just bought a new iMac 21 inch for my husband

[jcarter]

Its very nice, beautiful screen.
Since his old one was almost 12 years old, we couldnt use Migration asst. So everything has to be moved over manually.
This is actually very good, as he wants to get rid of a lot of bookmarks, some contacts, and extra stuff.  Lots of things he wants to cull out, so this is working well.  I just brought the old stuff over on a little ext. hard drive, and he is going thru it and just picking out the stuff he wants to keep.
Ran into a few issues, but Applecare people are wonderful and its going very smoothly.

 I see that I might want a new one too, a 27. But I already have 3, one is 7 years old and the other is 5.
And my old 24 inch one, all 3 work just fine. 

The answer to that is, whats the difference in want and need? I dont neeeeeeeeed a new one.
Old Macs work so doggone well!

If I do get a new one next year, do you strip them, and give them away?  What do you people do with your old ones?

its sad to see something as nice as these, get replaced. I still have an antique Mac in the attic and it still works!  But you can't keep a bunch of old computers and old trucks. Tho old, but well taken care of trucks, can be given away. Ive a friend who restores them, and sells them. So I give them to him.

[jchuzi]

Look at Apple's recycling program. When I bought my current Mac, I used that program to recycle my Mac Pro. They send all the packing material and shipping is free. I also got an Apple gift certificate, the amount of which depends on the appraisal of the trade-in.

As far as getting a new Mac is concerned, I really liked my Mac Pro but the maximum OS that it could use was 10.7. I didn't want to trade it in, but I must admit that my iMac runs rings around it.

[jcarter]

Will look into this, also just heard that the local schools are interested in some workable computers for kids who can't afford them. We did this years ago, and they stopped, but now have reinstated this.

 

[Paddy]

You can usually find some worthy cause/person - as long as the old Macs are still capable of running either current or fairly current operating systems. Once you go far enough back that the browsers can't be updated, you may have more trouble finding anyone interested in taking them on. But occasionally you'll come across people who are actually looking for older Macs to run specific software (or work with other older hardware) so you never know!

I love my 27" 5K late 2014 iMac. I'd always had Mac Pros - and swore I wouldn't buy something where I couldn't update the various components, but this thing has been a real treat. I couldn't have bought an equivalent 5K screen AND a Mac for the price I paid for this, and I did order it with a 1TB SSD, which I certainly do not regret. It's 3.5 years old now and still zippy and should do very well for some years to come. You can add more RAM to the 27" iMacs easily, btw.

[jchuzi]

I love my 27" 5K late 2014 iMac. I'd always had Mac Pros - and swore I wouldn't buy something where I couldn't update the various components, but this thing has been a real treat. I couldn't have bought an equivalent 5K screen AND a Mac for the price I paid for this, and I did order it with a 1TB SSD, which I certainly do not regret. It's 3.5 years old now and still zippy and should do very well for some years to come. You can add more RAM to the 27" iMacs easily, btw.

I have the same machine and I couldn't agree more. 

[jcarter]

My kitchen 27 inch is mid 2010, no complaints at all on these 3.
My office 27 is late 2013
My 24 is early 2009

All 3 run just fine, the 24 is slower, but thats OK, as it runs all my old photoshop and Adobe stuff.
And its stuffed to the gills with pictures.

No, I dont need a new one, its all about 'want'.

OH, best idea, my brother needs a new one, as his is about 9 years old. I better learn how to strip all my stuff off it but leave some of the programs he might want.  I could give him the 24, I will take a look at his to see the date of it. He uses his mostly for communication and writing stories.

(Ive someone who wants our 25 year old F-150.)

[Xairbusdriver]

Just got an update notice for Cocktail for macOS 10.13 High Sierra and those always have a "Tips & Tricks" section. Today it was a timely list of things to do when you give away or sell your Mac:

• Sign out of iTunes. Open iTunes. From the menu bar at the top of your computer screen or at the top of the iTunes window, choose Account > Authorizations > Deauthorize This Computer. When prompted, enter your Apple ID and password. Then click Deauthorize. Learn more about deauthorizing your computer using iTunes, including how to deauthorize all the computers you've used with your iTunes account.
• Sign out of iCloud. If you use Find My Mac or other iCloud features on your Mac, you should first archive or make copies of your iCloud data. After that, choose Apple Menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, and then deselect the Find My Mac checkbox. Finally, sign out of iCloud. In System Preferences, click iCloud, and then click the Sign Out button. When you sign out of iCloud, you're asked whether you want to remove iCloud data from your Mac. Your iCloud data will remain on any other devices that are using the same Apple ID.
• Sign out of iMessage. If you're using OS X Mountain Lion or later, sign out of iMessage. In the Messages app, choose Preferences > Accounts. Select your iMessage account, then click Sign Out.
• Erase and reinstall macOS. To reformat your hard drive and reinstall macOS, follow these instructions. After you reformat your hard drive and reinstall macOS, the computer restarts to a Welcome screen and asks you to choose a country or region. If you want to leave the Mac in an out-of-box state, don't continue with the setup of your system. Instead, press Command-Q to shut down the Mac. When the new owner turns on the Mac, the Setup Assistant will guide them through the setup process.

Jon, did Apple include any suggested steps concerning wiping personal data?

Found some more info directly from Apple.

[jcarter]

Thank you!  I was thinking of asking, but you read my mind.

[jchuzi]

Jon, did Apple include any suggested steps concerning wiping personal data?

Not that I remember. After migrating my data, and while the old computer was still in Target Disk Mode, I used Disk Utility (from the new computer, naturally) to wipe the drive by opting to write all zeroes (one pass only).

[jcarter]

Could not do the factory restoring ordeal, as the computer was actually 12 years old and the OS was too old. So I stripped it of all the stuff, and could not go further, to put it back to 'new'.

 So I called Applecare and got an older person, who had done it before for really old machines. I admit we had a good laugh about the process.

And now its ready to donate to the school, or to whoever wants it. It hooks up to net perfectly, email works perfectly, and its OK to do research on, as the browsers are OK. Google works fine.
Just wont run new software.

So I will call my friends and see if it is wanted, and if so, its ready. It looks like a brand new machine! All sparkling and pretty.

Its sad when a machine which runs so well, becomes obsolete. Like our F-150, runs perfectly, not a thing wrong with it, except its getting rusty with our salt air.
Tho I do have a person who restores old trucks, and he wants it.