Does the iMac with Fusion drive use standard HDD?

Discussion in 'iMac' started by 212rikanmofo, May 22, 2018.

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  1. 212rikanmofo, May 22, 2018

    212rikanmofo macrumors 68000

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    Jan 31, 2003
    #1
    I plan on replacing my failed HDD portion of my Fusion drive inside my iMac 27, its a late 2014 model I believe.

    Is the HDD an Apple proprietary model or can I simply order any SATA 3.5" HDD from online and replace it with?

    And is it possible to have 2 physical volumes instead of one (Fusion). I would like to install the main OS onto the 128GB Flash and then have the HD as a 2nd physical volume. It makes data recovery easier if things ever go wrong.
     
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  2. mbosse, May 23, 2018

    mbosse macrumors 6502

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    #2
    Technically, Apple uses a standard 3.5" drive, but with a proprietary firmware that allows the iMac to read the drive's temperature metering for fan speed control. Replacing it with an off-the-shelf drive yields a functional drive, but with the fans running at full speed.

    So your options are to (i) search for an original Apple drive or to (ii) address the fan issue either with a software solution (e.g. MacFanControl) or with an adapter cable such as this (https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD12/) from OWC.

    Best,
    Magnus
     
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  3. Samuelsan2001, May 23, 2018

    Samuelsan2001 macrumors 604

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    #3
    Yes to all of those questions its just a normal sata hard drive. Personally I would just replace it with a sata SSD and re-fuse them to have a super fast fusion but you can of course keep it separate and maintain your own files.
     
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  4. 212rikanmofo, May 24, 2018

    212rikanmofo thread starter macrumors 68000

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    #4
    Okay, I’m confused here. I’m getting 2 different answers. One is saying yes its a standard SATA HD and the other is saying its a proprieratary HD with Apple firmware to monitor the fan. Which one is it? I want to make sure before I attemp to order a HDD myself, or just take my entire iMac to an Apple store for them to replace the HDD.

    Which one would save me more money? If i buy and supply them with the HDD or if they do it all?
     
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