MacOS Monterey Update Crashed iMac

[rameier]

I’m not sure if ‘crashed’ is the right word, but basically I updated to Monterey & immediately my computer started acting bizarre. Shutting down randomly, mouse & keyboard randomly disconnecting, raw files speed flashing light to dark gray with no picture thumbnail, programs quitting unexpectedly… If that wasn’t frustrating enough, now I cannot get it to turn on. It remains on the Apple logo screen & ‘loads’ to about half way & freezes.

I have a Mac desktop running macOS Monterey and Photoshop 2021. It is over 4 years old, and has 8GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 180GB free out of 1000GB. The last time I shut down was today. The last time I ran a clean up program was last night.

I know I need a new computer, I do, but is there any advice for salvaging this one or am I SOL?

[rameier]

You can cancel this question. I’ve decided it’s a necessity to bite the bullet & upgrade to a new computer pretty sure. 

[Brian]

I'm going to answer your question anyway, so that others who come across this thread can learn.

 

15 hours ago, rameier said:

8GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 180GB free out of 1000GB

THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING TO HAVE and probably the source of your woes.

I wish you would have asked me if it was OK for you to upgrade. Honestly? You aren't the only one. Monterey has been bricking some Mac Laptops and Apple just released some sort of patch. I've also seen reports of other weird things with Monterey and I would avoid upgrading, even though Apple is bugging you to upgrade. If you have an older Mac, like one before 2017, it's probably not a good idea to upgrade to Monterey, as you have found out the hard way. Believe it or not, you could have upgraded to Catalina, but with the way your situation is, lack of RAM and Storage, you'd probably be in the same situation.

You can't go back to a previous OS at this point. In order to accomplish this, you are formatting your internal Macintosh HD, formatting your Time Machine Drive, creating a Bootable Thumb-drive with a OS like Catalina...it's going to be a real huge pain in the ass. In a nutshell, you are nuking everything and starting all over. Same thing as you would with buying a new Mac.

If your Mac was a 2017 model, then I'd be more prone to you trying to fix things. If it's any older than that, it's time for a new iMac.

Quick & Dirty iMac Configurations

[rameier]

Yeah I kicking myself hard for not asking about the upgrade.

I went into buy the best 27” iMac I could & the store didn’t have them in stock, but recommended waiting for the new M1 release. They had the cheapest 27” in stock, but I passed for now.

They wiped my computer clean & once I get home today hope to reinstall Monterey & then restore from Time Machine. Would love to just restore bare minimum from Time Machine, not sure if I’ll be able to figure that out or if I’ll be sending emails tomorrow begging for mercy from clients while I find some sort of fix or new Mac somewhere else.

Also debating purchasing a refurbished 27” to get me through the year, but so far have only found 2013/2014 models nearby. Would you recommend staying clear of that route?  

[Brian]

I just answered this question today on FB AD. Here are my thoughts…

OK, Apple is eventually going to replace all of their computers with the new M1 or M1x CPU Chip. Macs with Intel are on their way out. That said, there is still life in a Intel-based Mac. In fact, I'm typing this comment on a 2017 iMac. 🙂 

The main issue with the new M1 Macs, is that there is NO UPGRADING ANYTHING, AND I MEAN ANYTHING, AFTER THE FACT!!! The reason is, the RAM, CPU, Storage, and Video is all built into ONE big chip. So if you are looking to buy a iMac now, wait a few months to upgrade the RAM, etc. then an Intel iMac is in your future. 

Also, software and applications need to be encoded so that they will run natively on a M1 Mac. Photoshop CC 2021 & Photoshop CC 2022 work with the M1 chips, I believe the very latest versions of LR and Bridge also have native support. If you are an Elements user, chances are you are buying / upgrading to the very latest version.  

Not all software works with M1 chips, especially software like plug-ins at least as of this point. So there is that; even though your M1 iMac will have the newest technology, you are going to be in the "Early Adopter" Group and the hassles that comes with it. 

Now back to the hardware. Like I said above, there is no upgrading after the fact. So you are forced to pay Apple's Over-Priced Hardware upgrades, in which you are getting at least 32GB of RAM (64GB if you can swing it) 1TB for Storage Capacity, Upgrading the CPU Cores so that the GPU portion is more robust (Photoshop uses the GPU for certain components to work in addition to a performance boost.) Basically, in my humble option, you are selecting ALL the upgrades at the highest price-point to get your new M1 iMac to last 7-8 years. 

So what would I do? Like I said, the Intel-based iMacs still have some life in them and are proven technology that is matured. Here are some configurations worth considering, and if it were me and I needed a new iMac today, I'd get the Intel one. My next Mac in a few years will be a M1 or I'm sure it will be a M2 chip at that point and then all the software will be optimized to work, etc.  

https://ask.damiensymonds.net/topic/35515-quick-and-dirty-desktop-imac-configurations/

My iMac is the Middle Configuration in that article. I have 64GB of RAM that I upgraded myself for less than $200. If that was Apple RAM, that upgrade for the same damn chips would be closer to $1000. Like I said, over-priced.

[Brian]

I would also head to Apple’s website and buy/configure your iMac there. Store-bought iMacs almost never have the good components to make them last.