Late 2011-13 iMac (Lion). New HDD/SSD

[LEONJERSEY]

Hi all!

Not sure if this is the right section but I recently purchased a used iMac from maybe 2010/11(boxed with keyboard & mouse for £100). It looks like new. I bought it for word processing and web surfing. Nothing heavy - it would suit my needs. It's a 21.5in. I believe it has an i7, ATI Radeon HD 5670 and upgraded to16GB.

Anyway, I believe the HDD is corrupted. I've tried everything. I'm not too hot on OSX but I have been into the Apple store a few times, they have been excellent so far as to provide me with a new install of Lion, one of the chaps even advised me to do it myself!

My question is, is it fixable? Can I do it myself and do I need any special tools?
Also, I'd rather an SSD but HDD is also fine - maybe 512GB.
I'm in the UK so any Amazon links you may provide, UK Amazon would be helpful.

Thanks for any help.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Best.

Leon.

 

[4sallypat]

If your iMac is the thick edge version (prior to the tapered edge in 2012+) look for the EMC number on the bottom of the stand to verify.

If yours is a 2010/2011 - then it will be very easy to access the internal drive & RAM.

The glass comes off using a suction device (iFixIt) as it's held in place with magnets.

With the inexpensive prices of SSD, I would opt for a 2.5" SATA SSD to replace the original HDD.

You can also upgrade the RAM as well. iFixIt or OWC has all the upgrade stuff you need.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi all!

Not sure if this is the right section but I recently purchased a used iMac from maybe 2010/11(boxed with keyboard & mouse for £100). It looks like new. I bought it for word processing and web surfing. Nothing heavy - it would suit my needs. It's a 21.5in. I believe it has an i7, ATI Radeon HD 5670 and upgraded to16GB.

Anyway, I believe the HDD is corrupted. I've tried everything. I'm not too hot on OSX but I have been into the Apple store a few times, they have been excellent so far as to provide me with a new install of Lion, one of the chaps even advised me to do it myself!

My question is, is it fixable? Can I do it myself and do I need any special tools?
Also, I'd rather an SSD but HDD is also fine - maybe 512GB.
I'm in the UK so any Amazon links you may provide, UK Amazon would be helpful.

Thanks for any help.

If you have any questions, just ask.

Best.

Leon.

Swapping the storage is an easy DIY job for your iMac 21.5" 2010 model.
Tools you'll need:
- You finger nails (need at least 3mm off the tip of your thumb)
- 2-3 plastic card (old credit cards, VIP card etc.)
- T6, T8, T10 hex torx driver
Parts:
- 3.5in to 2.5in adapter
- USB installer of the OS you like

You will need another working machine (PC, phone, tablets, etc) to watch some tutorial videos on Youtube.