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Fitting 2x SSD into iMac 27 Mid-2011 12.2

D

danjy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2020
5
5
Hi,

I have a mid-2011 iMac 27 12.2, running an i7 and the standard 1TB HDD. The HDD and external USB 2.0 HDD's are hopefully, so I've upgraded to SSD's.

I've bought:

1x 1TB SSD for the main apps and OS
1x 2TB SSD for storage of photos and videos

I couldn't quite afford to go with a 4TB SSD, although in hindsight, this might have been an easier option!!

So, I'm wondering how is best to fit them. First thoughts were as per the OWC videos, one in the main HDD slot (with a 2.5" to 3.5" caddy adapter, and the other stuck behind the optical drive.

But then I saw you can buy 3.5" adapters to fit 2x 2.5" drives into a single 3.5" slot. Would this work for the main HDD bay in the iMac? Is there enough room to fit two SSD's in the main bay?

Also wondering if I need the OWC thermo-sensor cable, or go with an app instead? But then I started reading videos about not needing either and I got a bit confused. What's the best option here to prevent the fans running flat out?

Many thanks, any help is appreciated.

Dan
 
There is a lot of room in the HDD bay.

I used the external sensor cable on a Mid 2011, but some use SW solutions, and some short the sensor leads on the SATA cable.

If you want to experiment, opening these iMacs and getting to the drive bay can be done in only a few minutes. You can try no sensor, and see how it is, or use SW.

If you change your mind, you can get the OWC adapter.

BTW, I love this model of the iMac. They are still very capable Macs, and there is so much you can do with the Mid 2011s that you cannot do with most other iMacs.

You can replace the GPU and even upgrade it in some cases.

You can install three SSDs internally and also run a 3-drive SW RAID0 and get over 1000MBps speeds internally.

The Mid 2011 still gets updates from Apple.

Just a great Mac to mess around with.
 
Hi,

Interesting that somebody else asked this question just as I was about to try it.

I have a 27" 2011 iMac with 3.4Ghz processor. I did the HDD replacement with a 1TB SSD about 2 years ago and it was a game changer. It was feeling very sluggish and I did an 8Gb->20Gb memory upgrade plus the SSD change and it was like a new machine (at least relatively). I used the temp sensor cable and have had no issues.

Now I am looking to add a 2nd SSD and wasn't very keen on the solutions that just use sticky pads to stick the SSD behind the super-drive (https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2429+Dual+Drive+Kit+(HDD+or+SSD)/7575). Then I saw the "Corsair CSSD-BRKT2 Dual SSD Mounting Bracket" that seems to allow you to put 2x SSDs into a 3.5" slot. This looks like a much better proposal. I have seen someone quote on amazon that they used this bay inside an iMac but they said they only put a single drive in it....which implies that it fits no problem and I cant see why putting a 2nd SSD in would make any difference.

From what I can see of other people who put a second drive in and stick it behind the super drive, it doesn't seem like they use a temperature cable. I wonder if the temp cable is only needed for the main drive as that is where apple expects to be able to monitor temp for fan usage. Doesn't seem like installing on the second SATA port causes any issues without a temp cable but would be interested if anyone has any experience.

I have ordered one of these Corsair dual 2.5" bays and going to try to put a second Samsung SSD in over the coming weeks. I still need to find out what the cable is but I think it is a pretty standard cable. iFixit do sell the cable for the above mentioned kit but I guess it is pretty standard.

Let me know if anyone else has done this

Tks

Dan
 
Thanks for your replies.

Yes, this video shows you don't need a temperature sensor for the second SSD:

That's interesting. I was looking at the same Corsair adapter on Amazon too, and that's what gave me the idea. It's got to work, the dimensions state it's 23mm high, and the photo shows the SSD's don't protrude out past that dimension. Plus a standard 3.5" HDD measures 1" high, 24.5mm, so it fits within that measurement. It's got to be easier to buy that adapter and fit both into the main HDD bay, rather than remove the optical drive and stick it under there.

My drives are on order, but I don't know when they'll arrive. I'll order that Corsair adapter and give it a go when it arrives. I just need to buy some tools and the second drive cable, which I guess is this: https://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/product_info.php?products_id=794

Might try the software fan controller first, or maybe even short the temperature sensor cables before resorting to buying the "temperature sensor" or whatever it is.
 
You can check out mounting and cable routing from this thread:
forums.macrumors.com

Install 3 hard drives on iMac 2011 27" FAILED ...

Before that, I am running MacOS on external TB SSD and internally a 256gb SSD (Bootcamp) & 3.5" WD 4T Re without any problem Today, I got the 13pin SATA power splitter cable and install all 3 hard drives into the iMac. MacOS SSD uses SATA 0 BootCamp SSD uses SATA 1 (share power to HDD) 4T HDD...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

There was a really detailed post on the MR forum with someone modding the Mid 2011, if I find it, I will post it.
 
Well, it all fits and work perfectly.

Really easy job to do, by following this video:

I did everything in the video, except for removing the optical drive and optical drive fan. They don't need to be removed in order to get to the additional SATA cable. I did remove the optical drive temperature sensor cable and fan cable, as I didn't want to damage them when pulling the logic board back.

By pulling the logic board back by just a small amount reveals just enough of the SATA port to connect in the new cable (the red one).

Both drives fit into the new dual SSD bracket with plenty of room. I mounted the bottom drive to take the original black cable so it pointed downwards. That left enough room for the other (red) cable in the top drive.

The bracket fits into the HDD space easily and the new red cable routes alongside the existing black cable with ease.

Booted up instantly. The computer is now really fast, very pleased with the upgrade. My fans all seem to be working ok as well, and I didn't buy the temperature sensor cable.

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Both working correctly. Running APFS file system. Just copying over my 1.5TB photo library from my Thunderbolt HDD, so keen to see how quick Photos is once it's complete.

As an added bonus, the computer is a lot cooler now, and hugely quieter.

Screen Shot 2020-04-30 at 16.15.49.png
 
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Nice work! I have the same machine, and swapped the Seagate HDD for a Samsung SSD a couple years back - game changer. I like what you did there. Thanks for the pictures.
 
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I did sth very similar to @danjy. I have an OWC cable so just put the sensor between two SSDs so we cannot really see it. Two SSDs are connected to two SATA3 ports.
 

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danjy said:
Both working correctly. Running APFS file system. Just copying over my 1.5TB photo library from my Thunderbolt HDD, so keen to see how quick Photos is once it's complete.

As an added bonus, the computer is a lot cooler now, and hugely quieter.

View attachment 910800
Click to expand...
So you didnt need the sensor at all?
I was thinking about doing the same exact thing except for my case I would buy an ssd for booting the machine and I recently upgraded by MacBook pro 2012 to ssd so I have the hdd drive from there. I would use the hdd drive for files and what not. so an ssd and hdd together in the mounting bracket. And I was wondering if in this case I would need a thermal sensor
 
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Great thread especially as I have just purchased a 27" mid 2011, 16gb Ram, 3.4ghz i7, only issue if you can call it that is the HD, its a 7200 1TB, I read somewhere these are heat pumps that can shorten the life of the GPU?

Was thinking of doing a the SSD change but the thermal sensor issue makes me doubt the process?

I will say I have upgraded the RAM and added 2 Samsung 870 SSD's to my mid 2012 MacBook so I'm not worried about diving in.

Couple of questions -

Do the Samsung 870's play ball with the iMac?
Whats the best way to get around the temperature/fan issue?

I do love these iMacs and want this one to last a while yet so the more heat I can take out of it the better!
 
murkeywaters said:
Great thread especially as I have just purchased a 27" mid 2011, 16gb Ram, 3.4ghz i7, only issue if you can call it that is the HD, its a 7200 1TB, I read somewhere these are heat pumps that can shorten the life of the GPU?

Was thinking of doing a the SSD change but the thermal sensor issue makes me doubt the process?

I will say I have upgraded the RAM and added 2 Samsung 870 SSD's to my mid 2012 MacBook so I'm not worried about diving in.

Couple of questions -

Do the Samsung 870's play ball with the iMac?
Whats the best way to get around the temperature/fan issue?

I do love these iMacs and want this one to last a while yet so the more heat I can take out of it the better!
Click to expand...
If you don’t want to pay the extra 35ish dollars for the temp sensor then just download macfancontrol. That’s what I’m doing and it works well turns on right after the computer boots up! And if I’m not mistaken I’ve read in places that 870 is supported. I personally used a Kingston ssd and WD ssd
 
I tried replacing my 1TB HDD (cause I hated the noise it makes) with a Crucial SSD MX500 1TB. And keeping my main 256GB SSD which is the original drive the iMac 27 mid2011 came with. Ran Disk Utility and formatted it to APFS and GUID table. The drive could not be selected as the boot drive. It also gave read errors after I copied files to it when I tried to read them. Blackmagic-disk-speed-test could not read from the drive only write. I kept getting errors all along.

Is this SATA connection not compatible with SSD when there is an original SDD installed under the optical drive? Or do I need extra hardware (cable, connector?)

I can't find others with this same setup, most info is on replacing the main HDD drive, not if the main drive is an old original SSD. The old SSD drive reaches speeds to 130write and 200read. The new SSD gave 420write but error on read (could not read file). I removed the new SSD from the HDD bay and only left the OWC temp sensor so the fans are running stable. Only the original SSD 256GB is now left in the Mac.

I like it a lot since the HDD sound is gone (runs silent now, why is it that HD drives make more noise when they get older, annoying spinning noise) but would be nicer to run Mac OS from the new SSD instead of using it as storage externally. Running this new SSD via an Elgato Thunderbolt dock externally gives around 220read/write speeds, internally should get the 420read/write speeds.
 
Last edited:
No High Sierra was and is still installed on the internal SSD, not on the HDD, I always used the HDD for data. Both the Hard Disk drive and SSD are original Apple OEM drives. This system was delivered new with 250GB SSD and 1TB HDD, i7 3,4Ghz, Grafics card with 2GB etc..
 
After reading some tips, I assumed it was just a matter of "install SSD physically, format SSD, set SSD as bootdrive, reinstall OS via recovery on new SSD (prefer a clean install) and then transfer my data from the old SSD and format it afterwards.
 
You can check your firmware version.

You may have to reinstall the HDD, then install High Sierra on it to update the firmware.

Another option is to clone the OS from your OEM SSD (or any other source) to your new one.
 
Mac#106 said:
I tried replacing my 1TB HDD (cause I hated the noise it makes) with a Crucial SSD MX500 1TB. And keeping my main 256GB SSD which is the original drive the iMac 27 mid2011 came with. Ran Disk Utility and formatted it to APFS and GUID table. The drive could not be selected as the boot drive. It also gave read errors after I copied files to it when I tried to read them. Blackmagic-disk-speed-test could not read from the drive only write. I kept getting errors all along.

Is this SATA connection not compatible with SSD when there is an original SDD installed under the optical drive? Or do I need extra hardware (cable, connector?)

I can't find others with this same setup, most info is on replacing the main HDD drive, not if the main drive is an old original SSD. The old SSD drive reaches speeds to 130write and 200read. The new SSD gave 420write but error on read (could not read file). I removed the new SSD from the HDD bay and only left the OWC temp sensor so the fans are running stable. Only the original SSD 256GB is now left in the Mac.

I like it a lot since the HDD sound is gone (runs silent now, why is it that HD drives make more noise when they get older, annoying spinning noise) but would be nicer to run Mac OS from the new SSD instead of using it as storage externally. Running this new SSD via an Elgato Thunderbolt dock externally gives around 220read/write speeds, internally should get the 420read/write speeds.
Click to expand...

Crucial MX500 series is a troublesome series. It has a terrible high failure rate.
You are lucky that the failure occurs from the beginning, not after warranty period expires, not after you have stored vital data on it.
 
For the life of me I cannot understand why people put expensive HDD caddies into these old macs, SSD’s are small and light with pretty much zero thermal issues. Just use some double sided tape and stick it to the aluminum chassis. Personally if the 3.5” HDD is still working in the 2010-2011 models I leave them in as storage and just tape the SSD on top hard up against the PSU separator. It fits without touching the back of the lcd. The DVD drive is really useful for airflow and as a DVD drive for ripping music, playing cd’s/DVD’s and for loading recovery media/Linux/bootcamp/opencore so leave it alone if it works.
 
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