imac 2015, non retina model - Slow!!!!

[stardustsa2002]

Hi guys, I bought the imac, non-retina (£1,049.00) model in September.

This thing is slow! it's ok once you are in an application (web design software etc).. but startup and loading Airmail and Internet can take a long time..

I have been using SSD macbooks for the last few years but I didn't realise that going down to a 5400 hard drive would be so noticeable (especially not on a 2015, i5, 8Gb ram imac) .

Yes I know I have bought the second from last entry model but for that price I expected something that would fly!!

- Can this model's hard drive be upgraded to SSD ?? if so, any links for instructions?

- Any tips to speed this thing up ?

Many thanks
Steve

 

[aarond12]

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2889+Teardown/50961

With a repair score of 1 out of 10, you're going to have to live with a platter-based hard drive. Or sell that one and get one with an SSD.

 

[lympero]

It's a shame that Apple still sells computers with a 5400 hdd. End of story.

 

[zhenya]

Good luck changing the drive. I'd sell it and buy another one.

Computers with platter drives, especially 5400rpm 2.5" models feel downright broken to me they are so slow.

 

[squidward]

Boot from an external ssd drive. Easy to do and no voiding warranty.

 

[zacster]

I just bought a 27" and spent twice what you did so I'd get the 2tb fusion drive with 128gb of SSD. It is blazing fast. At the Apple store I tried the 1tb hard disk version and just couldn't see spending that much on a machine that would load slower than my 2006 iMac that I upgraded with an SSD. On the old machine it was hard enough to upgrade, on the newer ones it is difficult, and then it also voids the warranty.

 

[lovelybai]

Hi guys, I bought the imac, non-retina (£1,049.00) model in September.

This thing is slow! it's ok once you are in an application (web design software etc).. but startup and loading Airmail and Internet can take a long time..

I have been using SSD macbooks for the last few years but I didn't realise that going down to a 5400 hard drive would be so noticeable (especially not on a 2015, i5, 8Gb ram imac) .

Yes I know I have bought the second from last entry model but for that price I expected something that would fly!!

- Can this model's hard drive be upgraded to SSD ?? if so, any links for instructions?

- Any tips to speed this thing up ?

Many thanks
Steve

Besides disassembling the imac to upgrade to ssd(cutting the screen off looks risky to me),
you could try thunderbolt external ssd.

 

[nufanec]

Besides disassembling the imac to upgrade to ssd(cutting the screen off looks risky to me),
you could try thunderbolt external ssd.

Even USB 3 will work fine. You can pick up an SSD and a USB3 interface for well under £100 with good capacity nowadays.

 

[maflynn]

I'd opt for a TB external drive (SSD) over ripping open the iMac. The slow 5400rpm drive is what's killing you. Any disk i/o is going to make this otherwise fast computer feel slow.

 

[Fishrrman]

Rather than open the iMac and void the warranty, you can add an external SSD in a USB3 enclosure and significantly speed up the machine.

The speeds will be the near-equal of booting from an internally-mounted SSD (on the same SATA bus that the current HDD is running on).

This is the cheapest, fastest, easiest way and I'm confident that you'll be satisfied with the results.

You can either buy a "ready-to-go" SSD such as this:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ZTRY532?tag=delt-20
or
...buy a "bare" SSD of your own choosing and put it into an external USB3 enclosure. Just be sure you buy an enclosure that supports UASP (USB attached SCSI protocol) for the fastest speeds.

 

[stardustsa2002]

Thanks guys So if I get an external SSD (as above), am I right in saying I will need to install mac OS on it and select this drive as the boot. and just use the 1tb built in drive for storage ? Using the SSD for my main applications such as Airmail, Adobe Suite, MS Office ? Many thanks Steve

 

[redheeler]

Yes, an external USB 3 or Thunderbolt SSD will work fine as a boot drive, and you can use the internal HDD for storage. I definitely recommend you get one as soon as possible, and stop suffering with that 5400 RPM HDD!