. Sometimes the move to i7 makes a lot of difference.

What's the max ram possible for upgrading?

6 year newer machine yeah but tech that runs both computers is basically the same

Hello, I have an Imac 27 late2009. HDD 7200, 12GB ram, 60s for logging.

how that boot in 106sec it is slow because my old MacBook 2008 boot fast and i have on it mac os catalina

I’ve just put an ssd and ram upgrade in my 2009 27” imac and it boots in 24 seconds now, apps load much quicker and i’ve forgotten what the beach ball looks like!

The Safari test wasn't done properly. You seem to have Safari and iTunes as Startup items on the old iMac. Both apps are active and already opened before the test. You can tell that by the black dot under the icons in the dock. Otherwise you maybe forgot to quit the apps last time before you turned the iMac off. Mac OS remembers that and starts the apps again next time you turn the computer on. You should use other processor intensive apps and tasks also for the test. In the end the results were pretty expected with these simple tests. Although the new iMac has a faster quad-core i3 with 6 MB cache, base speed of 3.6 GHz and faster memory and bus speed it will appear only slightly faster in simple apps lika Mail and Safari that stress the processor only for short moments. In such moments your old iMac with quad-core i5 with 4 MB cache and base speed of 2.7 GHz boosts up to 3.2 GHz and make the new iMac appear only slightly faster. The old iMac can't though sustain the boost speed and under heavy load when all the cores are needed may go back down to base speed to not overheat. The new iMac on the other hand can continue to work with the higher base speed and get heavy tasks done faster. That's why you should for example do some video or audio encoding to really compare the two iMacs. If you had tested the GPU you had noticed a big difference too. Radeon Pro 555X is much faster than Intel Iris Pro 5200, 2-4 times faster. So if you are a casual gamer or use other apps that take advantage of the GPU you notice a big difference. Otherwise you didn't really need a new iMac for just web browsing and mailing. Your old iMac can still handle that. You should also wait for the next iMac upgrade comin soon, with AMD Navi GPUs. I myself am still using my 21.5" iMac 2011 with Radeon 6750M 512 MB for both gaming and other stuff, but mine has a 7200 rpm HDD. :)

My 2013 is a shredder booting off the Samsung T7. 30 second boot.

Word of advice add an ssd lol.

Hi, can I play Sims 4 in iMac 2013? Thanks!

Hard drive read/write speeds are what’s important here. A regular ol’ spinny hard drive (which is in both of your iMac) will be slow in any Mac regardless of how new the Mac is. If you went for an iMac with a Fusion Drive or a full-blown SSD you’d see the speed increase throughout macOS by a couple times, like you want. Also the 2019 iMac is a much better Mac all around comparing to your 2013 iMac.

I highly suggest, buying a refurbished Mac, waiting a while, saving up a bit more, and getting an i7 instead of an i3. I would never consider an i3. I purchased a 2013 27" with an i7, 32 GB of RAM, and a 3TB fusion drive (recently updated to a 2 TB SSD) a year ago for $750.00. and it constantly run likes a *dream* the specs matter much more then the year.

I remember my 2009 Imac when pressing start button loading up and being on the desktop within 30secs my 2013 imac i can go make a cup of tea and read the paper before it loads. Even windows on bootcamp loads far quicker

what storage drives do the two imacs have?

Ouch I still can't believe Apple still uses mechanical drives hybrid or otherwise. Just timed my 13" 2012 MBP to boot into the OS using a 6-year-old Crucial M500 SSD; 27 seconds. Get rid of the 2019 iMac and install an SSD such as a Samsung 860 Evo and be done with it. Or if you insist on new iMac, get a basic 256GB SSD config, and use a NAS at home with 8TB HDDs configured in raid1 for redundancy.

i just bought late 2013 imac 21 inch. The mac os is mojave. Should i upgrade to Catalina?

Do you guys still reccomend me today to buy a imac 2013? In 2021. I dont have a lot money but i want so hard a imac :((

Can anyone answer me. Does imac 2013 support obs studio?

The rotational HD just kills the Apple experience :(

I have a iMac 2017 32 gb ram and 1tb fusion and boots much faster than yours does. Love my fision drive on my iMac.

My 2012 hp aio takes only 20 sec to boot lol and that too having an hdd

Ssd makes a big different

My Dog step on a bee.

i just tested the same on my new 2019 mac and they did not take anywhere near that long.

Mine has become very slow after installing the new updates .. takes 2’minutes to load

my iMac late 2013 21.5 with a samsung evo ssd boots in 14 seconds ...

I boot my 2013 iMac from an external SSD. Boots in 20 seconds.

best macos for imac 21,5 late 2013?

when it comes to performing task both feel super irritating

Hard drives are hard drives no matter when they are from. An SSD from 2013 is going to be much faster than a hard drive from 2021. The problem with iMacs is the pre 2015 models have limited ram built in. 2015 on with the ram ports available to upgrade means the memory needed for newer update versions is there. Anything pre 2015 is left with the older ios systems, not supported...and almost useless. 2013 with 500 gb SSd...but 8 gb ram = El Capitan...no system update support...trouble trouble trouble. About the only option is an external ram option. I don't know why anyone would even want a hard drive anymore. Used Imacs with SSD several years old are a bargain and will give years of reliable, much faster service than comparable new hard drive units.

Sorry but.. What is new??

yes but i needed completely to downgrade my mac because after High Sierra update in MOJAVE the Cuda Driver of my Imac14,2(late2013) 27" Geforce GT 755m does not work anymore... and thats a shame for apple !

You can’t compare an old iMac with 4 profiles with a newer one with one two profiles. It makes a huge difference

3:50, the winner is not the iMac 2013, because the safari app was already opened.

Fusion drives suck. I bought a perfect condition used 2013 27" iMac with the 3.5Ghz i7 and 16gb RAM (factory original). I removed the 3TB fusion drive and installed a 1TB SSD and it makes a HUUUGE difference. I'll never need more storage so 1TB is plenty. I'm debating whether to update my RAM to 32GB or buy the latest iMac, but not if the new one has a Fusion drive.

but Jobs said that they don't ship junk!!

They seem the same

test with ssd please

2013 imac is better than 2014,15,16,17,18,19,20 how is that possible all it needed was an upgrade to 5k

Hmmm just by looking I can’t see any difference in the design still shocking there is no SSD

i3 intel cpus are really low-end cpus. They are only good for use on like a chrome-book or lightweight linux distro machine.

I had lenovo laptop and is more faster than my imac 2013 hdd, I'm gonna put ssd I think, because it takes many time to do every thing.

It’s about the HD. get fusion or better still SSD. Even on the old one you can have an external SSD booting OS. makes a hell of a difference.

Unfair

My 2009 Mac mini with 1.8 duo core and 2 giga ram opens way faster wtf?

You need to reformat your drives.They are never that slow. 15 to 19 seconds at most. Trust me there was an update issue that incorrectly reformatted your drives on both machines. You can find the repair instructions online at apple.

Is this a joke ,fancied getting an old iMac , don't think I will bother now .An old 486 pc is faster to boot and open stuff .Must be even worse when multi tasking

is a dual i5 core better than a quad i3 core?

you need a ssd

1800 bucks for a i3....

you are actually comparing a 2019 i3 to a 2012 i5 and wondering why they run a out the same?? only a 2019 i5 should have been noticeably faster really, and an i7 even more so...

Damn! My 27" late 2012 model is faster than both of these. It has the standard hdd in it, but i have upgraded the ram to 32gb, so that's probably why. Mad how new models are not a lot faster than older models.

All you need is mac memory cards to boost you speed up, I went from 8GB to 24Gb and I can now browse the net with multiple browsers and no beach ball.

Der aus dem Jahr 2013 hat eine 5400rpm hdd und der 2020 eine NVME M SSD oder nur eine normale ssd kein Wunder das der 2020 schneller startet

I just swapped the HDD with an SSD and the 2013 iMac is blazing fast. It’s even on Catalina. SSD is the most important thing - NEVER EVER get a computer that’s based on an HDD. I bet you’ve already done what you’re gonna do, but tbh, if you have a budget for a new one, I’d just replace the 2019 one with a new one with an SSD. Sure, the 2013 will get 2 more years of life (Catalina is the last OS it’s gonna get and it’ll get security patches for 2 more years) with an SSD, but a 2019 with an SSD can get like 10.

Lol he has a piece of tape on the camera

Both are slower than win

Wtf 90sec My potato celereon is more way faster

Yis mush U-no the rules

i have a windows laptop and is 1000000000 times faster 2019 mac it seems to me like that machine is dying

So it’s a con

Sorry- But I do not think your non-scientific test is worth much. Its not Apples to Apples (pun-intended) You should have run Geekbench. (I've only owned Macs since 1985, so I guess I don't know much about Macs)