blog · EliteMacTechs

February 13, 2020 By Nathan Irvine

Speeding up slow 21 inch iMac

In 2012 Apple introduced a redesigned iMac. If you have some time for nostalgia, check out the video of Phil introducing the iMac. It was super thin and they had decided to leave the DVD drive behind and push forward in the new diskless world. “Nobody uses disks anymore, they are downloading everything now”… but that is a different story. This is the story of the new (super thin) 21 inch iMac that Apple released, with a 5400rpm 2.5 inch drive.

How is a story about a 2012 iMac relevant today you ask? It has almost been a decade. Well, in 2020 Apple continues to make the same 21 inch iMac with the same 5400rpm 2.5 drives. Sure you can upgrade the iMac when you purchase it with a fancy SSD, or one of the not so fancy Fusion Drives, but the stock model comes with a similar spec drive as my 2006 white MacBook. The super slow white MacBook that can no longer be used with modern browsers (see this blog posting about running linux to save your old Macs).

As you have probably gathered my issue is with the hard drive that Apple uses in the 21 inch iMac. Let’s start by talking about what the hard drive is in charge of, how the speed of the drive makes a difference, and how you can use that knowledge to get your slow iMac to run a lot faster.

General Hard Drive Info

Hard drives are used to store all the data on your computer. They store your photos, music, documents, applications, even the operating system the computer is running off of. This means that you need to get a drive that has enough capacity to store your files, as well as some breathing room for future file creation (think of all those photos you take, movies you download, etc). I like to recommend a drive that has at least 50% more capacity then the files you currently have. Most of the drives Apple sells in their 21 inch iMacs are 1TB (1000GB) capacity drives.

The Speed of your Drive Matters

While the computer is using a particular file it will read it off the drive and temporarily store it in RAM (if you have enough RAM available). So the idea is it make take a minute to open a file or an application, but once it is open it runs faster until you run out of RAM, then the whole computer slows down.

How fast a drive can read and write data effects the speed of almost everything on the Mac. A 5400RPM drive is spinning at 5400 revolutions per minute. Back in 2006 we would sell a lot of 7200RPM hard drive upgrades to help speed up computers. But that was 2006, now 7200rpm drives are the norm and even those are considered outdated. The upgrade that is the best to speed up your iMac is a solid state drive upgrade.

Upgrade Options for Your 21 inch iMac

A solid state drive upgrade will speed up your iMac tremendously. Going from a 5400rpm drive to a solid state drive is like going from a 4 cylinder Kia Rio to a V8 muscle car… the change is undeniable. The price on solid state drives has been coming down consistently over the past few years. It is now pretty affordable to upgrade your computer to a faster solid state drive, and we can help with the installation and getting the data from your old slow drive to you new fast SSD.

Some of the 21 inch iMacs can also have their RAM upgraded. While we are already in the computer doing upgrades, it might be worth maxing out the amount of RAM your computer has. By installing a faster SSD and upgrading the RAM, you are basically maxing the computer out. Everyone is pleased with these upgrades as they go from a computer that is sometimes barely usable to one where the computer is waiting for you instead of the other way around.

Bring your computer in for a free diagnosis

If you are having issues with your computer running slower than you would like, feel free to bring it in for our free diagnosis. We check all the hardware for problems and let you know what we find and what we recommend for speeding up your machine. Most of our diagnostics are completed within about 6 hours of drop-off.

There is no appointment necessary for the diagnosis, so come by anytime during our regular business hours. And feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

October 4, 2017 By Nathan Irvine

Liquid Damaged Mac Logic Board Repaired with Cleaning

Liquid damaged logic board from MacBook Pro

This MacBook Pro logic board sustained some liquid damage. Unfortunately the liquid went all the way through the keyboard and got on the top of the board as well as the bottom. You can see in the pictures the corrosion that is present on this board.

Rice and wait

While the “put in rice” trick does have some very basic merit (it helps dry the device), it should not be the course of action unless you are unable to reach a repair shop. The best course of action is to get the computer to a repair shop that offers professional cleanings on logic boards as quickly as possible. The sooner you get the computer’s logic board removed and cleaned if needed, the better your chance of having the logic board work.

A shop that advertises liquid damage cleaning (like ours) will likely have a ultrasonic cleaner that is used to clean all the corrosion and liquid from the logic board. Ultrasonic cleaners clean every bit of the surface of the board and even help get liquid out from spaces under chips. After a professional cleaning it is important to let the logic board dry completely before testing. This is why our liquid damage cleaning usually takes almost 24 hours.

Testing after cleaning

Once the logic board has been dried and cleaned it needs to be tested. For the logic board pictured above, the cleaning is all that was necessary to get the computer back up and running. If the cleaning is not enough to get the liquid damaged Mac back up and running, we have logic board level repair options as well as replacement options available.

Other Liquid Damaged Parts

Often times when the liquid comes into contact with the keyboard it will short over time. Sometimes the keyboard will seem to work perfectly for a time, but after a few days, weeks, or months you may find that a key or two will stop working. Usually the keys that stop working from liquid damage are all in a diagonal row.

Another common issue after liquid damage is the trackpad failing. Usually trackpads will stop working completely, or not track properly (stutter, select things on there own, move the mouse on there own, etc). When a trackpad fails it can usually be replaced without a lot of difficulty. Some models (like the retina MacBook Pro) have the trackpad covered by the battery which has a very strong adhesive holding it down, but it is possible to replace just the trackpad even on those models.

It is very common for the battery to not work properly if liquid comes into contact with the connector or PCB portion of the battery. If we see residue from corrosion on the battery, we recommend replacement as the chance of having a faulty battery are very high at that point.

Starting the liquid damage service for your Mac

The first step to getting your Mac repaired is to have a free diagnosis completed on your liquid damaged Mac. We offer a free diagnosis that is completed within 24 hours at our Studio City location in Los Angeles. Learn more about our liquid damage repair services. We even have our liquid damage repair services available nationwide through our mail-in repair program. Just add the liquid damage diagnosis to your cart and checkout to send your computer in for diagnosis.

July 19, 2017 By Jessie E

Damaged LCD display on 17 Inch Apple MacBook Pro

There’s no mistaking what happened to this MacBook Pro screen–the 17″ widescreen display suffered a direct hit to the center of the laptop. As you might guess from the crack marks and crazy lines covering the desktop, the LCD panel is damaged. When there is damage to a computer screen like this, you might see what looks like ink leaking across the screen, rainbow lines spreading outward from the point of impact, or white or gray boxes appearing on your screen. In this case, the damage has affected most of the screen, with only a small strip near the left edge still useable.

It can be hard to find replacement screens for these older model MacBook Pros with the 17″ high resolution or matte displays, but we usually have them in stock. If you need a screen repair for this model, just send us an email or mention that your Mac has the anti-glare LCD in the special notes field at checkout.

This is the service we performed on this Mac:

LCD Replacement on 17 Inch MacBook Pro

Do you need your MacBook Pro display repaired? We offer both LCD and Glass replacements for MacBook Pros. Take a look at our pricing on our MacBook Pro Display Repair page.

March 18, 2017 By Jessie E

The Mac Laptop You Should Never Buy

Mid 2010-Late 2011 15″ MacBook Pro

MacBooks are great computers for most people, even used Macs are usually a good value. We recommend them all the time to friends and family–but there are a couple Macs that we do not recommend purchasing–the Mid 2010 to Late 2011 MacBook Pro with 15 inch or 17 inch display.

UPDATE!!! We now have repair options for these model years. The 2010 we are able to replace the problematic chips with better spec chips that don’t fail, and the 2011 we are able to just turn off the bad chip and have the computer utilize the graphics chip that doesn’t fail! Feel free to bring your computer in for a free diagnosis and we will let you know if we can help you get your trusty steed back up and running.

These computers look great on paper, they’ve got big beautiful displays, lots of processing power, and can be upgraded. They were very popular with professionals and power users when they were first introduced. However, these MacBook Pros are lemons. They have a known graphics chip defect which shows up after a few years of use. This defect causes glitches on screen, restarts, random shutdowns, corruption of data, white screen of death, green screen of death and other problems. There used to be a repair extension program that would cover these issues, but it has expired.

If you’re in the market for a used MacBook, avoid this particular model. Look instead for more reliable alternatives like the smaller 2011 13 inch MacBook Pro or the 2012 MacBook Pro in any size. There are even great deals out there for MacBook Pro Retina models that are only a few years old. Just don’t buy the MacBook Pro 2011 with a 15 inch or 17 inch screen–it will likely be trouble!

Already have this model?

If this defect shows up on your 2011 MacBook Pro, the computer will become unusable over time. Repairs for this defect (replacing the logic board with the bad chip) run in the $500 – $700 range at Apple, and even then, the issue can return. Now that the 2011 model is getting to be on the older side, the issue is becoming more and more common. We see several of these a week in the shop.

If you already have one of these Pros and you have been lucky enough to not experience the graphics chip malfunction yet, make sure to back up your computer as often as possible, and keep an eye out for early signs of graphics chip failure, like random shutdowns and restarts, or horizontal lines on the screen. Suspect that your 2011 MacBook Pro is starting to have this issue? Bring it in for a free diagnosis and we will run a graphics test to see if your graphics chip is failing.

Are you in the market for a newer used computer? Check out our stock of used and refurbished Macs. They come with a 90 day warranty, and some still have AppleCare for over year!

February 22, 2017 By Jessie E

An Easy Way to Clean Up Your Mail App Inbox–And Speed Up Your Mac

Here’s a quick fix you can try right now to speed up your Mac computer. Just clean out your inbox. It’s an easy way to cure sluggishness in the Apple Mail application in OSX.

Having too many emails in the inbox can be really overwhelming, for you and for your computer. If you’re using the Apple Mail program to manage your email accounts, it’s important to make sure that you don’t let emails pile up in the Inbox section. Mail isn’t designed to keep a lot of emails in the Inbox for the long term. Even if you have enough space on the computer to store thousands and thousands of messages, like we do, it will slow down the Mail program if they’re all stored in the inbox. Plus, it’s nice to clean out the inbox from time to time for your own productivity. Personally, I love having a clean slate!

But what if you don’t have the time to go through all of your messages? What if you delete something that ends up being important later? Here’s a little secret: you can have the benefits of a clean inbox without having to do any organizing at all. As long as those emails aren’t stored in the official inbox, they won’t cause problems for Mail. You can just move all your messages to a new folder. I call mine “Old Messages” but you could use “Archive” “Important Emails” “Old Inbox Emails” or whatever you like.

Here’s how to Archive Old Emails:

A pre-step to this process is to make sure you have your mailboxes showing in Mail. To show your mailboxes, just click “Mailboxes” as highlighted below.

1) Now that mailboxes are showing, let’s say you want to move all your read emails to a folder called “Archive”. First you would make the folder by going to “Mailbox” and then selecting “Make New Mailbox” and naming that new folder. A consideration is whether you would like to have the messages stored on your server (so they are accessible to all your devices), or if you would rather have the messages stored just on your computer or “On My Mac”. I usually recommend storing them on the server so you have access with all your devices.

2) Once the folder “Archive” appears on the left, you want to select all the emails you want to move. An easy way to select multiple messages is to hold down the command key while selecting them. If you want to select ALL of the messages in your inbox, you can do that by pressing Command and A at the same time, or by going to Edit and clicking “Select All”.

3) Once you’ve selected the emails you want to move you can drag and drop them into the new folder, or go to Message and click Move To and then click “Old Messages” (or whatever your folder is named).

4) If you’re moving a lot of emails at once, it might take a while. It’s a good idea to give the computer plenty of time to move them over. Maybe close out of other programs while you’re doing this, and wait a few minutes before clicking anything else.

Voila!

Now that you’ve achieved Inbox Zero, it will be much easier to deal with new messages as they come in. Once you’ve read or responded to them, just move them to your Old Messages folder. You can add more folders/Mailboxes to organize your emails even more if you want. I like to just use the handy search bar up at the top of the screen to find any old emails I might need. All my emails are stored if I ever need them, but they’re not cluttering up my screen. With the Inbox cleared out, my Mac also runs better–no more pinwheeling and crashes when I try to open the Mail App.

Try it and let us know how it goes!

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