I am wondering if you can easily add a second hard drive to the iMac i7 if it comes with a SSD. I know it is hard to add a SSD if you only have the standard hard drive. But what if you only get the SSD? Can you buy a 7200rpm drive as a data drive and easily have room for it inside the iMac?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iMac i7 w/ SSD --> Add 2nd Drive?
- Thread starter sammyman
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Goo. I just realized that the optic drive is the reason 2 hard drives can't fit. Looks like I need a Mac Pro or I will have to give up the optic drive. Dang.
If you only order the SSD, the 3.5" drive bay comes empty, but ready for a drive.
You can have, at most, three drives in a new iMac. One must be the SSD configured from the factory (unless you're willing to do some serious hacking, as you noticed,) one is the standard 3.5" hard drive bay, which you can order empty if you get the SSD, one is the optical drive, which is standard.
I suppose with some creative hacking, it should be possible to cram two 2.5" drives in the space of the 3.5" drive, but I don't think the motherboard has a fourth SATA port, so you wouldn't be able to use it along with the factory SSD.
Also, the optical drive is a notebook-size drive, so while it is wide and deep enough to replace with a 3.5" desktop hard drive, it is too thin. Even if you took out the optical, you could only fit a 2.5" drive in its space.
You can have, at most, three drives in a new iMac. One must be the SSD configured from the factory (unless you're willing to do some serious hacking, as you noticed,) one is the standard 3.5" hard drive bay, which you can order empty if you get the SSD, one is the optical drive, which is standard.
I suppose with some creative hacking, it should be possible to cram two 2.5" drives in the space of the 3.5" drive, but I don't think the motherboard has a fourth SATA port, so you wouldn't be able to use it along with the factory SSD.
Also, the optical drive is a notebook-size drive, so while it is wide and deep enough to replace with a 3.5" desktop hard drive, it is too thin. Even if you took out the optical, you could only fit a 2.5" drive in its space.