Hi everyone, I bought an iMac Pro a while back with a 2 TB SSD, and I would like to know if anyone has any knowledge about upgrading the SSD inside? I read online that the SSD isn't soldered which kind of gives hope, but there isn't much information besides that. I don't want to use an external drive at the moments (all my Thunderbolt and USB ports, including hubs and docks, are taken up), so I was wondering if there was a way to do it yourself or though Apple. Thanks.
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iMac Pro iMac Pro SSD upgrade?
- Thread starter AnonMac50
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The only internal upgrade for your SSD is Apple's 4TB SSD.
Keep in mind that the SSD in the iMac Pro is raw flash storage on two cards, installed in a RAID configuration. The controller for the SSD is on the T2 chip, not on the SSD chips. So the SSDs are ultimately proprietary.
If you really need more storage, your only option on the iMac Pro is an external solution.
Keep in mind that the SSD in the iMac Pro is raw flash storage on two cards, installed in a RAID configuration. The controller for the SSD is on the T2 chip, not on the SSD chips. So the SSDs are ultimately proprietary.
If you really need more storage, your only option on the iMac Pro is an external solution.
Your guess as to how that would work will be as good as anybody's. You want to test it out on your what, $6000 machine? Go right ahead! And then, if successful, you can figure out what to do with the $800+ worth of proprietary SSD chips that you removed...
If you are asking this question, then no, it wouldn't work. Do you routinely design and fabricate your own PCBs to mount the chips on? Are you capable of performing wave soldering (or whatever the technique is used today to solder chips to PCBs)?
At this point in my rant I'm determining that by chips you mean the whole component. DO you mean "But what if I got the Apple 4TB replacement part, could I do this myself"? The answer there is unknown: We don't know yet if just swapping the part is sufficient or do they register something with the T2 (which is opaque to us at the moment) such as serial numbers to make it work.
Summary: If you are asking if you could do this with raw NAND, you don't have enough industry background to do the work yourself.
Luckily, you can daisy chain as many as 6 Thunderbolt devices. iMac Pro also has 10gigabit ethernet which makes NAS a viable option...
Buying a fully specced iMac Pro will be much cheaper that sourcing tools and skills to do this.
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Most home-quality NAS can't come close to saturating a 10Gbit link. First off, they come with 1Gbit connectivity, so unless you DIY it with another server acting as a NAS and source your own 10Gbit connections, it's not likely to be very performant. Even if you are a good DIY computer techie, you'll have to tune it and mess with it and be lucky to get a few hundred MB/s, much less than the 2500-3000 MB/s you get with the iMac Pro local Flash.
^^^ THIS!
[doublepost=1533748720][/doublepost]By the way, I run an iMac Pro with 1TB SSD. For data I use a 2TB Samsung T5. It's only 500-ish MB/s but that's sufficient for my data. I've been an Flash and SSD professional in my day job since 2009 so I've been all-flash for primary data for a while, with HDD as secondary (backup). I do have some exceptions, my past 2012 iMac was Fusion Drive, but I switched out to an external SSD for boot and primary data, Fusion for music/video type media, Synology NAS (HDD) for backup and basic file services. My Mac mini Servers are all converted to Fusion drive, with a large 512GB SSD portion and the stock 1TB HDD, so they work pretty darned well most of the time.
@AnonMac50 I would just expand with a Samsung T5 or maybe (at much greater cost) an external TB array and call it a day. Of course unless you are doing really active data manipulation on TBs of data constantly, then you are probably a pro and should upgrade to the better spec'd factory iMac Pro.
That's pretty much what I meant. Frankly, searching online didn't prove to be of much help so I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them (either as an authorised service or a DIY). Like I mentioned earlier, I don't mind taking it to an Apple Store to get it done. The is no way I'm gonna make my own NAND chips, I don't think that's worth the effort.
Wish I'd known 3 months ago I'd be running out of storage so fast.
[doublepost=1533748970][/doublepost]
Most home-quality NAS can't come close to saturating a 10Gbit link. First off, they come with 1Gbit connectivity, so unless you DIY it with another server acting as a NAS and source your own 10Gbit connections, it's not likely to be very performant. Even if you are a good DIY computer techie, you'll have to tune it and mess with it and be lucky to get a few hundred MB/s, much less than the 2500-3000 MB/s you get with the iMac Pro local Flash.
^^^ THIS!
[doublepost=1533748720][/doublepost]By the way, I run an iMac Pro with 1TB SSD. For data I use a 2TB Samsung T5. It's only 500-ish MB/s but that's sufficient for my data. I've been an Flash and SSD professional in my day job since 2009 so I've been all-flash for primary data for a while, with HDD as secondary (backup). I do have some exceptions, my past 2012 iMac was Fusion Drive, but I switched out to an external SSD for boot and primary data, Fusion for music/video type media, Synology NAS (HDD) for backup and basic file services. My Mac mini Servers are all converted to Fusion drive, with a large 512GB SSD portion and the stock 1TB HDD, so they work pretty darned well most of the time.
@AnonMac50 I would just expand with a Samsung T5 or maybe (at much greater cost) an external TB array and call it a day. Of course unless you are doing really active data manipulation on TBs of data constantly, then you are probably a pro and should upgrade to the better spec'd factory iMac Pro.
As a worst case scenario, I'd probably get an external TB SSD and symlink things over, but that would be a pain. Or I may try running Windows on an external USB drive, as I don't usually need the fast SSD speeds on my Windows most of the time
Just a note. There is a chance that if you bought the 2TB storage option three months ago and now running out of storage whilst having all external ports taken, even the 4GB upgrade won't help you
Perhaps rather than SSD upgrade, what you should really think about is to reconsider your storage strategy as such. Are you a video content producer or something? This is not an uncommon problem. In fact, most people inclining towards the iMac Pro 4TB option should think twice.
Perhaps rather than SSD upgrade, what you should really think about is to reconsider your storage strategy as such. Are you a video content producer or something? This is not an uncommon problem. In fact, most people inclining towards the iMac Pro 4TB option should think twice.
My recommendation would be to buy one of these:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/exp...9.1950716961.1533759951-1624153617.1533579809
Then place as many NVME SSDs in it as you need, up to 4x2TB. If your TB ports are full you will need to daisy chain.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/exp...9.1950716961.1533759951-1624153617.1533579809
Then place as many NVME SSDs in it as you need, up to 4x2TB. If your TB ports are full you will need to daisy chain.
This is exactly what I was going to recommend as well. You can achieve blazing fast speeds and have up to 8TB. It really is a great option and is the route I’ll probably go when I outgrow the 4TB of flash storage in my iMac Pro.
But you can only put in 4TB max internally in the iMP so if you need to go beyond that then I think the above solutions proposed are the only way to get close to internal NVMe flash speeds using Thunderbolt with a lot more storage (as you can daisy chain those cradles too I believe), as Thunderbolt is based on PCIe. USB3 isn’t going to get to those speeds I expect.
Coming to a server rack near you... 1 Petabyte should cover you in 1U rack space.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/10/intels-first-ruler-ssd-holds-32tb/
https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/10/intels-first-ruler-ssd-holds-32tb/
(Sorry to revive an old threat, but it's the most relevant I could find)
Apple is now selling the SSDs for its Mac Pro 2019, and from what I can see online they should be compatible with the 2017 iMac. Here's the link for the 1TB version, you can find the large ones linked on that page as well:
Apple is now selling the SSDs for its Mac Pro 2019, and from what I can see online they should be compatible with the 2017 iMac. Here's the link for the 1TB version, you can find the large ones linked on that page as well:
1TB SSD Kit for Mac Pro
The 1TB SSD Kit for Mac Pro enables you to upgrade the internal SSD storage capacity of your Mac Pro. This kit, containing two 512GB modules, replaces the current SSD module(s) in your system. Installation required.
www.apple.com
Thanks! I was wondering about that for a while actually. Are you able to provide some regarding using it in an iMac Pro? I wanna look in to it more (and haven't been finding much info myself).(Sorry to revive an old threat, but it's the most relevant I could find)
Apple is now selling the SSDs for its Mac Pro 2019, and from what I can see online they should be compatible with the 2017 iMac. Here's the link for the 1TB version, you can find the large ones linked on that page as well:
1TB SSD Kit for Mac Pro
The 1TB SSD Kit for Mac Pro enables you to upgrade the internal SSD storage capacity of your Mac Pro. This kit, containing two 512GB modules, replaces the current SSD module(s) in your system. Installation required.www.apple.com
What did Apple Service Center say when you contacted them about the upgrade service?
Have you watch this video?
In the Apple Store link above, they did mention:
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I can't remember if I did end up asking them or not. Would have been a couple of years back if that was the case.
My iMac did have a major hardware failure sometime late last year or early this year, where I luckily had AppleCare+. The Apple people sent people up to my apartment to work fix my computer (actually turned out to need attempts) where they ended up replacing most of the computer a few times (only things left unchanged were the screen, fans, and speakers). They took it apart in front of me. One of the things they replaced was the logic board, which for some reason also had the socketed RAM and CPU on the board itself. The SSDs were separate, but they had to replace them anyway, cause my SSDs wouldn't work on the new board. Every time they replaced the board they also replaced the SSDs. They then needed to put the computer into DFU mode to set it up, and authorize most of the new parts with Apple servers, otherwise the computer wouldn't boot (SSDs, logic board, and power supply I think were the ones that were required). So I imagine I wouldn't be able to change the SSD on my own. The Apple store link only mentions the Mac Pro, which is what worries me (as in, whether the Configurator app let me set it up). The price is too high for me to risk buying.
Interestingly, OWC also said that the computer actually supports up to 512 GB of RAM, so I might bump the RAM up in the future if I feel it's too limiting (I can make do now).
I ordered a 2TB kit from Apple and will be installing then into an iMac Pro that is having SSD issues (it often fails to boot, but has been running from an external SSD for a few months without issues now, so it has to be the internal SSD). I'll update this when I've confirmed they're compatible.
I didn't think Apple sold this direct to customers.
Edit: So I read back up through the replies and it appears you're installing the SSDs from a Mac Pro in the iMac?
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I am unsure if the iMac Pro uses the exact same SSD modules that the 2019 Mac Pro uses. If it does, then you ought to be able to go up to 8TB (albeit at a seriously costly premium). Apple only officially supports upgrading the Mac Pro's SSDs (and not the SSD of either the iMac Pro or the 4TB/8TB models of 2020 27" iMac, which are semi-modular as well). In either case, you'd lose all data on the modules that you'd be pulling and you'd need to do a complete DFU mode restore of the T2 chip from another Mac with Apple Configurator 2.
Certainly, if the 2019 Mac Pro's modules are not going to be compatible with the iMac Pro, you ought to be able to use the OEM parts for the 4TB drive that goes into that iMac. Though that might be loads trickier (and might require buying them from an Apple Authorized Service Provider rather than from Apple directly). I can't imagine that it will be terribly cost effective (but having been an iMac owner with a constantly full internal drive at one point in my life, I definitely empathize with wanting more internal storage; especially when the iMac in question is a complete beast).
Haha this is actually the only Mac I have with storage that I can't easily upgrade myself. Hopefully it would be doable.
Well looks like the Mac Pro SSDs are not compatible. They fit perfectly and look identical apart from the label, but after installation the iMac Pro doesn't POST. Putting it in DFU mode and trying to restore via Apple Configurator results in error:
If anybody has another idea, I'll gladly try it. But it looks like Apple just firmware-locked it.
If anybody has another idea, I'll gladly try it. But it looks like Apple just firmware-locked it.