What to do with an previous Mac: 6 methods to place an previous pc to make use of

There are many issues you are able to do with an previous Mac. Nobody will fault you for upgrading to Apple’s newest and best, however your previous Mac can nonetheless discover a job to do, too.

It was once that when your previous iMac kicked the can, you hollowed it out and made an aquarium or a desk lamp. Today, Macs have a for much longer shelf life. The proper mannequin may give you years upon years of loyal service. (To not point out, fashionable Macs are too skinny to deal with a fish.)

Listed below are the six finest issues you are able to do with an previous Mac. Watch our newest video or hold studying under.

What to do with previous Macs

Macs are famend for his or her lengthy shelf life. Apple makes use of high-quality supplies and components inside and outside. The sturdy aluminum unibody can take a beating, and the chips inside will hold ticking for years. Should you’ve acquired a Mac with good specs, it might far outlive what chances are you’ll assume.

The most important threat is wanting to purchase a brand new one earlier than the previous one is solely useless — the brand new MacBook Execs are slick machines. You’ll be able to justify it should you give your previous Mac a brand new job for its retirement. Or, should you’re not the sort to ever resell or commerce in previous machines, you may give your previous ones a brand new lease on life.

Listed below are six issues you possibly can take into account.

Desk of Contents:

1. Run previous video games and software program
2. Stream films and reveals utilizing Plex
3. Flip an previous iMac right into a secondary show
4. Use your previous Mac as a house server for Time Machine and printers
5. Improve it to newer variations of macOS
6. Set up a lighter OS like Linux in your previous Mac

1. Run previous video games and software program

In contrast to Home windows, which holds onto backward-compatibility virtually to its detriment, the Mac sometimes drops assist for previous software program within the curiosity of holding the system fashionable. Again in 2019, macOS 10.15 Catalina dropped assist for 32-bit purposes, killing loads of legacy software program.

However should you hold an previous Intel Mac on macOS Mojave — the discharge simply earlier than Catalina — you possibly can hold utilizing the previous apps and video games your new Mac received’t run. Personally, I plan on rolling again my 2015 MacBook Professional so I can play American Truck Simulator.

Should you’ve already up to date to Catalina or past, don’t fear — you possibly can nonetheless reinstall Mojave on a separate partition. (Comply with the directions laid out right here should you don’t know partition a drive.) Then, obtain the Mojave installer and put the previous model of macOS on the brand new partition.

To change between the 2, simply reboot your Mac and maintain down the Choice key.

2. Stream films and reveals utilizing Plex

Plex permits you to roll your personal do-it-yourself streaming service for reveals and films you’ve (positively legally) downloaded. Plex works finest put in on a pc that’s completely parked subsequent to your web router 24/7, for probably the most dependable and secure connection. In case your principal pc is a laptop computer you carry round commonly, you’ll need to set up it on a separate machine — a trigger worthy of bringing an previous Mac out of retirement.

First, set up Plex Media Server in your previous Mac. Then, hook it as much as your community (over Ethernet should you can). After a little bit of setup, you possibly can watch downloaded films and reveals in your library from anyplace. You’ll be able to set up the Plex app on Apple TV, Roku, iPhone and iPad, Google TV, PlayStation, Xbox, Hearth TV, ChromeCast and extra.

A lifetime Plex move sounds dear at first at $119.99, however for my part, it’s completely price it. A Plex move for all times is cheaper than a 12 months of any main streaming service.

(And should you’re hitting up dodgy torrenting websites, one other aspect benefit is that you simply aren’t placing your principal machine in danger.)

3. Flip an previous iMac right into a secondary show

An iMac’s massive, lovely show can far outlast the helpful lifetime of the pc inside. After you purchase a brand new Mac, you don’t must abandon your entire previous iMac.

If you wish to reuse a more moderen Retina iMac, you should use Luna Show by Astropad. You purchase Luna’s dongle and adapter and obtain the Luna Show app. Abruptly, your previous pc has a brand new lease on life as a 27-inch show.

You may even take into account shopping for a 5K iMac for this precise objective. In spite of everything, it’s the identical panel that goes inside the Studio Show, and they are often purchased second-hand for less expensive than Apple’s “inexpensive” monitor.

Apple used to assist this out-of-the-box with Goal Show Mode. To make use of that, your principal Mac should be earlier than 2020 operating macOS Catalina or earlier, and the donor iMac needs to be the suitable mannequin from 2009 – 2014 operating macOS Excessive Sierra or earlier. However in case you have the suitable mixture, this may work without spending a dime.

4. Use your previous Mac as a house server for Time Machine and printers

Your previous Mac may have the ability to deal with different primary server capabilities at residence. You should use it to host Time Machine backups or share a printer over your native community.

With Time Machine, the entire Macs in your own home can again up silently and mechanically within the background. You don’t have to fret about remembering to do it your self. And utilizing an previous Mac because the vacation spot, not one of the Macs which can be in use daily shall be slowed down because the host of everybody’s backups. You’ll be able to observe Apple’s directions right here to show it on in System Preferences > Sharing.

If in case you have an previous and dependable, trusty however dusty printer in your own home, maintain onto it so long as you possibly can. Printers as of late are sort of a large number. You should use your Mac server to make it a wi-fi printer, so you will have all of the comfort of a more moderen mannequin. Allow this from the identical Sharing pane in System Preferences.

When you’re at it, you’ll possible need to allow display screen sharing. This manner, you possibly can examine in on the Mac to ensure every little thing’s operating easily with out bodily digging it out.

5. Improve it to newer variations of macOS

Apple may not let you replace your previous Mac to the newest model of macOS, however there’s a workaround. Utilizing OpenCore Legacy Patcher, you might be able to replace your Intel Mac past the prescribed restrict.

This will considerably prolong the helpful lifetime of a Mac should you want one of many newer options. You’ll be able to even set up macOS Sonoma on a 2007 iMac.

Granted, this comes at a value. Your Mac will run way more slowly the additional you push its limits. However should you don’t rely on it for each day net searching or work, it may not matter a lot to you.

6. Set up a lighter OS like Linux in your previous Mac

You may as well go within the different path should you so select. You may as well give your previous Mac a brand new lease on life by putting in a unique working system, like Linux.

Nonetheless, this does include some trade-offs. Your Mac will run a lot quicker, however Linux loses loads of the perfect options that make it a Mac. You don’t have iCloud or iMessage, Safari, FaceTime or any of Apple’s different apps. You’ll be able to nonetheless browse the online, however should you rely on some desktop apps to get work accomplished, make sure that they run on Linux first.

Ubuntu, probably the most in style distributions of Linux, is fairly straightforward to stand up and operating. Simply partition your Mac’s onerous drive utilizing Disk Utility, obtain the Ubuntu installer, put it on the recent disk, and reboot your Mac into it by holding down the Choice key.

This solely actually works on Intel Macs. There’s an open-source mission that’s working towards porting Linux to Apple silicon, however that’s nonetheless a great distance away from being straightforward and dependable. It may be accomplished on a good older PowerPC Mac, however there are some snags to be careful for there, too.

Extra suggestions and methods

If in case you have the same stack of previous iPhones you’re unsure what to do with, I’ve one other article that may assist put these to work, too.

We initially printed this text on what to do with an previous Mac on March 2, 2024. We up to date it with the newest info on August 1, 2025.