Imac should i upgrade

Updates now happen in the background and finish more quickly than before. Big Sur makes it possible to run iOS apps natively on your Mac computer, without having to pay again for apps you already own.

Plus, individual developers decide if they want their iOS apps to be available on macOS, meaning not all apps are automatically available. But before you make the change, Apple suggests backing up your Mac and therefore your most important files just in case you run into trouble during the process. Every laptop that reaches the Which?

Our highest-scoring Apple laptop offers impressive battery life, a great screen and powerful speakers. Discover which Apple laptops have aced our rigorous lab tests with our guide on the best MacBooks for You can sign up to Which? Computing here , or contact our helpful customer service team today on Technology Computing. If yes, how have you found it? If no, why not? Should I upgrade to macOS Monterey? Michael Potuck - Oct. TL;DR : if you have any concerns about app stability, performance issues, and other bugs, hold out at least for the next bug fix update or maybe even a later update depending on your stability tolerance For reference, macOS Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter , Facebook , and LinkedIn to stay in the loop.

Check out our exclusive stories , reviews , how-tos , and subscribe to our YouTube channel. A lack of RAM will prevent you from running many apps at once, and an old CPU means tasks like editing 4K video are extremely slow or impossible.

You'll also notice overall system performance suffers. Another component that takes a hit over the years is the battery in MacBooks. Rechargeable batteries only have a certain number of cycles before they're "spent" and won't hold a charge for long. If you've used the battery extensively, it might only last an hour before you need to charge it. You can get around this by always using your laptop on the charger, but that sacrifices the portability, of course. However, this is basically impossible on newer Mac models, as most components are soldered to the motherboard.

The money you would spend on a professional hardware upgrade or battery replacement is almost certainly better put towards a new machine. An obvious reason that you need to replace your MacBook is when it suffers serious physical damage. Maybe you dropped it and damaged the internals, or slammed the screen down on some debris and cracked it. In these cases, your computer is unusable until you get it fixed or replace it. And as discussed above, it doesn't make a lot of sense to pour hundreds of dollars into an obsolete machine when you can get a new one that will last longer.

Barring a major hardware catastrophe, a long list of small issues can quickly become a big problem too. An old computer is often a lot like an old car. You can live with a few odd issues if they don't impact your ability to use it properly, but eventually something big will go wrong and you'll have to decide whether to fix it or upgrade. Little problems, like your charger not working unless it's in just the right spot, dead pixels on the display, stuck keys, and crackling speakers aren't necessarily cause for a replacement.

But when your computer has so many small quirks that it's barely usable, you should cut your losses and look into a replacement machine that will perform much better. An outdated Mac can also manifest itself through software issues. You might experience frequent OS freezes where everything becomes unresponsive. Other common issues include visual glitches and random shutdowns.

When you experience these, you should make sure you have enough space free, as low disk space can contribute to these issues.

Hopefully any software quirks disappear after this troubleshooting. But if not, you likely have issues related to outdated hardware and should considering upgrading your Mac. Maybe you're ready to upgrade your Mac, but you can live with whatever issues it has and don't need to buy one right away.

In that case, you should wait for the right time to get a new Mac. Apple releases new models for most Mac machines yearly.