I want to buy an iMac soon. I've been a windows user for years now, and I know that a pc with a normal HDD will become slower and slower as time goes on. I'm now using an SSD on my windows pc, and I can't really see any way of going back. Is this the same case with iMacs? I really want to get the ssd but apple charges 2x the amount for it as you can get a 240gb ssd for £240 now with read/write speeds of 275mb/s. But at the same time I do not feel comfortable installing the ssd myself, so I don't have much choice.
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imac without an ssd?
- Thread starter cinek
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I never felt any slow down on any of my Macs (iMac, MBP) over the years. The current iMac is blazing fast, unresponsiveness shouldn't worry you. Either way, I agree getting an SSD directly from Apple might be a financial suicide. There are plenty of good options being distributed by third party electronics store such as newegg and amazon... regarding the installation of the drive, it's pretty simple when you follow the many tutorials there are, including youtube ones. I don't know if they would install it for you at the Apple Store, but it's worth asking.
You do have a choice wait until the t-bolt units come out buy one with an ssd and use it for your osx/boot drive. Do not buy one until you read a few reviews and the fact that they boot is true.(unknown about boting as of today!).
If you do not want the extra piece of gear then you have less choice you will need to wait for a refurb unit see link.
all of the iMac refurbs
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac?mco=MjEwNzQ2Njk
ssd refurbs
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0JP1LL/A?mco=MTk0MjA0MzU
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0JN2LL/A?mco=MjEwNjA3MjE
http://store.apple.com/us/product/G0JP2LL/A?mco=MTkwOTc0MDE
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mate, you should not worry about specs like write or read sped, they don't really mean anything
just to let you know, i was very concerned about the kind of stuff in the past, and used to buy Intel SSD over other brands
even if read/write speeds were lower on the Intel, the overall SSD was faster than others
now i have chosen the Apple one, because i don't care any more about these specs
just to let you know, my CTO iMac 2011 with Apple SSD boots in 7 seconds
all the softwares launch in a blink of an eye
i will never see the difference between this SSD and another
and i save the pain in the ass of having to open the iMac myself and replacing the drive by a third-party SSD and keep my warranty safe
i'd rather buy an extra buck for the SSD apple which is installed by Apple prior to delivery rather than saving some money, getting minor improvements and killing the warranty
just to let you know, i was very concerned about the kind of stuff in the past, and used to buy Intel SSD over other brands
even if read/write speeds were lower on the Intel, the overall SSD was faster than others
now i have chosen the Apple one, because i don't care any more about these specs
just to let you know, my CTO iMac 2011 with Apple SSD boots in 7 seconds
all the softwares launch in a blink of an eye
i will never see the difference between this SSD and another
and i save the pain in the ass of having to open the iMac myself and replacing the drive by a third-party SSD and keep my warranty safe
i'd rather buy an extra buck for the SSD apple which is installed by Apple prior to delivery rather than saving some money, getting minor improvements and killing the warranty
I ordered my 27" iMac without the SSD. I haven't gotten it yet (it'll be here tomorrow) but I'm already having buyer's remorse.
But, I'm not too worried. I plan on adding (or upgrading the HDD to) an SSD some time in the future... perhaps next year when prices have come down (when they at least are close to a dollar or less per gig). I may just get an external Thunderbolt boot drive (as mentioned above) with an SSD when those become available, but I'm not afraid to tear the iMac apart if I have to
But, I'm not too worried. I plan on adding (or upgrading the HDD to) an SSD some time in the future... perhaps next year when prices have come down (when they at least are close to a dollar or less per gig). I may just get an external Thunderbolt boot drive (as mentioned above) with an SSD when those become available, but I'm not afraid to tear the iMac apart if I have to
truthfully, fwiw with my imac (without ssd) and my MBA (with ssd) i don't see any noticeable difference..i am extremely happy with the speed of both machines
here you have a OWC bracket for 3.5" to 2.5" for $18, and a 120GB SSD for $280 (with read/write speeds of 450mb/sec or even a little more). I did it on my iMac and there's no comparison with aNY 7200rpm HHD. this SSD is a big time killer
RoyalFlush,
Huge increase,
I work as a design engineer consultant for medical companies. I do design for medical instruments. I work with very big assemblies of 100+ components and all this is done in SolidWorks. I have this iMac 27" with 16MB memory and use Parallels to have Windows run my SolidWorks 3D solid model design program. I also have the program installed in Bootcamp but I see no much difference in performance vs. Parallels. Anyway, after upgrading with SSD, the boot time for OSX and Windows is fantastic. Plus opening and working with multiple 3D CAD files is a breeze.
If you want to upgrade, I would strongly suggest to get OWC-SSD and also 2.5" ==> 3.5" bracket to install your new drive.
RoyalFlushAK(s),