Swindon Mac, Swindon (2026)

07/08/2025

Making an old iMac faster... 🏃

Here's a quick peek inside a 2017 21in iMac that was beginning to show signs of age, with applications lagging and the dreaded spinning wheel starting to take up almost permanent residence on-screen.

While upgrading a drive on a desktop should be a relatively painless task, we all know that iMacs can be… different. So, after cutting the screen adhesive tape and carefully removing the screen (making sure not to crack it in the process), the insides are revealed.

The main logic board is front and center with the speakers left and right. In the center is the fan that cools the CPU and other parts. The old hard drive sits just below the fan and has been replaced with a 2.5in form factor SSD. This is the bit that transforms the 21in machine's performance. Goodbye horrible, slow, and cheap spinning disk; hello solid-state speed and reliability.

With the screen glued back on, the only clue that the machine has been upgraded is the new speed and usability. While the cost to do this depends on the size of the SSD (up to 2TB is common, but 4TB drives exist), the value in terms of usability is enormous.

If you want your iMac supercharged, drop us a line! 💫

03/08/2025

Don't forget we're here to help with all your Mac needs! 💻

Whether it's friendly advice, broken screens or buying a new computer - we can help!

Just drop us a message or give us a call! 📲

01/08/2025

What to expect from the next macOS 🤔💭

September is just around the corner, which means macOS update season! This year will bring us macOS 26 which will be known colloquially as macOS Tahoe. So what new features are being touted for this update?

The biggest visual news is the adoption of a new interface style that Apple are calling liquid glass. An interesting way to describe more transparency and more curves. This one feature has provoked a LOT of comment online with initial pre release versions looking… terrible.

Apple appears to have dialled back the liquid part of liquid glass but all users should notice the change. Other features will increase interconnection between your Mac and your other devices with better and easier sharing of data and live activities. Screen sharing will also improve. Tahoe promises to push the new Apple Intelligence, which should be worthwhile given AI (see why Apple did there?) is currently pretty stupid compared to other systems.

One “feature” that Tahoe is bringing is an end to compatibility with Intel machines. macOS 26 will only run on Apples own M series chips. This will be another nail in the coffin of Intel machines which will take another tumble in value.

If you are looking to sell your pre 2019 Mac in order to update you might be better off doing it before September.

Are you excited for the new update?

29/07/2025

When is a red, orange, blue or silver iMac also a green iMac? The answer? When you buy a refurbished one! ♻

While Apple likes to promote its green credentials, (and iMacs ARE quite environmentally friendly when compared to other computers), the fact remains that just like cars, buying one that has already been made is the greenest way to upgrade your computing life. Apple themselves estimate that 91% of a devices lifetime carbon impact comes at manufacture so a refurbished Mac represents a huge reduction in carbon compared to buying a new one.

While an Apple silicon iMac or MacBook that is a couple of years old won’t be quite as fast as the newest model, home computers long ago became about as fast as anyone needs for basic (and often not so basic) tasks. A pre owned Mac won’t just help you save the planet, it will save you money as well and the product itself will be visually indistinguishable from a new machine.

Any refurbished Mac supplied by us also comes with the same 12 month warranty that Apple supply, which means you aren’t sacrificing reliability for green impact!

10/06/2025

Padlock, what padlock?🔓

It seems like we have been told since the beginning of the internet that the key to secure online shopping was to “check for the padlock icon”, ie make sure the website you were using was secures using HTTPS rather than plain old insecure HTTP.

So, how come when shopping using any version of Safari (on Mac, iPhone or iPad) the reassuring padlock is now nowhere to be found? Has all online shopping become insecure?

Far from it. It’s a sign of the times, and the now almost 100% use of HTTPS and SSL security. Apple feels that web commerce is now so secure that it’s become more useful to warn shoppers only when the site they are on ISN’T secure. Since Safari v18.4 the new standard is a pop up dialogue warning you that a site is potentially fraudulent.

So, it’s farewell to the green padlock that kept us secure in days gone past and hello to the warning pop up of doom!

Time will tell if this inversion is a positive step (I imagine data on fraudulent website transactions will give the answer), but for now another piece of internet iconography has become history.

05/04/2025

Whichever Mac you buy now it comes with an SSD. Time was this was an option (and sometimes a costly one) but the last Mac to ship with an old style spinning drive as standard was the 2019 iMac. While this means that every Mac since then has benefitted from SSD speed it also means that a chunk of older iMac owners are now looking at updating to a new machine. And a lot of them fall straight into Apple’s SSD trap.

So, what is this trap? Well, it’s all to do with size. The old hard drive in your iMac was almost certainly 1TB (or more). And since you’ve had your Mac a while it’s probably quite full. Unfortunately the standard Ssd size in your lovely new M4 iMac is NOT 1tb. It’s a quarter of this size. That’s 256GB in old money. And just like quarts into a pint pot, TB’s into a GB pot do not go.

Of course you can buy your new iMac with the same 1tb (or more) storage, and you really really should, but it’s not the base option and it costs way more than it should. And that’s the trap. Small SSD, not enough storage OR larger SSD, a lot more money for your machine. Since the SSD on all new Macs is not upgradable after purchase you should really go extra large as your Mac should be lasting you a good few years, which is even more money. Sadly it’s a false economy not to, but take a moment. Read the specs and check how much storage you really need. Then add a bit for safety.

Or, talk to us. We can guide you through the storage maze. A previous generation M3 or even M1 iMac with a properly large SSD could be a lot cheaper than new, but at the very least, don’t end up with a new machine that won’t even hold all your old stuff. When you buy your next Mac, as far as storage is concerned bigger is always better!

01/04/2025

Did you know? 🤔

The TV commercial that launched Apple to the world, named 1984, was directed by Ridley Scott! 🎬

The advertisement focused on a dystopian world and references George Orwell's 1984 novel. It was a great success, with about $3.5 million worth of Macintoshes sold afterwards. It's regarded as one of the greatest commercials of all time!

29/03/2025

Apple Silicon is the way forward ⏩

Way back when in 2006 Apple made some major changes to their computers, ditching their long standing use of Motorola processors for ones made by Intel.

The transition to Intel gave the Mac a new lease of life, boosted speed and as a side benefit allowed users to run Windows natively on their Macs. Now Apple has done the same thing again, thsi time switching from Intel to their own processors based on the ARM processor but knows as “Apple Silicon”. The reason for the change was the same, to boost speed and give the Mac a new lease of life.

All this sounds great, and it is, Apples M series Macs are faster and use a lot less power than the old Intel machines, but just like before this leap leaves people with a choice; what happens to the now dead ended tech.

At Swindon Mac we say any working Mac is a good Mac, however the fact is that support for older Intel machines will be time limited meaning that anyone in the market for a new or refurbished Mac should really consider making the leap to Apple Silicon unless on a strict budget.

As a by product the value of Intel Macs have taken a hit, which means that if you are considering a jump then your old Mac then now might be the time with only the newer Intel Macs retaining much in the way of value.

If you and the whole Intel vs Apple Silicon thing just confusing, give us a call/send us an email/drop us a text and we can give you the jargon free low down on all this.

26/03/2025

A slow iMac made fast again 🏃💨
This iMac was running at way below expected speed. The customer sent it over and the cause was quickly found. The hard drive was full. It’s not immediately obvious why this should slow your Mac down, but it does. macOS really likes around 15% of the hard drive free in order to save and move vital working system data around iwhile you work. On this iMac that would mean a good 75GB free. Less than this and things slow down.
The answer can be to just delete files, but most people are unsure what they can and can’t get rid of or, just need to actually keep their data.
The solution is simple, fit a bigger hard drive. Jump to 2tb gives you plenty of room to expand and keeps your Mac active for longer. The quickest and best value way to add years of life to your old computer. If your Mac seems slow we can probably make it faster for far less than you would think.

08/03/2025

Dust to Dust. Sat quietly on your desk, your Mac is silently ingesting dust and debris. Cooling fans draw in air and a lot of the dust stays around. Eventually things clog up, and overheat. Opening up your Mac to upgrade or replace drives etc is often the first chance your Mac gets for a bit of an internal clean out. We will always give your Mac a thorough clean both inside and out ensuring that new parts have the best possible start in life. 🛁🧽

05/03/2025

It's a far cry from the current Apple prices, but the very first Apple computer sold for $666.66. The Apple I was priced because it was a markup on the whole sale price and they liked the idea of repeating digits... nothing to do with it being the number of the beast... apparently! 😈

02/03/2025

What do we think? 🤔

Apple is a company that takes data security seriously. Because they make money from selling hardware they don’t need to sell your data, and they don’t. Indeed a lot of your data is secure even from Apple themselves courtesy of end-to-end encryption, something the UK government has decided it needs to address.

The government has instructed Apple to create a “back door” to allow them to access even encrypted data. In the world of data security, back doors are often bad news. Not just because they allow authorised people access but because they offer a way in for unauthorised access as well. Apple and the UK government appear to be on a collision course. A collision that could result in Apple withdrawing portions of its iCloud services from the UK rather than doing what the government wants. That or simply remove the encryption option form UK iCloud accounts. Either way it’s not a great option for UK users with iCloud a central perk of mac ownership, removing large chunks of it, or leaving customer data open to snoopers would be a powerful gift to other platforms (looking at YOU Android). So far Apple and the UK are simply staring at each other down the dusty main street but trigger fingers are twitching and we await to see who calls “draw!” first. Either way UK Apples users could be caught in the crossfire.

Swindon Mac

07/08/2025

03/08/2025

01/08/2025

29/07/2025

10/06/2025

05/04/2025

01/04/2025

29/03/2025

26/03/2025

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02/03/2025

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