is it really possible to have an ssd installed by an authorized technician to an iMac

[hololoy112]

I have an imac 2011 27 that i want a ssd to be installed.
while i can do it my self , i would prefer that is to be installed by an authorized technitian.
I've talked to them and the response i got was it is not possible to add an ssd to imac as a second drive.
He is not aware of that it is possible, so it is normal for him to think that i can't be done.
He also told me that only apple ssd can be installed which is not true either.

I've read in several places where people took their imacs to certified technitians and have their ssd's installed by them for an installation price.

I need some kind of approval from apple that it can be done, but don't know how can i acquire it.
Since i don't have apple care yet, and i don't want pay 50 dollars just to ask a question, i would really appreciate if someone can show me a way.

thanks in advance.

btw i'm in turkey if anyone needs to know.

 

[Orlandoech]

I have an imac 2011 27 that i want a ssd to be installed.
while i can do it my self , i would prefer that is to be installed by an authorized technitian.
I've talked to them and the response i got was it is not possible to add an ssd to imac as a second drive.
He is not aware of that it is possible, so it is normal for him to think that i can't be done.
He also told me that only apple ssd can be installed which is not true either.

I've read in several places where people took their imacs to certified technitians and have their ssd's installed by them for an installation price.

I need some kind of approval from apple that it can be done, but don't know how can i acquire it.
Since i don't have apple care yet, and i don't want pay 50 dollars just to ask a question, i would really appreciate if someone can show me a way.

thanks in advance.

btw i'm in turkey if anyone needs to know.

I talked to a 3rd party "authorized" shop as well and they were f-n idiots to say the least, they don't know sh|t. I would just buy a Seagate Goflex Tbolt Adapta ($99) and an Apple TBolt cable ($49) and call it a day for less than what a shop would charge and still keep your warranty.

 

[boraxatude]

I have an imac 2011 27 that i want a ssd to be installed.
while i can do it my self , i would prefer that is to be installed by an authorized technitian.
I've talked to them and the response i got was it is not possible to add an ssd to imac as a second drive.

Yes of course it is possible. I have no idea where you would go in Turkey, but there are several certified Apple service centers in Los Angeles and they all do it. Just be specific with them beforehand i.e. one center said that I would have to lose the superdrive. Not true at all. I went to another one, and they just ordered a bracket and cable and a couple of days later, I had a super fast SSD installed as my boot drive. No problems. Actually, in the process, they discovered that my logic board was corrupt and the SSD wouldn't boot. Since the computer is new, they installed a new logic board for free.

 

[dqpassat]

Yes of course it is possible. I have no idea where you would go in Turkey, but there are several certified Apple service centers in Los Angeles and they all do it. Just be specific with them beforehand i.e. one center said that I would have to lose the superdrive. Not true at all. I went to another one, and they just ordered a bracket and cable and a couple of days later, I had a super fast SSD installed as my boot drive. No problems. Actually, in the process, they discovered that my logic board was corrupt and the SSD wouldn't boot. Since the computer is new, they installed a new logic board for free.

Would you mind sharing who/where this apple service center is in LA? I'm in OC and I'm interested in having an SSD put into my iMac.

thanks

 

[EricT43]

I talked to a 3rd party "authorized" shop as well and they were f-n idiots to say the least, they don't know sh|t. I would just buy a Seagate Goflex Tbolt Adapta ($99) and an Apple TBolt cable ($49) and call it a day for less than what a shop would charge and still keep your warranty.

Adding a drive doesn't void the warranty, unless you physically break something doing it. In that case they will not fix your mistake for free, but the rest of the computer will still be covered.

In any case, with more affordable Thunderbolt storage on the way, I am inclined to agree with your solution, or something like it. As long as there are no issues with the drives going to sleep, this would be a very easy solution to implement.

I would just have to get over the mental hurdle of having an external boot disk. It just doesn't feel right to me.

 

[Richdmoore]

Funny, back in the Apple 2 days, it was weird not to see two external disk drives......

The sexy setup was the two drives integrated into one case....

I guess with external thunderbolt drives and computer that are not meant to be opened by end users, we are coming full circle.

 

[boraxatude]

Would you mind sharing who/where this apple service center is in LA? I'm in OC and I'm interested in having an SSD put into my iMac.

thanks

Mac Hollywood on Sunset near the Arclight. You also might want to look into shipping or drop-shipping your iMac to macsales.com I think in the end, they would have been a little cheaper, given that I bought the SSD from them. They were the first to come up with a solution to replacing the stock drive/temp issue and are highly recommended.

That being said, Mac Hollywood was very responsive and a good local solution. After discovering some dust inside the display, I took it back and they immediately opened it up and got rid of it.

 

[hololoy112]

guys thanks for the responses.

while I am aware that i can install it myself, all i wanted to do is to have it done by someone who has authorization. I will buy apple care in a month or two so i can just call and ask.

Apple does not operate in Turkey by it self, it uses a company named Bilkom and their service policy for products that are not bought from them is a pain in the ... .

It is really sad when you just know more about something then someone whose job is that.

Yesterday, when i was talking about the installation with the man, i realized that i was talking for nothing. He told me that he was disassembling iMacs everyday, but he didn't even know there is place to put the ssd. And i didn't asked him, if there is not any space for a second disk of 2.5" how on earth does apple do it with their factory ssd installed machines.

Just hit me, maybe he didn't know the ssd is 2.5??

 

[theSeb]

guys thanks for the responses.

while I am aware that i can install it myself, all i wanted to do is to have it done by someone who has authorization. I will buy apple care in a month or two so i can just call and ask.

Apple does not operate in Turkey by it self, it uses a company named Bilkom and their service policy for products that are not bought from them is a pain in the ... .

It is really sad when you just know more about something then someone whose job is that.

Yesterday, when i was talking about the installation with the man, i realized that i was talking for nothing. He told me that he was disassembling iMacs everyday, but he didn't even know there is place to put the ssd. And i didn't asked him, if there is not any space for a second disk of 2.5" how on earth does apple do it with their factory ssd installed machines.

Just hit me, maybe he didn't know the ssd is 2.5??

What other size could a SSD HD be? I wouldn't trust this technician with a kettle.