Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I hope you don't care about your warranty because you most likely just invalidated it.

You don't. The only things that are not under Apple warranty is the SSD drive itself obviously, any damage you caused while adding the drive, and any damage that is caused by the drive. For example, if you end up with dust behind the screen, or forget to put the temperature sensor back, that wouldn't be covered by warranty. If the SSD drive bursts into flames and destroys your iMac, that wouldn't be covered by warranty.

It should be OK once OSX gets support for TRIM. Until then a drive with a really good Garbage Collector is needed to maintain the performance over time.

I personally would hope that someone develops a really good hybrid drive, like 1 TB hard drive + 16 GB SSD with some clever caching. That would give you almost all the speed of the SSD drive, plus the space of the hard drive, without the horrible cost of SSD. On my Mac, I don't care for the speed of the large files; the hard drive is ten times fast enough to play a one GB h.264 movie. The things that need to be fast fit in 16 GB easily. And if the SSD drive is just cache then you don't need TRIM support. (TRIM tells the drive that data has been deleted. A cache will just notice that you stopped reading the data and throw it out, whether it is deleted or not).
 
Is it really easy to open up the Imac and install a custom Hard drive, SSD and Ram? I would be afraid to do it.. that I would ruin it...
 
Is it really easy to open up the Imac and install a custom Hard drive, SSD and Ram? I would be afraid to do it.. that I would ruin it...

Read the original post for details about the installation and difficulty. It's not the easiest install to do if you lack the experience. But with enough time and patience it should be possible for anybody to do it.
 
Cheers nutty, thanks for the info.
Looking forward to hearing (and seeing) how you go bolen.

Also it would be nice if we could get a list of the exact (links?) parts that work well for the installation...please.
 
Cheers nutty, thanks for the info.
Looking forward to hearing (and seeing) how you go bolen.

Also it would be nice if we could get a list of the exact (links?) parts that work well for the installation...please.

What you'll need:

Oh and by the way, I've only got my iMac to wait for now:
FoBhK.jpg
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'll be ordering the new 27" i7 iMac soon enough, most likely in September. I'm definitely going to perform this mod, I think it's going to be a piece of cake. I've completely taken apart my Macbook Pro and although it was time consuming, it was fairly easy.
 
Hey everybody,

I've just received word from a certified Apple technician, that the fixation plate for the SSD in the iMac costs 39$. If one could get the same cables that Apple uses, and one of those plates, then it should be possible to make an AppleCare covered mod, right?

By the way; They want 220$ for the whole mod...
 
So unless the OP got written permission or is an AASP I'd say his warranty is gone.

You know there is a reason why "some" people prefer to send their machines to
an apple authorized repair center instead of sending it to Apples own repair center.

As long as you can reverse your modifications and no damage has been done
to the original machine, they will overlook it. They make no money rejecting repairs.
 
I won't need that - will fix it with this here...




:D

Yeah, my point was, that it was somehow possible to buy the original Apple parts to be able to install it like an Apple technician would, so that your warranty would stay intact.


Macfr3d said:
You know there is a reason why "some" people prefer to send their machines to
an apple authorized repair center instead of sending it to Apples own repair center.

As long as you can reverse your modifications and no damage has been done
to the original machine, they will overlook it. They make no money rejecting repairs.

That actually makes sense. They repair your computer and send the bill to Apple, right? Does your Apple repair center do that, or is that just an assumption? I guess you could always call them and ask if they have a problem with your custom install before bringing it in.

Another question concerning AppleCare: If an Apple certified repair center notices your modifications and decides not to repair your computer, will they inform Apple and globally void your warranty?
 
The warranty says:

"This warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; (b) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports; (c) to damage caused by use with non-Apple products; (d) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, flood, fire, earthquake or other external causes; (e) to damage caused by
operating the product outside the permitted or intended uses described by Apple; (f) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”); (g) to a product or part that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; or (h) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.

So unless the OP got written permission or is an AASP I'd say his warranty is gone.

I know I'm a bit late in reading this thread, but opening the machine for whatever reason and NOT damaging it. If it is not damages in the process of opening, it should mean it's not damaged and therefore the warranty in sill in play.:cool:
 
I know I'm a bit late in reading this thread, but opening the machine for whatever reason and NOT damaging it. If it is not damages in the process of opening, it should mean it's not damaged and therefore the warranty in sill in play.:cool:
Yes, but if you alter the product (iMac) functionality by adding something (like an SSD) you are technically out of warranty.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
...

Nutter said:
So, after much soul-searching I decided to attempt a DIY installation of a Corsair Force 240GB SSD in my brand new 27" i7 iMac. I couldn't quite bring myself to pay extra for Apple's SSD option, a Toshiba drive which is not only considerably slower than the Corsair Force when new, but also suffers from significant performance degradation over time. Given that OS X doesn't support TRIM for the moment, a Sandforce drive like the Corsair Force is a far better option, an opinion shared by Anandtech.

The installation was a success, but I must stress that it's not for the faint of heart! Replacing the built-in Hard Disk would be considerably easier than installing an additional SSD, but if you know what you're doing and want to give it a go, perhaps these tips will help. You should also consult the iFixit teardown of last year's iMac for details of screw locations and instructions for removing the display cables, which must be done with great care.

- As described in this OWC blog post, you will need a left-angled SATA cable (8" is enough) and a SATA Power Y-cable (6" is plenty). You should be able to buy both of these cables on eBay for just a few dollars. (Ignore the molex power cables, you need a power splitter with one male SATA power connector on one end and two female SATA power connectors on the other end.)

- There's no need to improvise any kind of drive cage or attachment mechanism to keep the drive in place. It's such a snug fit that it can't possibly go anywhere.

- You'll inevitably be touching the innards of your iMac at some point, so make sure you ground yourself somehow to avoid the possibility of static discharge killing a sensitive component.

- You can remove the glass panel on the front of the iMac with your fingernails alone. No need for suction cups! This is easiest done while the iMac is standing upright. The glass panel won't fall out because of the way it interlocks with the case at the bottom edge, just ease the top edge forward and then lift it upwards to free it.

- Once the display and HD are out of the way, you'll need to remove eight screws to loosen the motherboard enough to lift it forward and connect the left-angled SATA cable to the spare slot on the back of the motherboard. You'll have to use your head to work out which screws to remove, it's not entirely obvious. There's no need to remove any screws covered with warranty stickers.

- As mentioned, the space for the SSD is very tight. You'll have to slide it into place behind the wires that are there so that it's resting against the very back of the machine, and connect the SATA data and power cables once it's in place.

- When you reconnect the HD, make sure you don't forget about the temperature jumper cable!

- You should invest in some canned air to blow away dust before replacing the glass panel at the end of the installation.

That's it. A bit fiddly but well worthwhile in the end. I haven't had much chance to test the drive yet, but on a default installation of OS X I went to Applications -> Select All -> Open ... and it took ~2 seconds to open everything — no exaggeration. It shocked me, and I was expecting it to be fast.


Hopefully your sand force drives last longer than mine did or you will be going into that case every few weeks to put in a replacement
 
...

Oh and yeah your warranty is gone but its no big deal if something goes wrong just take out the ssd before you take it back to the apple store and they will never know
 
Oh and yeah your warranty is gone but its no big deal if something goes wrong just take out the ssd before you take it back to the apple store and they will never know

...not to forget, installing the OS and Applications on the HDD (assuming you've used the SSD for the OS) - you might need a 2nd working mac for that, in case of technical problems...

or: keep the original HDD with OSX and some "Alibidata" (some stuff so it's doesn't look entirely empty after a certain time of use) just for the case of a breakdown.
 
Dont worry about warranty

I had a non-unibody macbook pro 17", which came with a measly 160gb hdd. I removed this and replaced it with a 500gb 7200 drive. The process is not as intensive as the iMac but in the process you remove the back plate, ram, screws internal and external and remove the keyboard to reveal the hdd. All the cables that are attached to the hdd, are attached by tape and its obvious to anyone if it has been tampered with, also the screw heads have ever so slight wear on them when screwed and unscrewed.

I sent my macbook pro back several times, once for a screen replacement, Superdrive and for a keyboard replacement when the trackpad became slow and shaky. Apple repaired this without asking, even with the 500gb drive installed. As long as the adjustment you make are not the reasons for the problems you send your machine back for apple couldn't care less.

Apple could have said that me removing the keyboard could have caused the trackpad to stop working, but it was a defect so they replaced it. Dont worry about it!

I have heard that apple were developing a software to tell if any changes have been made to your machine to help with warranty disputes, until they do then there are no worries!
 
That's quite ballsy, sending your device to Apple with those obvious modifications ;). I thought Apple was pretty strict about that kind of stuff. But it just didn't catch their attention. I figure an SSD stuck somewhere behind cables is more easily identifiable as a diy installation..
 
I wonder if one of these types of mounts would fit in the new iMac?

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MM35A52CMB/

OWC makes another type of 2.5" mount which is much more pricier than the one you referenced. However, it was designed to replace the SD in notebooks, but I got one for my Mini.

It's called a data doubler. It is actually a very nice anodized aluminum piece, but about twice the price of the workable although cheaper Chinese made OBHC's.:D
 
Velcro?

Hi,

I know i just spent 2K on a computer so skimping on the extras is bad but could sticky back velcro be an option for mounting the drives?

I'm going to to go for dual SSDs on RAID I think....
 
Yes, but if you alter the product (iMac) functionality by adding something (like an SSD) you are technically out of warranty.

So, you cannot add memory?

Is it ok to put an SSD in a Mac Pro?

Get over this warranty nonsense. Just because it is not as straight forward of an install as with a Mac Pro, does not mean that you cannot open up and add an SSD to your iMac.

If you are not breaking any "warranty void" seals, you are not removing anything that should not be removed.

If you damage your iMac while working on it, it is your own fault.

Say you have a new car and you change your own oil and oil filter. When it comes time to put the drain plug bag in you over torque it and strip the threads. Should this be fixed under warranty? No. However, because you screwed up the oil drain plug does that mean that your transmission is no longer covered under warranty? Or your car's electrical system? Come on........... Common sense people............

If you are inexperienced with working on computers maybe this frightens you and that is fine. Maybe you don't want to work on your car either. That is fine. But stop with the nonsense.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.