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Can I add SSD to the latest 27"?

L

littlehuman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 22, 2010
27
2
Hi,

I'm sure this question has been covered before, but I could not get an answer. I've talked to representative on store.apple.com, but they just have no idea.

I'm thinking about buying late 2015 27" iMac 5k.

If I buy the most basic model, am I going to be able to replace the base hdd (7200 rpm 1tb hdd) to my own ssd?
 
littlehuman said:
Hi,

I'm sure this question has been covered before, but I could not get an answer. I've talked to representative on store.apple.com, but they just have no idea.

I'm thinking about buying late 2015 27" iMac 5k.

If I buy the most basic model, am I going to be able to replace the base hdd (7200 rpm 1tb hdd) to my own ssd?
Click to expand...
I believe the answer is "in theory, yes" but in practice it appears to be very difficult. This is because it's no longer easy to get into the case. Before the glued-together model, it wasn't all that difficult. Now it is.

You could check out iFixit and see what they show.
 
monokakata said:
I believe the answer is "in theory, yes" but in practice it appears to be very difficult. This is because it's no longer easy to get into the case. Before the glued-together model, it wasn't all that difficult. Now it is.

You could check out iFixit and see what they show.
Click to expand...

Thank you monokakata.

The problem is that there is no teardown of the new 27" imac with 5k yet.

I asked a few places, but no one knows.
 
You'd need to remove the iMac screen for that...

Here is the overview of the process for replacing your HDD with SSD:
1. iFixit: read guide, price tools and replacement adhesive strips
2. Shop for SSD: Amazon, OWC (macsales.com), etc. Look at prices, add to cart.
3. Think about: how mush you paid for the iMac, how you'll be voiding your warranty, how you might screw up
(even though you're comfortable building and fixing all sorts of computers and electronics)
4. Wish that access panel on the rear were Way Bigger.
5. Give up and have a beer/coke/cigarette/donut.
6. Repeat
 
I don't think the case/chassis has changed from the previous version, at least in what counts -- like whether you can get into it or not. I've disassembled maybe 6 or 8 iMacs of various vintages, to swap out drives, and none of them were very hard to do. I have a retina iMac and I would never try it. Just too difficult.
 
theosg said:
You'd need to remove the iMac screen for that...

Here is the overview of the process for replacing your HDD with SSD:
1. iFixit: read guide, price tools and replacement adhesive strips
2. Shop for SSD: Amazon, OWC (macsales.com), etc. Look at prices, add to cart.
3. Think about: how mush you paid for the iMac, how you'll be voiding your warranty, how you might screw up
(even though you're comfortable building and fixing all sorts of computers and electronics)
4. Wish that access panel on the rear were Way Bigger.
5. Give up and have a beer/coke/cigarette/donut.
6. Repeat
Click to expand...
Thank you theosg, but again...that's not the latest model. It sounds like things have changed.
 
monokakata said:
I don't think the case/chassis has changed from the previous version, at least in what counts -- like whether you can get into it or not. I've disassembled maybe 6 or 8 iMacs of various vintages, to swap out drives, and none of them were very hard to do. I have a retina iMac and I would never try it. Just too difficult.
Click to expand...

It's my first time thinking about doing it..not sure if I just should go with ssd option..
 
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littlehuman said:
Thank you monokakata.

The problem is that there is no teardown of the new 27" imac with 5k yet.

I asked a few places, but no one knows.
Click to expand...
There are two teardown: one on iFixit and one from OWC. In theory, it is possible. In practice, it is impractical for a number of reasons, some outlined above. Follow this link :) http://******.com/?q=teardown+imac+5k+late+2015&l=1

The best budget solution is the 2TB Fusion. Read the threads as to why.
 
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Reactions: theosg
The OWC link is the LATE 2015 Retina iMac.
If you compare that with the iFixit, as I have, you'll note that the difference in process for opening, swapping the drives, and closing is negligible. The process is also daunting because the screen is what makes this computer anything worth remarking about let alone buying. I'm not cracking mine open until the Applecare is expired, if at all.
 
Sirmausalot said:
There are two teardown: one on iFixit and one from OWC. In theory, it is possible. In practice, it is impractical for a number of reasons, some outlined above. Follow this link :) http://******.com/?q=teardown+imac+5k+late+2015&l=1

The best budget solution is the 2TB Fusion. Read the threads as to why.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the link :)
 
theosg said:
The OWC link is the LATE 2015 Retina iMac.
If you compare that with the iFixit, as I have, you'll note that the difference in process for opening, swapping the drives, and closing is negligible. The process is also daunting because the screen is what makes this computer anything worth remarking about let alone buying. I'm not cracking mine open until the Applecare is expired, if at all.
Click to expand...

Thank you theosg. Just googled and watched the previous version of 27" imac teardown. It looks pretty simple and easy, but I'm not sure if ifixit.com's cohesive tape is compatible to the latest version (it's not listed).

I guess I will wait for a couple of weeks and then decide. 512GB ssd for $500 is just ridiculous.
 
I've looked into doing this as well, and with BlackFriday around the corner I know there'll be some great deals on SSD. I've done much more difficult jobs than this, but after all my looking around I'm thinking I won't see a real difference from just running an external SSD. I'd like to take that 1Tb hdd out though and throw it at my ps4 or xb1 since I wouldn't be using it in the Mac anyway.
Decisions decisions.
 
littlehuman said:
Thank you theosg. Just googled and watched the previous version of 27" imac teardown. It looks pretty simple and easy, but I'm not sure if ifixit.com's cohesive tape is compatible to the latest version (it's not listed).

I guess I will wait for a couple of weeks and then decide. 512GB ssd for $500 is just ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Surprisingly, this year it's actually not a ridiculous price. The thing to keep in mind is that now with the new SSDs they use that reach ~1800-2000 MB/s, $1/GB is actually about the same as you'd pay to buy it elsewhere. If it was just a standard SATA3 SSD that hits 500-600 MB/s like all the others, I'd agree, but in this case it's actually a fair price (assuming you care about the extra performance of course).
 
Kappsi said:
Surprisingly, this year it's actually not a ridiculous price. The thing to keep in mind is that now with the new SSDs they use that reach ~1800-2000 MB/s, $1/GB is actually about the same as you'd pay to buy it elsewhere. If it was just a standard SATA3 SSD that hits 500-600 MB/s like all the others, I'd agree, but in this case it's actually a fair price (assuming you care about the extra performance of course).
Click to expand...

I don't really know if a regular user would notice any performance increase with that.

In my particular use case, I don't expect noticeable performance increase.

1. Programming: 4k write isn't that much improved. Compile time depends on the CPU heavily. 500MB is more than enough.

2. RAW photo file edit: usually raw file is between 40mb ~ 80mb. 500mb is more than enough.

3. Gaming: Not sure where people would use 1800~2000mb. It surely would be faster, but it would load just a slightly faster..

Please someone enlighten me on this..if I know it wrong.
 
I think the higher speeds will be relevant if you have larger Lightroom/Capture One pro catalogues that have to be loaded if you start the app.

And in general everyone has to think about future too. When I bought my 2008 iMac with it's 7200rpm drive the speed was good for all of my tasks. But after 3-4 years everything felt slow and stuttering. The OS was more demanding, Apps were more demanding, files were getting bigger etc.

Then I replaced the HD with a SSD, and my iMac was like a brand new machine! And it might be that this will happen again. No one knows what kind of files we will process in 2-3 years, or how demanding the OS and Apps will be.
 
FYI I was thinking about doing this. Then returned and ordered a 512.

Anyway, the two AASP companies I called both wanted $600 to replace the existing HDD with a 1TB SSD (one was Samsung, the other crucial). For $1000, they would install a 2TB SSD.
 
I looked at the iFixit tear down, and man all I can say is Apple when the extra mile to make sure the iMac is sealed tight. If I get an iMac, I'll not be opening it up. The risk of damaging it is to high for me :(
 
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