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Blade SSD for iMac 27" late 2012

C

Cromb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 24, 2009
7
0
Hey guys!

Has anybody added a blade SSD to a late 2012 iMac 27"? I know Apple used a custom connector for a SATA 6GB/s SSD. As far as I know there are four options for to add a SSD, but I just found a confirmation for two of them.

1. Plugged rMBP 10,2 SSD
Getting a plugged SSD from a Mid 2012 or Early 2013 retina Macbook Pro should work fine. There are always a few available on eBay.

2. MaxConnect
MaxUpgrades has two kind of products, a 2,5"-Upgrade and a Blade-Upgrade.

3. Transcend and OWC
Transcend has a series for the rMBP called JetDrive and the OWC Aura 6G. Both are made for the rMBP and I don't have any information whether they are working in the iMac.

4. mSATA or M.2 to rMBP adapter
There are a few adapter for mSATA to rMBP and m.2 to rMPB. I don't know, whether theses are going to work or not either. The mSATA to rMBP looks a little like the MacUpgrades, but maybe there is some magic in that one I don't know about.

I'd like to ask you, how did you upgrade your late 2012 iMac 27? Which way did you use? I'd really appreciate all your feedback regarding this topic.

Thank you!
Cromb

PS: I know it's a tough job to add the SSD: removing the screen and the mainboard is tricky, so please do not comment on this. Thank you!
 
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I have also the same questions to update mi 27" late 2012 with 7200HDD.
I have found a 256Gb retina SSD blade that I can add to build my own Fusion drive.
The pro: cost, storage volume, Apple solution natively compatible with TRIM
But, it's tricky to remove all the boards, cables and we never know the SSD condition as it's always a used part.

The other solution is to replace the HDD with a SATA SSD 500Gb or 1Tb.
It's a more expensive (for 1Tb), but faster, easier to add but it doesn't natively support TRIM ...
 
Last edited:
I have ordered on Ebay a 256Gb SSD blade from MBPr 2012 (175€).
I will try to fit it into my iMac this weekend.
I need storage space inside my Mac, I didn't want to pay 400€ for 1Tb SSD.
I think it's a good compromise.
I hope the tear down will be successful.
The main advantage is to have a standard Fusion drive, with native trim support and Apple parts.
 
I asked a reseller of a m.2 to rMBP adapter. He told me he does not have any confirming information about iMacs, but he does not see any obvious why it shouldn't work. So it'll probably work, but if it doesn't I'm lacking a working drive and getting one via eBay might take a few days. :(

Is there no one in this forum who used another drive then the rMBP ssd?
 
Cromb said:
I asked a reseller of a m.2 to rMBP adapter. He told me he does not have any confirming information about iMacs, but he does not see any obvious why it shouldn't work. So it'll probably work, but if it doesn't I'm lacking a working drive and getting one via eBay might take a few days. :(

Is there no one in this forum who used another drive then the rMBP ssd?
Click to expand...
There aren't any M.2 to Apple-PCIe adapters, simply because the M.2 standard is physically bigger than the Apple ones IIRC.
 
Just a small feeback.
Yesterday I have fit mi 256Mb Blade SSD from MBPr 2012 in my iMac (late 2012 - 27").
It was not so difficult. Removing the screen and all the boards and connectors is quite easy if you take your time and follow the tutorials (iFixit, OWC ...).
I have used Apple adhesives to seal the screen.
It took about 1 hour.
All is working well, I have created the fusion drive, put back my clone and it's perfect.
Now I don't have to think about TRIM anymore ...
 
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