I was wondering if I buy their 1tb 27" model, does it have the slot or for me to upgrade my own unit to an ssd later on in the future, I want to keep the SSD and the 1TB drive at the same time. or do I need to order it like that from apple?
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imac ssd Drive
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basesloaded190
macrumors 68030
I would wait until there is a tear down by ifixit to confirm or refute that. In the past you had to buy brackets and other cables i believe to do this yourself. Its a pain and you may want to wait for TB external SSD drives which would be faster and less of a pain than opening up your iMac
External 1TB SSD would be heaven, considering it won't be inconveniently stuck in your iMac for the price you pay and you can use it on whatever.. but I heard that won't happen any time soon?
In regards to the OP.. from what I've heard from an Apple professional over the phone, is that I can update my 1TB to 2TB or an SSD in a few years if I want to via a technician.. so yes, these ones are possibly upgradeable if the previous weren't?
I just couldn't believe that this guy from Apple was trying his best to convince me NOT TO spend an extra £450 on the SSD option, very friendly and helpful; was talking me out of it for a good 20 minutes. Which says something. Seems pretty genuine to me.
I'm also on the fence about ordering my imac with or without the ssd option.
(forgive my lack of computer knowledge here....): I understand in basic terms, that having the OS and Apps installed on the ssd has many advantages over hhd, such as allowing the imac to boot up the OS and apps faster.
Question:
Lets take the iPhoto app as an example . . . If iPhoto is installed onto the ssd, it should/will launch the app faster than if it was installed onto the hdd - okay, I get that.
Now, once iPhoto has opened/launched, will it operate any faster or smoother if iPhoto is installed on a ssd vs. if it was on a hdd?
(forgive my lack of computer knowledge here....): I understand in basic terms, that having the OS and Apps installed on the ssd has many advantages over hhd, such as allowing the imac to boot up the OS and apps faster.
Question:
Lets take the iPhoto app as an example . . . If iPhoto is installed onto the ssd, it should/will launch the app faster than if it was installed onto the hdd - okay, I get that.
Now, once iPhoto has opened/launched, will it operate any faster or smoother if iPhoto is installed on a ssd vs. if it was on a hdd?
I've sold my macbook and had a 128gb ssd in it that I pulled. I'm hoping to get a thunderbolt enclosure and using it as an external boot drive. with thunderbolt it shouldnt hold it back at all I dont think.
Badger^2
macrumors 68000
Probably not. If your iPhoto library is anything like my iPhoto library -- it would eat up 1/2 of a 256 gig SSD. Same with my iTunes library. And my movies folder.
So your iPhoto library will have to be on the platter drive.
Same people who talk about their "tons of Aperture work with RAW files" -- well those files wont be fitting on a 256 gig SSD.
If the photos are on the SSD drive, then yes they will launch faster than if on the HDD. Now that said, if they are just average say 2MB JPG photos the difference will not be huge. If it is a very hi-res photo say 10MB JPG the difference will be more noticeable.
Makes sense . . thanks
edit: just read this article which explains it quite well
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/04/new-imacs-and-hdd-ssd-configurations-how-do-they-work/
Last edited:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-21-5-Inch-EMC-2428-Teardown/5485/1
iFixit tore it down and there is a spot to install a SSD
iFixit tore it down and there is a spot to install a SSD