What to do...

[ozydave]

I have 80 2013 iMacs. 8gb ram, 1TB hard drive.

Linux Mint goes on easy and runs really well.

Any suggestions on what to do with them.

[TheHyperTechie]

Chrome OS Flex would keep them running for a while.

[dhicks]

13 minutes ago, HyperTech said:

Chrome OS Flex would keep them running for a while.

 

I'm currently using a 2015 model iMac running ChromeOS as my main office machine, and we have a few more of them around the school. They mostly work well, although the built-in wireless hardware seems to no longer be supported by ChromeOS, so they need a wired connection. Not a problem in our case, but might be an issue for some schools / home users. I think someone's tried an external USB wireless dongle with no luck as well. They are, of course, older devices, so it might be a good idea to think of them as, say, 60 iMacs with 20 sets of swap-in spare parts.

[3s-gtech]

You could use https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/ though you have to go in with your eyes open and appreciate that it can be a bit of work. Many aren't happy to run it in production (I do).

[Gongalong]

6 hours ago, 3s-gtech said:

You could use https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/ though you have to go in with your eyes open and appreciate that it can be a bit of work. Many aren't happy to run it in production (I do).

Out of interest, how much work is involved? We've got 16x 2017 Intel iMacs that are about to go end of support life, and although we won't use them in-school, we've also got the same dilemma as the OP of what to do with them.

[3s-gtech]

Manual install of OCLP on each. Install the UEFI bootloader. Reboot from the UEFI option. Install the unsupported MacOS version you'd like to run. Once finished, OCLP will pop up - you'll need to install the legacy patches if applicable.

 

You need to patch every time there's an OS update.

 

I've not had any luck with installing an unsupported version directly from USB as a clean install - every one has needed an upgrade from an existing supported OS otherwise the process just hangs.

 

On the plus side, I have 34 unsupported Mac Minis that would be landfill, that are doing a sterling job and running well on MacOS 15. If they die, I can get replacements for buttons. Hoping to get two more years out of them.

[mavhc]

Ubuntu can join an AD domain, and have a few settings controlled by GPO, although they really want you to buy Ubuntu Pro