2009 iMac Gifted - What Can I Do With This?

ES-BJR90 wrote:

When you say obsolete, does that mean that the ram can’t be upgraded? What about if I attached a brand new SSD and installed a different Mac OS on it?

The USB ports only run at USB 2.0 speed. You're not likely to get much benefit by attaching a SSD to them.

The FireWire 800 port is faster, but even a FireWire 800 SSD won't give you blistering speed for most tasks. I know from first-hand experience using a FireWire 800 SSD with my 27" Late 2009 iMac. (The one thing that it sped up noticeably was running Windows in a virtual machine on a Mac with only 8 GB of RAM.)

Nobody sells FireWire 800 drives or enclosures any more except for Other World Computing, and even they no longer offer bus-powered enclosures for 2.5" notebook drives.

Even if you crack the machine open, the SATA interface only runs at SATA-II (3.0 Gbps) speed.

Would that be completely incompatible? Or do you mean that that is the latest IOS you can have based on the hardware?

Upgrading the RAM and drive will not let you upgrade past High Sierra. High Sierra is seven major versions behind the current version of macOS, Sequoia. There are some applications you could install that might let you get some use out of that machine, but even third-party developers who are in the habit of supporting old versions of macOS have, in many cases, moved on.

The best current uses of that machine are probably

• To run old 32-bit Mac applications (especially games) that are incompatible with macOS Catalina and higher,
• To import video from old MiniDV and Digital8 camcorders in digital form, or
• To support old FireWire-based audio gear
• To run old Mac OS X / PowerPC applications (especially games) using Rosetta 1, under Snow Leopard

Otherwise, it had its day, but its day is now past.

ES-BJR90 wrote:

If the hardware is outdated… what about if I just used it as a really nice big screen?

That Mac doesn't support Target Display Mode. In 2009, only 24" and 27" iMacs did. Apple later retroactively added restrictions such that no current or recent Mac supports using any iMac as a Target Display.

Is there any way I can get like a Mac mini or something, and attach that?

You can't use a 21.5" Late 2009 iMac as a display. It doesn't support Target Display Mode, or being an AirPlay Receiver for AirPlay to Mac. If you could find a third-party "workaround" to let you reuse that 21.5" screen in a second-class way, it wouldn't make sense, economically.

I’m thinking longterm here…

If you're thinking long term, you should be looking at purchasing a current Mac, like

• A M4 or M4 Pro Mac mini system – where you buy the Mac mini, and then add a keyboard, a mouse, and at least one real, standalone hardware display.
• A 24" M4 iMac – which includes the keyboard, mouse, and a very nice (if small) screen.

Before you ask, no, you can't use the 24" 4.5K Retina screen on a M4 iMac as a hardware monitor for another device such as a MacBook, a PlayStation, or a Windows PC.

The RAM can be upgraded to 16GB. You can't run any version of macOS newer than High Sierra.

A Late 2009 iMac is considered obsolete. The latest version of macOS it can run is High Sierra 10.13.6. You can probably find some use for it although rather limited. As far as the Windows drives, you can plug them into the Mac and possibly copy the data over to the Mac. The operating system on it if it is Windows, is useless.

ES-BJR90 wrote:

Thank you kindly for your support and patience 👍 I do appreciate it.

You're welcome

But I’m wondering whether it’s worth doing.

I certainly wouldn't.

You can't use it as a monitor.