Are there External SSD Hard Drives compatible with an iMac 2012?

[molexo]

I have an older iMAC (2012), that has (2) Airport (2) ports and (4) USB 3.0 ports. Backblaze does my backup to the cloud for my desktop, but not for my existing hard drive which has my OS X system, my applications, my emails, my messages, and my photos.

Though I have an old computer, I want to use and external SSD Hard Drive, and I need 2TB, and would prefer 4TB, back up.

Most of the SSD's have newer USB connections. Can I use an adapter, from the newer to my older USB? My only sacrifice is data transfer speed correct? Thanks for your help. Michael

 

[Juicy Box]

I have an older iMAC (2012), that has (2) Airport (2) ports and

What do you mean by "Airport"??? Actually, I really am not understanding this whole line except the part about USB.

Do you mean Thunderbolt?

 

[Boyd01]

I have three 2tb Samsung T7 external SSD's. They include one cable for newer computers with USB-C interfaces as well as another cable for older computers like yours with USB-A interfaces. So you should be good to go right out of the box, but it will be formatted for windows and you will want to re-format it as APFS for most applications (or possibly HFS Extended in some cases).

Connected to a USB-C port, it will be almost twice as fast as USB-A on your older Mac. However you should still get around 400 to 500 MB/sec which is likely very similar to an internal SSD on your 2012 iMac. I used the older Samsung T3 series very heavily on my 2012 Mini as a startup disk and it felt about the same as the internal SSD.

If you want to use a different brand, just check the "in the box" specs. I wouldn't be surprised to find that most of them include both USB-A and C cables.

 

[Juicy Box]

There are plenty of SSD options for the Late 2012 iMac, ranging from easy and cheap, to very fast, complex, and expensive. You can use SSDs externally on the Late 2012 iMac with USB-A, USB-C, TB1/2, TB3, SD Card, and even FW if you want.

You are probably looking to get the easy and cheap method, which is a simple 2.5" USB3 enclosure or adapter cable and a SATA SSD. This would give you speeds around 450MBps.


New Egg has a 2TB SATA SSD for $130, with good reviews:

Team Group EX2 2.5" 2TB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) T253E2002T0C101 - Newegg.com

Buy Team Group EX2 2.5" 2TB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) T253E2002T0C101 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

You can always spend more for a Samsung or something as well.

I like this adapter cable because of the longer cable than others, for $12 on Amazon:

SABRENT USB 3.0 to SSD / 2.5 Inch SATA I/II/III Hard Drive Adapter (EC-SSHD)

Product Description:Take advantage of the lightening speed of USB 3.0 to quickly transfer files up to 5 Gbps! Connect any 2.5'' Serial ATA (SATA) / SSD or SATA II Hard Drive to your computer through an available USB 3.0 port on your desktop or laptop. Reverse compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1, this...

www.amazon.com

If you would rather have an enclosure, they are usually about that same price as the adapter cable I posted, about $15.

You can get more expensive USB3 SSD drives, such as a Samsung T5, they are good drives, but more expensive and not any faster than buying a SATA SSD and USB enclosure or adapter cable.



If you are looking for more speed, you can get a TB2 SSD. They are expensive and not a lot of options, but you would get about 700MBps speeds.

You can get even faster using TB3, 900Mbps+, but this could require more equipment, such as a TB3 dock, and probably not worth it for what it sounds like you are looking for. You can also use the USB-C ports on TB3 docks and run them at the higher link speeds if the drive and port on the dock is capable to run at higher speeds.

 

[molexo]

There are plenty of SSD options for the Late 2012 iMac, ranging from easy and cheap, to very fast, complex, and expensive. You can use SSDs externally on the Late 2012 iMac with USB-A, USB-C, TB1/2, TB3, SD Card, and even FW if you want.

You are probably looking to get the easy and cheap method, which is a simple 2.5" USB3 enclosure or adapter cable and a SATA SSD. This would give you speeds around 450MBps.


New Egg has a 2TB SATA SSD for $130, with good reviews:

Team Group EX2 2.5" 2TB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) T253E2002T0C101 - Newegg.com

Buy Team Group EX2 2.5" 2TB SATA III 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) T253E2002T0C101 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

You can always spend more for a Samsung or something as well.

I like this adapter cable because of the longer cable than others, for $12 on Amazon:

SABRENT USB 3.0 to SSD / 2.5 Inch SATA I/II/III Hard Drive Adapter (EC-SSHD)

Product Description:Take advantage of the lightening speed of USB 3.0 to quickly transfer files up to 5 Gbps! Connect any 2.5'' Serial ATA (SATA) / SSD or SATA II Hard Drive to your computer through an available USB 3.0 port on your desktop or laptop. Reverse compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1, this...

www.amazon.com

If you would rather have an enclosure, they are usually about that same price as the adapter cable I posted, about $15.

You can get more expensive USB3 SSD drives, such as a Samsung T5, they are good drives, but more expensive and not any faster than buying a SATA SSD and USB enclosure or adapter cable.



If you are looking for more speed, you can get a TB2 SSD. They are expensive and not a lot of options, but you would get about 700MBps speeds.

You can get even faster using TB3, 900Mbps+, but this could require more equipment, such as a TB3 dock, and probably not worth it for what it sounds like you are looking for. You can also use the USB-C ports on TB3 docks and run them at the higher link speeds if the drive and port on the dock is capable to run at higher speeds.

Thanks so much. Thorough and clear recommendations! And quite right, not airport, Thunderbolt 2. As to Thunderbolt 2, I’ve searched but not found any options. Suggestions? Michael

 

[Juicy Box]

Thanks so much. Thorough and clear recommendations! And quite right, not airport, Thunderbolt 2. As to Thunderbolt 2, I’ve searched but not found any options. Suggestions? Michael

The Late 2012 iMac has Thunderbolt 1, not TB2.

It is the same port as TB2, though.

TB3 is a different port (USB-C), but TB3 devices can be used on TB1 and TB2 Macs using Apple’s bidirectional adapter. The TB3 device must have its own power source or powered from something else, such as a TB3 dock, because the bidirectional adapter cannot provide enough power for TB3 via the bus.

That said, you would probably be more interested in a USB SSD, as they are much cheaper, more options, and still pretty fast. The biggest downside of USB is the lack of TRIM support.

 

[ravinder08]

Samsung T5 or T7 will be just fine.

 

[molexo]

What do you mean by "Airport"??? Actually, I really am not understanding this whole line except the part about USB.

Do you mean Thunderbolt?

Right you are Thunderbolt, not Airport.

 

[Fishrrman]

For a 2012 iMac, ANY external USB3 SSD will do just fine.

 

[dwig]

For a 2012 iMac, ANY external USB3 SSD will do just fine.

Yup.

the iMac Late 2012 has USB 3.0 ports. The are the 5Gbsp spec (aka 3.1 gen 1, 3.2 gen 1) so any modern external USB3 SSD will do. The faster external USB3.2 gen 2 drives will work fine, but will run at the slower speed of the iMac's ports so the extra cost for these would only produce a benefit when/if the drive will later be used on a much newer machine.

@OP: I'm using a Crucial X8 2tb drive and I'm quite happy with it. On the market right now, 1Tb and 2Tb SSDs are the best values. There are a few larger SSDs available, but the price is quite high.

 

[XF86Config]

Samsung T5 drives or a sabrent enclosure with whatever you fancy SSD ( probably the cheapest option ). For thunderbolt 1, the LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt Enclosures work well with SSD or HDD.