27 inch iMac 2019 Fusion Drive upgrade

[quadrifoglio]

Hello everyone,

I have 2 TB of Fusion Drive, it worked well but I want to upgrade it now.

First I wanted to change only the mechanical drive for a SATA SSD, create FD again and continue as before, but then I found out that FD will need the HDD to work properly, so this goes out of the equation.

Second option was to upgrade the M2 SSD to 2TB, they are cheap these days, however then I learned that it is not a normal M2 SSD but a proprietary Blade SSD, which needs to be present for all the updates and whatever, so this goes out of the window as well.

Then I started thinking about the option one again, but this time not to keep the FD but to have 120GB Blade for the system, and 2TB SATA SSD, however my system is around 180GB so this will not be enough.
I could totally forget about the Blade and use only the SATA SSD, however it is much slower and 120GB is not that small to simply forget about it.

So the question: Is it possible to keep only the system on the Blade SSD, maybe all my installs and apps to keep it around100GB, but then to move the rest somehow to the SATA SSD? Symbolic link? Any other way?

 

[Imac Sam]

You stated "Second option was to upgrade the M2 SSD to 2TB, they are cheap these days, however then I learned that it is not a normal M2 SSD but a proprietary Blade SSD, which needs to be present for all the updates and whatever, so this goes out of the window as well."

I did not find that the case with upgrade of my SSD on my 2019 imac. I upgraded to a 1tb SSD and kept the HD as an internal as storage for non-system files. I have been able to upgrade to multiple versions of Ventura. SO I say go for it. I used the OWC Upgrade kit to do mine. https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DAPT4MA10K/

 

[quadrifoglio]

You stated "Second option was to upgrade the M2 SSD to 2TB, they are cheap these days, however then I learned that it is not a normal M2 SSD but a proprietary Blade SSD, which needs to be present for all the updates and whatever, so this goes out of the window as well."

I did not find that the case with upgrade of my SSD on my 2019 imac. I upgraded to a 1tb SSD and kept the HD as an internal as storage for non-system files. I have been able to upgrade to multiple versions of Ventura. SO I say go for it. I used the OWC Upgrade kit to do mine. https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DAPT4MA10K/

Thanks. I read on many places that OWC usually works, however some users complained about it as well.

 

[ignatius345]

This thread ought to help -- addresses exactly what you're trying to do.

A list of successful iMac 27" (2012-2019) SSD upgrades

Here you can find and discuss all the collected knowledge regarding upgrading the HDD, blade SSD and CPU of a 27" iMac 2012-2019, as well as a list of performed upgrades. Here is a list of all 27" iMac models subjected in this thread: Late 2012 - 13.2 - MD095LL/A (2.9Ghz i5-3470S, HDD only /...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Juicy Box]

So the question: Is it possible to keep only the system on the Blade SSD, maybe all my installs and apps to keep it around100GB, but then to move the rest somehow to the SATA SSD? Symbolic link? Any other way?

Yes, you can move certain saved locations (or at least you used to be able to on MacOS), such as Music, Photos, and others.

I think you can still move your whole Home folder to an external drive.

But, if it was me, you might as well just Fuse the two SSDs together and operate from a single drive. It will be very fast and easy to use without any thinking.

If for some reason think that creating the Fusion Drive using the two SSDs might be problematic for you, may I suggest an additional option:

Boot over a large external NVMe SSD over TB3 or USB. It will be fast and a single drive for ease of use.

I personally would do the internal HDD swap for a SATA SSD, and Fuse the two SSDs, but an external option isn't going to be that much more expensive and could be pretty fast.

 

[quadrifoglio]

This thread ought to help -- addresses exactly what you're trying to do.

A list of successful iMac 27" (2012-2019) SSD upgrades

Here you can find and discuss all the collected knowledge regarding upgrading the HDD, blade SSD and CPU of a 27" iMac 2012-2019, as well as a list of performed upgrades. Here is a list of all 27" iMac models subjected in this thread: Late 2012 - 13.2 - MD095LL/A (2.9Ghz i5-3470S, HDD only /...

forums.macrumors.com

Thanks. Basically after reading this I can conclude that everything works

I personally would do the internal HDD swap for a SATA SSD, and Fuse the two SSDs, but an external option isn't going to be that much more expensive and could be pretty fast.

Sure, this was my initial idea however I read that fusing two SSD drives always gives a trouble.

As for moving there home folder somewhere else, it is the Library in my home folder they gets big, I believe it is around 40gb, also Application Support is also around 40gb.

 

[Juicy Box]

Sure, this was my initial idea however I read that fusing two SSD drives always gives a trouble.

Fusing two SSDs isn't anything different than fusing a SSD with a HDD.

I have Fused to SSDs without issue, but I have also read people saying that it could cause issues, not that it does cause issues.

I sometimes wonder if people that say if could cause issues are just saying that because it makes it a more complex set up rather than people that have experience issues themselves.

You will often see posts on the forum with people saying that booting from an external drive is bad because of potential issues.

Almost every other thread with someone asking about a RAID0 set up, you will get someone responding saying that striping RAIDs are bad because they have high failure rates, which isn't true.

It doesn't matter if you are using a single drive, Fusion Drive, RAID, external, internal, OEM, etc., just make sure you have a back up if things go wrong.

 

[quadrifoglio]

I read different things about it, some people said they fused two SSDs but then the system got very unstable.
Others said the performance dropped significantly, also some people said it is not possible to fuse them because it needs a mechanical drive.

There are many different experiences, the main problem is that the whole process is a bit complex because the screen needs to come off, this is why I want to be sure, but as I can see everyone has a different experience.

 

[quadrifoglio]

One more question...

Today I contacted Apple service near me and they acted like I was crazy for mentioning the Blade drive and mechanical drive, they always return it is the Fusion Drive.
I explained that I understand that it is just a name Apple uses for a software solution, also I told them that I udnerstand that there are two disks, one mechanical, and other flash memory SSD, but they still disagree.

They say that this was maybe implemented in some iMacs, but many have only one mechanical drive with the flash memory integrated in them, so there is actually only one drive without the SSD Blade on the motherboard.
Also they told me that they can not know what is inside my computer unless they open it as even even serial number does not help, they need to open it to see what is there.

It was really fishy and smelly. No technical but only arbitrary talks from people who should know better.

All this, together with all the other Apple fanboyism they tried to sell to me by using Apple names and not known measures and numbers, like "Apple disk is 18 times faster" and "Apple disk is great, others are trash", made me think about how genuine they are actually.
I understand this sort of talk is popular with Apple fanboys, but I really want the numbers and known figures, which they never gave in their answers.

How this all sounds to you? Is it really possible that the serial number can not tell what is inside my computer? And what about the FD being only the mechanical drive with added flash on top, so physically one disk no matter everywhere on the internet the Blade drive is shown as a part of the FD?
Am I the idiot here?

 

[ignatius345]

Fusing two SSDs isn't anything different than fusing a SSD with a HDD.

I have Fused to SSDs without issue, but I have also read people saying that it could cause issues, not that it does cause issues.

I sometimes wonder if people that say if could cause issues are just saying that because it makes it a more complex set up rather than people that have experience issues themselves.

You will often see posts on the forum with people saying that booting from an external drive is bad because of potential issues.

Almost every other thread with someone asking about a RAID0 set up, you will get someone responding saying that striping RAIDs are bad because they have high failure rates, which isn't true.

It doesn't matter if you are using a single drive, Fusion Drive, RAID, external, internal, OEM, etc., just make sure you have a back up if things go wrong.

The one thing I would say about Fusion Drives is that they get subjected to a LOT of wear because data is constantly getting shifted over from one drive to another -- it's designed to keep the things you're working on most currently on the SSD portion of the drive, so data is always being shuttled between the two.

My own iMac 5K fusion drive died not from the HDD failing, but from the little 128 GB SSD just hitting so many read/write cycles that it was worn out. I would *highly* recommend running DriveDx before doing any work, just to see what the blade SSD's health is now. Entirely possible it's seen a lot of read/write cycles already and might not be wise to keep using.

Some more info on this: https://eclecticlight.co/2018/09/04/why-a-fusion-drive-wont-last-as-long-as-an-ssd/

 

[quadrifoglio]

The one thing I would say about Fusion Drives is that they get subjected to a LOT of wear because data is constantly getting shifted over from one drive to another -- it's designed to keep the things you're working on most currently on the SSD portion of the drive, so data is always being shuttled between the two.

My own iMac 5K fusion drive died not from the HDD failing, but from the little 128 GB SSD just hitting so many read/write cycles that it was worn out. I would *highly* recommend running DriveDx before doing any work, just to see what the blade SSD's health is now. Entirely possible it's seen a lot of read/write cycles already and might not be wise to keep using.

Some more info on this: https://eclecticlight.co/2018/09/04/why-a-fusion-drive-wont-last-as-long-as-an-ssd/

How does it look to you:

 

[ignatius345]

How does it look to you:

From what I can tell, looks like 90% lifetime left, which is good

 

[ignatius345]

That said, I would also select other drives in that sidebar, and drill down to see details just to make sure.

 

[quadrifoglio]

It shows 90% for SSD part and 92% for mechanical drive.

But this is only by number of write cycles, it does not test the actual drive so it may be inaccurate.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

One more question...

Today I contacted Apple service near me and they acted like I was crazy for mentioning the Blade drive and mechanical drive, they always return it is the Fusion Drive.
I explained that I understand that it is just a name Apple uses for a software solution, also I told them that I udnerstand that there are two disks, one mechanical, and other flash memory SSD, but they still disagree.

They say that this was maybe implemented in some iMacs, but many have only one mechanical drive with the flash memory integrated in them, so there is actually only one drive without the SSD Blade on the motherboard.
Also they told me that they can not know what is inside my computer unless they open it as even even serial number does not help, they need to open it to see what is there.

It was really fishy and smelly. No technical but only arbitrary talks from people who should know better.

All this, together with all the other Apple fanboyism they tried to sell to me by using Apple names and not known measures and numbers, like "Apple disk is 18 times faster" and "Apple disk is great, others are trash", made me think about how genuine they are actually.
I understand this sort of talk is popular with Apple fanboys, but I really want the numbers and known figures, which they never gave in their answers.

How this all sounds to you? Is it really possible that the serial number can not tell what is inside my computer? And what about the FD being only the mechanical drive with added flash on top, so physically one disk no matter everywhere on the internet the Blade drive is shown as a part of the FD?
Am I the idiot here?

Luckily you just talked to them, not actually brought your out-of-warranty iMac to them.
1. Apple service center are manned by brainwashed staff.
2. Some of them even go beyond the line by breaking connections intentionally or idiotically, but insisting on customer's fault, like "water damage", or "been opened by 3rd party", with the purpose to persuade you to trade-in (at zero value) for a new Mac.

But there is something true in their answer to you, that they can't confirm what kind of storage inside until opening it up. An iMac 2019 might have been opened to upgrade, as it could be done by DIYers without significant difficulties.

And there actually were HDD attached with SSD manufactured in the past. They are known as SSHD. Most of them have short lives comparing to normal HDDs, as the tiny SSD part often failed too soon.

 

[macguru9999]

Just stick a sata 4tb crucial ssd in the thing and ignore the ssd on the motherboard. just format the blade part apfs then delete the volume so it does not show up, then use the sata crucial drive for everything. Its not worth pulling the mobo to change the apple ssd.

 

[quadrifoglio]

I just ordered Orico Thunderbolt enclosure and Seagate 2TB M2 SSD, it seems like the most elegant solution for now. I will use it for the system and storage, then I will separate the FD to use the 120 flash drive for Windows, and 2TB mechanical drive for Time Machine.

Did I mentioned that this should be the most elegant solution... 😁🤣

 

[macguru9999]

I just ordered Orico Thunderbolt enclosure and Seagate 2TB M2 SSD, it seems like the most elegant solution for now. I will use it for the system and storage, then I will separate the FD to use the 120 flash drive for Windows, and 2TB mechanical drive for Time Machine.

Did I mentioned that this should be the most elegant solution... 😁🤣

its not the most elegant, but you can do it rather than open the machine... an external drive will work and should be a little faster than an internal sata ssd