Is it possible to install an ssd on a 2008 iMac?

[Star Nuts]

Or is it limited to 2011's?

 

[Mike in Kansas]

I installed it in my 2008 24" iMac. It's as simple as swapping out the HDD for the SSD.

 

[cvaldes]

Or is it limited to 2011's?

I did it to my 2006 MacBook.

Apple uses industry standard 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs in their computer models other than the MacBook Air. Today's drives can be slipped into probably any Mac built in the past ten years (apart from the aforementioned Air).

 

[GizmoDVD]

Yep!

I put a SSD in my iMac and Velcro'ed it to the side as I didn't have a 3.5 to 2.5 converter tray.

 

[robgendreau]

Don't wanna hijack, but have any of you who've done this measured speed gains in real-world tasks?

Although the 2008's are behind on processor speed, I'd think that using an SSD might make the 2008 seem speedier than a 2011 for some tasks that aren't processor intensive, like PS filters or video conversion.

And the irony is that it's progressively more difficult to replace stuff in iMacs as they get newer. Bottom line being whether a used 2008 with an SSD is better than a newish 2011 without?

 

[Mike in Kansas]

Don't wanna hijack, but have any of you who've done this measured speed gains in real-world tasks?

Although the 2008's are behind on processor speed, I'd think that using an SSD might make the 2008 seem speedier than a 2011 for some tasks that aren't processor intensive, like PS filters or video conversion.

And the irony is that it's progressively more difficult to replace stuff in iMacs as they get newer. Bottom line being whether a used 2008 with an SSD is better than a newish 2011 without?

My 2008 iMac boot times went from 59 seconds to 18 seconds when I swapped out my 1GB 7200RPM HDD with a SATAIII (although the bus speed only supports SATAII) 240GB SSD. Programs open up in one "bump" of the icon, even Aperture. Aperture brushes, noise reduction and blur are so much faster, although that is tough to actually measure.

The downside with the 2008 is that they only accept 6GB RAM max; the newer machines are more advantaged with newer, faster RAM.

I used a converter tray from OWC; the SSD slides into the tray, and the tray has holes that line up with the installation tabs in the iMac. It also makes it so the data and power "prongs" are in the same spot as with a standard HDD.