iMac

John bought an iMac in 2011 and lately it's starting to flicker, with half of the screen darker. He called Apple and they suggested clearing the PRAM. Leo says that's one of the magical 'voodoo' techniques in case something got corrupted like a driver or something. Then they had him do a factory reset. But it still is happening. John also heard that the video card may be going out. But more likely, Leo says that the backlit LED screen simply stopped working, and that can happen over time with an LCD. One way to test if it's the video card is to connect an external monitor to it.

Paul is looking to get an iMac or Mac Mini and run Windows on it. Leo says that it really is the best Windows computer out there, so that's a good idea. Paul is wondering when the new models be coming out and can a Mac Mini do it? Leo says that the new iMacs just came out and the Mac Minis were upgraded recently as well, right in the middle of the development schedule. So now's a good time to pull the trigger.

Robert is frustrated that his iMac doesn't have enough RAM. 32GB is just not enough for editing 4K video. Leo says that it could be a hardware limitation. The most he can install is 4 to 8 GB sticks. He could invest in the Mac Pro instead, but Leo thinks its terrible. What is Apple up to? Leo says nobody knows. The iMac is faster, better and more reliable than the Mac Pro according to Leo. Will Apple change their tune? No. They want him to buy a Mac Pro if he wants that much RAM. So they have no reason to improve the RAM capacity in the iMac.

Mark sees that the iMacs shown on Apple's site are only with i5 processors. Why can't he get an i7? Leo says that he can, but only with the top of the line Retina 4K models. So it'll cost him a few hundred more for that option. While there, he should get more RAM in it as well.

Phil has an iMac that he plans to take with him into a barn where there's lots of dirt and dust. How can he keep the grille from clogging up with dust? Leo recommends using panty hose. It's extremely fine for filtering out most of the dust and dirt that Phil encounters. He may need duct tape to keep on, but it'll work because Leo has done it.

Martin wants to put a solid state drive in his 27" iMac. Leo says that adding an SSD is a great thing to do, but it's not easy with an iMac. Leo had his engineers do it, because he needed a special suction cup to lift the glass screen off to take out the hard drive and replace it. It's doable, but it's not for the faint of heart. Leo recommends going to iFixIt.com and he can find a special step by step, along with the parts and tools required.

Sam is looking to get a new computer. He uses Windows at work, but a Mac at home. Leo says he has the 5K iMac and it's the best computer he's ever owned, and there may be a new one in the next few months. It supports multiple monitors too. So if he can swing the price, that's what Leo would choose.

Todd just got a new iMac, and he says it takes a full minute to start up. Leo says that since he now has 8GB of RAM, it takes longer for the computer to test that RAM on startup. 1 minute is not an awful amount of time for a computer to boot up, and if he wants a faster start up time, he'd have to get a solid state drive.

Cameron wants to know if the 5K iMac needs more RAM than what it comes with. Leo says that the 5K iMac is incredible and has amazing performance. Leo says that there is a port on back to add memory, but it'll be a lot easier to add it when buying it. Leo suggests getting as much memory as you can afford. For most people, 8GB is fine. But if you're into video editing or photo editing, or you just keep a lot of tabs open in the browser, then doubling or even quadrupling that is a good idea. So get what you can afford.

Bob says he's noticed that Leo has been getting more calls from people having problems with Apple than ever before. It used to be that everyone called about Windows. Leo says no technology "just works," and they all have problems. Leo uses Macs though, and he thinks that people call him because he's more Mac friendly than his competitors might be. Macs tend to be more virus free, but that could just be the fact that virus makers use Windows more. Apple's desktop computers are still not the dominant platform, though.