Hello I have a Late 2013 with a 1TB Fusion HDD in it. I am wondering if there is a way to convert this to a Flash Storage or SSD after the fact? I notice OWC sells things to convert but I am wondering if it works with the fusion drive?? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Upgrading my iMac's HDD Question
- Thread starter demariners
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It can be replaced, however it seems it is not an easy task. Were you planning on performing the operation by yourself or pay someone to do it?
I have a similar Mac with a regular HDD and after unsuccessful iPad repair adventures I don't think I would be able to perform this kind of task without damaging other components.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2639+Hard+Drive+Replacement/19643
I have a similar Mac with a regular HDD and after unsuccessful iPad repair adventures I don't think I would be able to perform this kind of task without damaging other components.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2639+Hard+Drive+Replacement/19643
I will be doing it myself. I am not too worried. I have replaced HDs on iMacs before. Just not the new one. I am more concerned that a SSD will work this this setup and not require any special adapters or does the fusion use the same SATA plug?
There are no upgrades for the late-2013 Haswell models, as no one makes PCIe blade SSDs for Macs.
OWC and Transcend only makes them for the mSATA blades in 2012 Ivy Bridge Macs.
Well the options from the factory include a "Flash Storage" drive. Do they sell those outright that I can install?
I have the fusion and it seems to be OK but I have noticed a significant performance increase in my MacBook with flash. I am hoping to accomplish the same in my iMac.
I have the fusion and it seems to be OK but I have noticed a significant performance increase in my MacBook with flash. I am hoping to accomplish the same in my iMac.
No, they don't sell them outright.
There are no upgrades for the late-2013 and later Macs. Period. It's because nobody makes PCIe blade SSDs for them.
Thanks for you help cause I was going tp just buy an SSD cause someone told me it would work.
So when and if they every come available what should I look for? A PCI-E based SSD?
So when and if they every come available what should I look for? A PCI-E based SSD?
Yes, an Apple PCIe blade. Not just any PCIe blade that is sold elsewhere. Apple's PCIe blades are not of the NGFF M.2 form factor. It's a proprietary form factor.
I guess my question is what are you looking to do? replace the mechanical drive or the PCIe SSD?
Because you have two drives a 3.5" HDD and a 128GB SSD PCIe Flash based on the logic board.
you can take out the 3.5" HDD and put in a 2.5" SSD.
Because you have two drives a 3.5" HDD and a 128GB SSD PCIe Flash based on the logic board.
you can take out the 3.5" HDD and put in a 2.5" SSD.
I think you answered my question. SO there is 2 drives inside then. Can I remove both of them and do a SSD on the 3.5 SATA?
I am curious if I am even going to notice an increase in speed if I do this. Mainly on my bootcamp I notice it is a little slower and I think that is because it used the other drive (3.5 SATA).
So I am thinking maybe I can remove both drives and just do the 2.5 SSD upgrade? Or must I keep the PCI-E SSD in the unit? I guess it has 100 GB or so but I probably would not end up using it if I got a large SSD.
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I guess I assumed it was one large drive like the Seagate Hybrid drive? How are those different?
I am curious if I am even going to notice an increase in speed if I do this. Mainly on my bootcamp I notice it is a little slower and I think that is because it used the other drive (3.5 SATA).
So I am thinking maybe I can remove both drives and just do the 2.5 SSD upgrade? Or must I keep the PCI-E SSD in the unit? I guess it has 100 GB or so but I probably would not end up using it if I got a large SSD.
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I guess I assumed it was one large drive like the Seagate Hybrid drive? How are those different?
A "fusion" drive is actually TWO drives:
- internal SSD (in your case, a 128gb SSD)
- internal HDD (in your case, a 1tb HDD)
What "fusion" actually -is-, is software that "merges" these two separate drives into one "logical volume".
If you replace the 1tb HDD with a 256gb SSD, yes, you will get more speed, but you'll also lose about 1/2 of your total storage space.
Is this what you really want?
- internal SSD (in your case, a 128gb SSD)
- internal HDD (in your case, a 1tb HDD)
What "fusion" actually -is-, is software that "merges" these two separate drives into one "logical volume".
If you replace the 1tb HDD with a 256gb SSD, yes, you will get more speed, but you'll also lose about 1/2 of your total storage space.
Is this what you really want?
@demariners -
You didn't say if you have a 27-inch, or a 21.5-inch iMac.
That will make a big difference with what you can do.
Both have PCIe flash storage space.
The 27-inch would have a 3.5-inch HHD, but the 21.5-inch has only space for 2.5-inch. You can't swap out the 2.5 for a 3.5 drive. That's why the 27-inch has an option for 3TB fusion, but the 21.5-inch is limited to 1TB Fusion (there's no 3TB 2.5-inch drives - yet )
You didn't say if you have a 27-inch, or a 21.5-inch iMac.
That will make a big difference with what you can do.
Both have PCIe flash storage space.
The 27-inch would have a 3.5-inch HHD, but the 21.5-inch has only space for 2.5-inch. You can't swap out the 2.5 for a 3.5 drive. That's why the 27-inch has an option for 3TB fusion, but the 21.5-inch is limited to 1TB Fusion (there's no 3TB 2.5-inch drives - yet )
Ok so I have a 27". Does that mean the drive inside is a 3.5 or a 2.5?
Also now my big concern is that I have bootcamp on my system with windows so how could I clone the setup to a new SSD?
Also now my big concern is that I have bootcamp on my system with windows so how could I clone the setup to a new SSD?
if you're going to swap out the HDD with an SSD I'd go with a 512GB or 1TB SSD from Samsung.
that way you have internal capacity and you can utilize the 128GB as whatever you want, i.e. a bootable OS to restore from or small storage etc.
I wouldn't go through the hassle of removing the logic board to get that PCIe flash drive out of there.
take off the screen unscrew the HDD and swap in the SSD, it will fit with the provided cables in the iMac.
might want to get some 3M doublsided adhesive to secure the ssd if the screws don't fit or work.
Yes, 3.5-inch hard drive.
The Boot Camp partition does not use the SSD at all, and is entirely on the hard drive. You'll need some Windows boot drive cloning app, like WinClone, for the Boot Camp partition.
Here's an article that is fairly clear about what you need to do to transfer your OS X system to a different drive, and also clone the Windows partition, and then finally get that Boot Camp partition back where you can use it.
http://johnbeales.com/2011/transferring-osx-bootcamp-to-new-hard-drive/
The Boot Camp partition does not use the SSD at all, and is entirely on the hard drive. You'll need some Windows boot drive cloning app, like WinClone, for the Boot Camp partition.
Here's an article that is fairly clear about what you need to do to transfer your OS X system to a different drive, and also clone the Windows partition, and then finally get that Boot Camp partition back where you can use it.
http://johnbeales.com/2011/transferring-osx-bootcamp-to-new-hard-drive/