PowerPC Macs won’t let you install OS X to a USB drive or choose it as your startup volume, although there is a work around for that. PowerPC Macs running any version of the Mac OS prior to 10.4.2 cannot mount GPT volumes. Both PowerPC and Intel Macs can boot from APM (Apple’s old partitioning scheme) hard drives, which is the format you must use to create a universal boot drive in Leopard. Only Macintel models can boot from GPT hard drives. Intel-based Macs use a partitioning scheme known as GPT. If a second high-powered device is attached, it will behave like a normal bus-powered hub and only provide 100 mA per downstream port. Unlike earlier iMacs, where every USB port could provide 500 mA of power, only a single high-powered device can be attached to the USB ports, and software will enable one of its downstream ports to supply 500 mA of power. Upgrades as high as 2.8 GHz are possible (see CPU Upgrade Options for Mid 2007 iMacs). The CPU is in Socket P and uses an 800 MHz FSB (front side bus). More RAM always makes OS X run more smoothly. OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and 10.9 Mavericks really call for 4 GB, and 10.10 Yosemite and 10.11 El Capitan want the 6 GB maximum that Mid 2007 iMacs support – even though Apple says Yosemite will run with 2 GB. For OS X 10.7 Lion, 2 GB is a starting point and 4 GB will make you happier. While 1 GB of system memory is plenty to run OS X 10.4 Tiger comfortably, it is just adequate for OS X 10.5 Leopard and truly inadequate for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, which isn’t happy with less than 2 GB. See our macOS Sierra page for more details and a link. Even then, WiFi is not supported on this device.
There are also many complaints about reflections due to the glossy display.Īlthough it is not officially supported, the Mid 2007 iMac can run macOS Sierra using Colin Mistr’s Sierra Patch Tool if you replace its Merom CPU with a Penryn CPU. Gaming benchmarks measure GeForce frame rates as anywhere from 20% to nearly 200% higher. In some respects, the Radeon 2600 Pro graphics processor is a step down from the Nvidia GeForce 7300GT and 7600GT in last year’s 24″ iMac. This is the oldest iMac that supports OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and later (versions since OS X 10.9 Mavericks are free, and OS X 10.11 El Capitan is the last supported version).
The new iMac ships with Mac OS X 10.4.10 Tiger and iLife ’08. The 24″ iMac ships with 1 GB of RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, an 8x SuperDrive, Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics, AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, and Apple’s new keyboard and Mighty Mouse.
It has three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and 800 ports, gigabit ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, and an upgraded SuperDrive – as well as a brand new slim keyboard with USB 2.0 ports. The base 24″ iMac uses a Core 2 Duo CPU (a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Extreme CPU is available as a build-to-order option) with the same Santa Rosa chipset, Merom CPU, and 800 MHz bus found in the Mid 2007 MacBook Pro models. The new aluminum iMac is thinner than the old one.