What to upgrade? Imac vs Interface

fnpt

So I've stupidly bought a late 2015 21,5" iMac which is not upgradable. the specs are:

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)

Processor 3,1 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5

Memory 8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3

1 TB disk 5,400 rpm

It's slow and frustrating to work on either photo editing or in garage band.

I'm also having a latency problem when playing with S-Gear even in the lowest buffer settings but I'm not sure if it's the interface causing it also (I'm connected to the PC via an iRig HD) as I had the same latency problem when connecting it to my iphone.

So, what are my options? Would getting a new interface lower my latency issue or have no impact as it's caused by a slow iMac? Would it be a better bet to resort to a external SSD disk?

octatonic

Can you not throw more RAM in it?

fnpt

Nope, it's soldered in.

Wazmeister

It's interesting as Ive never really known my iMacs slow down...

Be good to check your Photos, and especially to delete the 'deleted' photos in iPhoto.

Also check your storage (and hence what uses your storage in 'About My Mac'.

Adding more RAM will certainly help, and is easy to do. Not sure if 21" can be upgraded though... you'll have to check.

Buy from Crucial Memory.

octatonic

OK, yeah RAM in that model is not upgradeable.
Bugger.

Start with a backup format and reinstall of the operating system.

fnpt

Wazmeister said:

It's interesting as Ive never really known my iMacs slow down...

Be good to check your Photos, and especially to delete the 'deleted' photos in iPhoto.

Also check your storage (and hence what uses your storage in 'About My Mac'.

Adding more RAM will certainly help, and is easy to do. Not sure if 21" can be upgraded though... you'll have to check.

Buy from Crucial Memory.

I've cleaned up the iMac: photos, unused docs, etc. My storage capacity is now at approximately 50%. I cannot ad more RAM as late 2015 21,5" iMacs are not upgradable - everything is soldered into the pc.

Wazmeister

You got me thinking....

I've just cleaned up my 2013 Macbook Pro...

Released over 36GB via storage in about my Mac

octatonic

fnpt said:

Wazmeister said:

It's interesting as Ive never really known my iMacs slow down...

Be good to check your Photos, and especially to delete the 'deleted' photos in iPhoto.

Also check your storage (and hence what uses your storage in 'About My Mac'.

Adding more RAM will certainly help, and is easy to do. Not sure if 21" can be upgraded though... you'll have to check.

Buy from Crucial Memory.

I've cleaned up the iMac: photos, unused docs, etc. My storage capacity is now at approximately 50%. I cannot ad more RAM as late 2015 21,5" iMacs are not upgradable - everything is soldered into the pc.

A completely fresh copy of the operating system will give you the best performance possible.
Don't install over the top, don't use migration or any restore because you'll just replace any issues you currently have.
Drag copy the data from your backup and reinstall all applications.

If that doesn't work then sell it- but I think it will be acceptable for most people.
The biggest issue is going to be the hard drive.
Do you have thunderbolt?
Adding an external SSD for audio data will help.

fnpt

That’s what I’m considering. An external sdd disk via thunderbolt as the boot.

fnpt

Added a Samsung T5 external ssd disk. Night and day in booting times and opening apps. Didn't help much in terms of latency but I'll settle for the 6,5 ms for now.

Cookiemonster

I use a similar spec and it's fine for latency,  I do need to get a external drive.

I use a presonus interface and I am not having any issues, though the  programmes do seem slow to start up

spark240

I never worry about latency ?....I listen to the input signal ....what’s the problem with that ?

Danny1969

That iMac isn't slow, either the loads screwed or the internal harddrive has issues though.

I would reload it first. Simply turn on and hold CMD-Alt and R to start internet recovery and then use disc utility to verify the disk. Then make a new partition and reload OSX. 
Then I bet it will be fine. 

My own music  iMac is 2007 with 4Gb ram and internal 320Gb disc and it's fine for music

fnpt

But that would mean losing all information stored in the Mac right?

Danny1969

Well you back up your photo's and docs first obviously.

Your be amazed what a difference a clean load makes .. far more of a difference than adding another 8Gb of ram. I have a test load of OSX on a USB drive  I use to prove to customers it;s not the machine...  it's the load.

Oh and if you do reload it stay away from Catalina for the moment, use High Sierra or Mojave

fnpt

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

fnpt

spark240 said:

I never worry about latency ?....I listen to the input signal ....what’s the problem with that ?

If you're recording with direct monitoring it's fine, but I use S-Gear for general playing as well and the latency is noticeable.