Can I have a NVMe disk and the default SSD/HDD disk on my iMac?

[reynierpm]

Hi there, I have two iMac Late 2013: one comes with an SSD the other one has an HDD so I decided to upgrade both by adding an NVMe or M2 disk (waiting for the new generation of M processors in order to upgrade to a new model). Since these are expensive once you go up on the capacity I would like to keep the original drives. Is this possible? I can't find any guidance on how to achieve this not sure if it is possible either.

 

[mdgm]

Do you have the 21.5" or the 27" iMac Late 2013?

The issue is whether there's the necessary connector on the logic board or not.

Only models that shipped with a HDD (or Fusion Drive) can have a drive installed in the HDD slot. You can replace the HDD with a SATA SSD.

If it's the 27" then a blade SSD can be installed whether or not one was installed in the factory. If it's the 21.5" then a blade SSD can only be installed if one was installed at the factory.

The HDD is much easier to replace than the blade SSD.

 

[reynierpm]

I forgot to mention both are the 27" model 😬 but thanks, just saw a video from OWC explaining how to install a new SSD

 

[mdgm]

So the one with a HDD can have the HDD left there (or also replaced with a SATA SSD to have two SSDs). The one with just the SSD can only have a blade SSD as there's no way to connect a HDD/SATA SSD.

It's recommended to be running an up to date Mac OS (Mojave or later) with all security updates installed before doing the upgrade. Updating the Boot ROM with a 3rd party HDD/SSD may not work especially if you are on a very old Boot ROM. So it's best to make sure you have the latest before doing the upgrade.

Also once you've confirmed that your computer is up to date it's a good idea to power down and leave the computer unplugged for a while and press the power button to try to make sure it's properly discharged.

Some would also consider replacing the coin battery (there's a guide on iFixit on how to do that, be sure to read comments if you wish to do that). Whilst the battery should still last quite a while you probably won't be opening the computer up again for a long time.

 

[reynierpm]

@mdgm well I think I confuse you a little bit, let me try to explain:

• 1st iMac 27" Late 2013
  • has 1 HDD installed: I will install a blade (I believe this means NVMe/M2 disk) SSD and keep the HDD
• 2nd iMac 27" Late 2013:
  • has 1 SSD installed (not NVMe nor M2): I will install a blade SSD and keep the SSD

As per the coin battery, won't that reset something as it happens on PC like the BIOS? 🤔

 

[mdgm]

The coin battery stores things like the current date and time.

It’s not essential to replace it, and the existing one may well last some years yet.

 

[hwojtek]

Hi there, I have two iMac Late 2013: one comes with an SSD the other one has an HDD so I decided to upgrade both by adding an NVMe or M2 disk.

A worthy upgrade, but an expensive one if you're gonna replace both computers with Apple Silicon this year anyway. It's not exactly known if the blades can be recycled to further upgrade an Apple Silicon Mac.

 

[mdgm]

If your SSD is a SATA SSD in the HDD slot in the 2nd iMac then in your case you could have a SATA HDD/SSD + a blade SSD in both iMacs.

A worthy upgrade, but an expensive one if you're gonna replace both computers with Apple Silicon this year anyway. It's not exactly known if the blades can be recycled to further upgrade an Apple Silicon Mac.

Considering the current 27" iMac doesn't have replaceable SSDs it would be surprising if the Apple Silicon iMac did.

However depending which SSD is purchased the SSDs used in the 2013 iMac may be able to be put into an external enclosure. The OWC Aura Pro X2 SSDs can't be put in an external enclosure, but if you got an M2 NVMe drive with an adapter and put that in the iMac then you could.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

A worthy upgrade, but an expensive one if you're gonna replace both computers with Apple Silicon this year anyway. It's not exactly known if the blades can be recycled to further upgrade an Apple Silicon Mac.

They can always be recycled as external storage, regardless of the machine (Mac or PC).

 

[reynierpm]

@mdgm last but not least, what about if I want to swap the HDD for and SSD (not blade)? Is there a way to migrate the content so I don't have to reinstall and setup everything from scratch? Sadly for me I do not have an external disk for Time Machine backups.

 

[reynierpm]

A worthy upgrade, but an expensive one if you're gonna replace both computers with Apple Silicon this year anyway. It's not exactly known if the blades can be recycled to further upgrade an Apple Silicon Mac.

That is my plan, just sell this two old iMac and get an upgraded version of the MacBook Pro with M chips but I am waiting a little bit just to see what happen this year and if they upgrade the memory, 16GB is good but 32GB would be better since I work with Virtualized environment (mostly because Docker for Mac sucks so far)

 

[mdgm]

@mdgm last but not least, what about if I want to swap the HDD for and SSD (not blade)? Is there a way to migrate the content so I don't have to reinstall and setup everything from scratch? Sadly for me I do not have an external disk for Time Machine backups.

You could put the new SSD in an external enclosure, clone onto it using Super Duper or Carbon Copy Cloner and power down and remove the SSD from the enclosure and put it in the machine.

 

[dejonge]

Hi

Sorry to crash your thread reynierpm 🙈I have tried posting on another thread so appologies for douple post, but as I have similair questions to yourself I am hoping some members might be able to offer some advice based on their own experiences and maybe which SSD's have worked best...

Basically I am planning on upgrading the HDD on a Late 2013 27" iMac (1TB HDD model).
I'm fairly confident with tech repairs and upgrades and not too scarred off by the videos on Youtube etc.
The main install upgrades are as follows:

Option 1. 1TB NVMe blade (remove HDD)

Option 2. 1TB SATA SSD (remove HDD)

Option 3. 256GB or 512GB NVMe blade and 1TB SATA SSD (remove HDD)

Option 4. Fusion Drive e.g installing a 256GB or 512GB NVMe blade and leaving the existing 1TB HD in / or swap out HDD with a SATA SSD

I am doing this upgrade for a freind who would be using the mac for personal music production mostly so 1TB should be ample, but I am unsure if a blade NVMe would be worth the tear down... Speeds look mixed from members on here in the same situation. NVMe blades look to be aprox 150-200MB/s gain on read and writes over using a SATA SSD alone, so maybe not worth the while and effort for the small speed difference?

I have also read on some threads about bottlenecks happening due to the older PCIe version on the late 2013 model... again if this is the case then am I better off just focussing on updating the SATA HDD with a SATA SSD...
can anyone help me make my mind up please?

In the near future (after buying the necesarry kit for this upgrade) I plan to upgrade the 32gb part of my 1TB Fusion Drive in my own Late 2015 5K iMac. I use a lot of cloud based storage as I am between my workplace and home so would guess that taking the HDD part out completely might be a good idea and put my money into a bigger faster NVMe due to the PCIe port being more capable than the late 2013... Again any help with the parts and descission making process would be really appreciated please?

These are the drives I have been looking at:

Crucial 1TB P1 M2 NVMe Blade: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/cr...000-mbs-3d-nand-nvme-pcie-m2-for-ps76-3652235

Crucila 1TB MX500 SATA SSD: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/crucial-mx500-1-tb-to-560-mbs-3652070

 

[reynierpm]

@dejonge not a problem at all bud I will learn as well from any answer you can get here from others with expertise on this matter.

I am thinking in buy the following:

- https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DAPT4MA05K/
- https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/K27IM12HE1TB/

and use the blade for the OS and installed apps and the SSD for storage. Why an SSD? Because I use a Parallels VM for developing software and I need good R/W speed.

I would like to get some insights as well and thanks in advance guys.