Please Help! Imac late 2012, 21.5 inch display, 8 GB Ram, i5 2.7 ghz

[cme1nce]

So I ran into this ad selling a mac computer 2012 21.5" display i5 2.7 ghz for $300 it looks pretty good cosmetically like there's little to no dings or scratches on it. I would like to know what to look out for when I meet them how can I check if the passwords are removed how do I know everything is good?

Is it a good price?

 

[honestone]

Here are the results of two google searches of "Price for 2012 21.5" iMac i5 2.7 ghz:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Privce+for+2012+21.5"+display+i5+2.7+ghz&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS628US629&oq=Privce+for+2012+21.5"+display+i5+2.7+ghz&aqs=chrome..69i57.3686j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=2012+21.5"+iMac+i5+2.7+ghz&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS628US629&oq=2012+21.5"+iMac+i5+2.7+ghz&aqs=chrome..69i57.8388j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

$300 seems like a real good price. Also, that iMac can run Apple's latest OS, High Sierra, OS 10.13.6.

As far as checking things out, when the machine boots up, if it asks for a password, that means their old password is still "active". If it boots up and starts asking for setup information, then there should be no old passwords on the machine. That also means there is an OS on the machine. It would be best if you find out what that is.

Did the ad say how much memory it has? Also, does it still have the original internal disk drive that came with the machine?

If this is the machine:

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-i5-2.7-21-inch-aluminum-late-2012-specs.html

then it has 8 gig of Ram (that's good), and a 1 TB 5400 RPM internal drive (somewhat slow, but it gets the job done).

Finally, is the seller including any third party (ie, non-Apple) software?

If there is an OS on the machine, and you want to check out the internal drive, when the machine starts up, hold down the Command Key (should be to the left (and right) of the space bar) and R key at the same time. This will boot to the (hidden) Recovery HD partition, described here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

Select Disk Utility from the screen/menu that appears, and then select the internal drive, and select First Aid. That will verify (and if needed, repair) the internal drive. It will also tell you if there are any issues with the drive.

 

[cme1nce]

Thank you Honestone . It has 8gb and 1Tb hdd. I will try to perform all the test you recommended. It was a company that has 10 machines and selling because upgrading to HP machines. So I think it wouldn't be a fraud. Do you think I should get 2 machines. One to keep and one to sell lol

 

[honestone]

Thank you Honestone . It has 8gb and 1Tb hdd. I will try to perform all the test you recommended. It was a company that has 10 machines and selling because upgrading to HP machines. So I think it wouldn't be a fraud. Do you think I should get 2 machines. One to keep and one to sell lol

Hmm, two machines. Interesting thought. Maybe you could offer $500 for 2 of them. Then, for one of them, get it ready as soon as possible, and sell it for between $400 and $500. To get one of them ready for sale will not take too much effort.

 

[cme1nce]

Sounds good thank you so much .last question how can I check if it has firmware password?

 

[honestone]

I actually never "heard/bothered with" a firmware password, and I have owned Macs for a number of years. But, it looks like they "exist". Here are the results of a google search of "firmware password on Macs":

https://www.google.com/search?q=fir...rome..69i57.8206j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I have actually never set one, but it could be useful.