It would be around $250 for a 512gb SSD and the labor. What do you all think? How many years can I expect updates out of this machine? My fusion drive is the 1tb version.
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Is it worth putting a SSD into my 2017 27" Fusion Drive iMac?
- Thread starter Jacoblee23
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At that price. Just get an external NVMe Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure. Then use a fast SSD. It'll be cheaper. Plus really easy to move to your next computer.
Be wary of that 'do it yourself' business. There are threads on this forum about folks turning their iMacs into expensive doorstops. Follow velocityg4's good advice, clone the current boot drive to the SSD when attached externally and select it as the boot drive in System Preferences > Startup Disk.
I got some quotes to do this my 2012 27" iMac a couple of years ago. Didn't end up doing it, but DID end up getting a Samsung T5 to use as the startup disk and running it via plain old USB 3.0. Even those modest specs made it like a new computer. Do it via NVMe TB3 and you'll be laughing.
A 2017 iMac has USBc ports on the back that support USB3.1 gen2.
Instead of opening it up, I would suggest that you add an EXTERNAL SSD and make it the boot drive.
There are 2 ways to go here.
FIRST WAY:
Get a USB3.1 gen2 drive. These will give read speeds in the 850-900MBps range.
You can either buy a "ready-made" drive (such as the Samsung t7), or put one together yourself using:
- a bare "nvme" blade SSD
and
- a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure (many are available).
SECOND WAY:
Get a thunderbolt3 SSD, such as the Samsung X5. This will give read speeds in the 2,000+MBps range. They can run on the hot side and be finicky, however.
If it was me, I'd choose "the first way", and build my own drive.
In fact, I did just that, although I use it for a bootable cloned backup, and not my primary boot drive...
Instead of opening it up, I would suggest that you add an EXTERNAL SSD and make it the boot drive.
There are 2 ways to go here.
FIRST WAY:
Get a USB3.1 gen2 drive. These will give read speeds in the 850-900MBps range.
You can either buy a "ready-made" drive (such as the Samsung t7), or put one together yourself using:
- a bare "nvme" blade SSD
and
- a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure (many are available).
SECOND WAY:
Get a thunderbolt3 SSD, such as the Samsung X5. This will give read speeds in the 2,000+MBps range. They can run on the hot side and be finicky, however.
If it was me, I'd choose "the first way", and build my own drive.
In fact, I did just that, although I use it for a bootable cloned backup, and not my primary boot drive...
Not worth it. You will get much faster speeds at a lower price from external Thunderbolt 3 SSDs such as Samsung's X5.
You'll be amazed at how much faster things are by replacing the fusion drive with an SSD. When I got my 2017 iMac 27" I ordered the internal SSD instead of the fusion drive. It was an amazing leap. Since then I've cloned the iMac to a bootable external SSD (Samsung X5 500GB) in order to use it on my wife's laptop when traveling. The laptop has an internal Apple SSD but it's not big enough to hold my setup as well. When I plug the X5 into the laptop and boot off it, it performs the same as off the internal SSD, but it acts like I'm on my iMac.
Using an external NVMe with Thunderbolt 3 such as the Samsung X5 I have is cheaper than the solution you ask about. No labor is involved except plugging it in. And of course configuring it as bootable and cloning your current system which you'd have to do anyway with an internal SSD. And the cloning would be easier because you simply clone to the attached external drive without having to store your fusion drive contents else where temporarily. You'll also have the advantage of still having the fusion drive as as extra location for storage.
BTW, I've had no problems with the X5. It's been solid as a rock.
Using an external NVMe with Thunderbolt 3 such as the Samsung X5 I have is cheaper than the solution you ask about. No labor is involved except plugging it in. And of course configuring it as bootable and cloning your current system which you'd have to do anyway with an internal SSD. And the cloning would be easier because you simply clone to the attached external drive without having to store your fusion drive contents else where temporarily. You'll also have the advantage of still having the fusion drive as as extra location for storage.
BTW, I've had no problems with the X5. It's been solid as a rock.
Good replies already. I would also look into the internal ssd you already have. If big enough I would try to separate the two drives, leave the HDD alone and make the internal ssd a boot only drive. If successful the external ssd won’t need to be as fast for good performance.
Will the Samsung t7 be a lot faster than my fusion drive? I am thinking of going this route because it is only $80. Isn't this drive a lot slower than the internal ssd's in Macs?
Is a Corvette a lot faster than a horse and buggy?
The internal Mac SSD is fast. It's also small. So, you're depending on the spinner for a lot of read tasks. I suppose it really depends on how you use the computer as to how much impact the HDD has or if you're doing most stuff off the SSD.
If it's a really limited scope then I suppose everything can just stay in cache after the first load. If things are taking a long time to load now. Then I'd say the SSD would be a big upgrade.
If yours is the 120GB SSD model. 2TB Fusion I think. Then you could consider uncoupling the Fusion Drive and make the internal SSD a standalone boot drive. Storing your apps and data on your hard drive. Possibly adding an external SSD for Apps and Photos sync. With the HDD for your other data.
There's all sorts of ways you can juggle your data, OS and software. To optimize your use of data storage and performance.
I think you'll find the T7 a big improvement. Most people do find going all SSD is a big improvement.
So far I’m unable to install the Mac OS into this ssd. Every time I get to the end where the Mac gets ready to reset for the install I get this error. I’ve followed all the steps and even tried doing it with the Mac in safe mode but I always get this error. Any ideas?
Attachments
I figured out the problem. I did extended journal. I found online where someone said with this drive it has to be APFS. I am now syncing everything back from iCloud and re-downloading my apps!
Just an update: I am glad I didn't spend $250 for the apple authorized service provider to put in an internal SSD. This Samsung T7 has changed boot up times drastically. I remember before every time I would re-start my computer it took a really long time for everything to load back up before I could start using it again, it would beachball every time I would try. Now it just loads right up just like my other apple devices with an SSD. Everything seems so much snappier and way less beachballs.
I would open up something I hadn't ever opened before that wasn't already on the small 32gb ssd on the fusion and it would take a bit. This was the best $80 I have ever spent. I hope it continues to work well and doesn't get too overheated.
I would open up something I hadn't ever opened before that wasn't already on the small 32gb ssd on the fusion and it would take a bit. This was the best $80 I have ever spent. I hope it continues to work well and doesn't get too overheated.