Hi I was wondering, is it possible to use an external SSD on an iMac mid 2007? (Because replacing internal hard drive or whatever that process is to install the internal SSD looks annoying lol). Anyway has anyone done this, is there a speed improvement, and lastly if possible any external SSD models that you can recommend? Thanks!
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 (mid 2007) External SSD?
- Thread starter iapple12399
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Hi!
You can install an external SSD in a FW800 enclosure, but the problem will be the speed of this old interface: FW800 is about 85MB/s, which is slower than a simple HDD (100-130MB/s)...
As the poster above mentions, the firewire800 bus will limit the speeds of the SSD, which are considerably higher.
If you go this route, get an enclosure for the SSD that has BOTH firewire800 AND USB3 connections. At some point in the future, you may move to another Mac, and the USB3 capabilities will GREATLY improve the drive's performance.
HOWEVER -- you have to consider that the iMac is now 8 years old. There's not much you can really do that will improve its speed to any degree.
It might be better to take the money you would spend on the SSD and enclosure, and put that towards either a new iMac, or maybe a new Mac Mini. Either will run circles around the 2007 iMac!
If you go this route, get an enclosure for the SSD that has BOTH firewire800 AND USB3 connections. At some point in the future, you may move to another Mac, and the USB3 capabilities will GREATLY improve the drive's performance.
HOWEVER -- you have to consider that the iMac is now 8 years old. There's not much you can really do that will improve its speed to any degree.
It might be better to take the money you would spend on the SSD and enclosure, and put that towards either a new iMac, or maybe a new Mac Mini. Either will run circles around the 2007 iMac!
I really wouldn't recommend going external.
I put an SSD into the iMac my mother uses in her office a couple years back and it has made it much quicker and able to cope with Mavericks and Yosemite. I still use it a fair bit as it's easy to get to where it's located in the house.
Her uses are pretty simple still, Mail, Safari, Office, iTunes, some iPhoto/Aperture and the like. But It'll still run iMovie just fine too. I didn't have my MBP on me and I needed to stitch together a quick movie off my camera (1080p) and it handled the task pretty well for it's age and limited hardware. I was pleasantly surprised even if it took a while to export (2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo).
I did it myself and it really wasn't that hard. You just have to read a good guide (iFixit) and have the tools (torx bits and a suction cup, and tape if you go my method
).
A simple 128GB SSD is dirt cheap these days ($55 on Amazon) and well worth it. Make sure you've got at least 4GB RAM too. It'll run just fine.
Yeah, you could put it towards a new mac, but for how cheap a decent SSD is, why not go for it? I've put a few in some '07-'08 MacBooks and the users are quite pleased. They don't care if they are stuck at Lion, it does what they need it to and is much cheaper than a new model with power they don't use.
I put an SSD into the iMac my mother uses in her office a couple years back and it has made it much quicker and able to cope with Mavericks and Yosemite. I still use it a fair bit as it's easy to get to where it's located in the house.
Her uses are pretty simple still, Mail, Safari, Office, iTunes, some iPhoto/Aperture and the like. But It'll still run iMovie just fine too. I didn't have my MBP on me and I needed to stitch together a quick movie off my camera (1080p) and it handled the task pretty well for it's age and limited hardware. I was pleasantly surprised even if it took a while to export (2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo).
I did it myself and it really wasn't that hard. You just have to read a good guide (iFixit) and have the tools (torx bits and a suction cup, and tape if you go my method
).A simple 128GB SSD is dirt cheap these days ($55 on Amazon) and well worth it. Make sure you've got at least 4GB RAM too. It'll run just fine.
Yeah, you could put it towards a new mac, but for how cheap a decent SSD is, why not go for it? I've put a few in some '07-'08 MacBooks and the users are quite pleased. They don't care if they are stuck at Lion, it does what they need it to and is much cheaper than a new model with power they don't use.