I've had this computer for about 6+ years now, I haven't really done any heavy lifting on it. I mainly use it to code and browse the web. After moving away from Mavericks I noticed that the performance went completely down. So, I thought about removing the old drive and put in an SSD. Now, the only question would be if it will be worth the hassle. Someone told me to just get a new iMac, but I want to wait a little bit more until the new iMacs come out, others told me to get a PCIe SSD, which I think my computer has a slot for.
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Late 2013 iMac 27 SSD upgrade worth it in 2020?
- Thread starter mtvd8
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Posts your specs please.
If you are using a HDD, it has been reported a bunch of places about the slowdowns with Mojave, but especially Catalina on HDDs.
I have a different opinion on the matter, if you are overall happy with your Mac and it is running well with the exception of something that has an easy and cheap solution, why spend $$$$ for a new Mac?
The SSD blade wouldn't be much faster than replacing the internal HDD with a internal SATA SSD. While it does take some skill and special tools to open up your iMac, it really isn't that bad if you have experience with electronics. There are so many DIY upgrade videos on YouTube and iFixit how-tos are especially helpful. If you have the tools already, this could be the cheapest way of getting an SSD on your iMac.
If opening the iMac isn't for you, there are some really cheap external solutions.
Actually, you can get a 1TB SSD and a USB to SATA cable for less than $100 in the US, and that is all you need. This would be much faster and responsive than your HDD. Not as fast as internal solutions, but a great compromise. The biggest downside is that USB drives do not have TRIM support on MacOS. Considering you are using a HDD, this really isn't that big of a deal.
There are faster external solutions. The fastest would be an TB3 NVMe drive. I am currently using a Samsung X5 on my Late 2012 iMac. This is the fastest possible solution internal or external for our Macs without getting into striping RAIDs.
What did you move to?
If you are using a HDD, it has been reported a bunch of places about the slowdowns with Mojave, but especially Catalina on HDDs.
That is a popular opinion for this forum as well. People are quick to tell you that your Mac is old, outdated and to get something new.
I have a different opinion on the matter, if you are overall happy with your Mac and it is running well with the exception of something that has an easy and cheap solution, why spend $$$$ for a new Mac?
Do you have the 27"?
The SSD blade wouldn't be much faster than replacing the internal HDD with a internal SATA SSD. While it does take some skill and special tools to open up your iMac, it really isn't that bad if you have experience with electronics. There are so many DIY upgrade videos on YouTube and iFixit how-tos are especially helpful. If you have the tools already, this could be the cheapest way of getting an SSD on your iMac.
If opening the iMac isn't for you, there are some really cheap external solutions.
Actually, you can get a 1TB SSD and a USB to SATA cable for less than $100 in the US, and that is all you need. This would be much faster and responsive than your HDD. Not as fast as internal solutions, but a great compromise. The biggest downside is that USB drives do not have TRIM support on MacOS. Considering you are using a HDD, this really isn't that big of a deal.
There are faster external solutions. The fastest would be an TB3 NVMe drive. I am currently using a Samsung X5 on my Late 2012 iMac. This is the fastest possible solution internal or external for our Macs without getting into striping RAIDs.
Specs: iMac 27" Late 2013. 3.2 Ghz, Intel Code 5. The ram is the same 8gb.
I moved from Mavericks to Yosemite and then to Catalina. The performance kept going down as the OS changed. I am currently using Catalina, and the performance is abysmal. I am also thinking of switching the ram.
I've successfully opened 3 iMacs. They were 21 inches tho, and all were basic repairs. One of them was installing a new screen, another one was switching a speaker, and the third one required me to fetch something a friend's kid had put inside the iMac through the openings at the bottom and they couldn't get it out. I don't have any experience with 27" although I think they might be the same to open, with a little more room inside.
I will look into the external solutions you have pointed at.
Thank you for responding.
I moved from Mavericks to Yosemite and then to Catalina. The performance kept going down as the OS changed. I am currently using Catalina, and the performance is abysmal. I am also thinking of switching the ram.
I've successfully opened 3 iMacs. They were 21 inches tho, and all were basic repairs. One of them was installing a new screen, another one was switching a speaker, and the third one required me to fetch something a friend's kid had put inside the iMac through the openings at the bottom and they couldn't get it out. I don't have any experience with 27" although I think they might be the same to open, with a little more room inside.
I will look into the external solutions you have pointed at.
Thank you for responding.
If you can confidently open your Mac, I would consider replacing the 3.5" HDD with a SATA SSD. You will need the tools, a 3.5"/2.5" adapter, the SSD, and the glue strips for the display. I forget if you need an external temp sensor for that model, but there are options for that, both HW and SW.
Using a SSD would help out a lot, and you can use the Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder to determine whether you need more RAM. I would use it while doing what you typically do on your Mac:
Regardless of if you get a SSD or not, if you do not need Catalina for any reason, I would consider using an older OS. High Sierra is rock solid, and Mojave would probably be a better experience than Catalina.
I figured as much. APFS and HDDs don't work well together, and it seems like Catalina made that worse somehow.
Using a SSD would help out a lot, and you can use the Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder to determine whether you need more RAM. I would use it while doing what you typically do on your Mac:
View memory usage in Activity Monitor on Mac
In Activity Monitor, view the amount of system memory being used on your Mac, including physical, compressed, wired, and app memory.
support.apple.com
Regardless of if you get a SSD or not, if you do not need Catalina for any reason, I would consider using an older OS. High Sierra is rock solid, and Mojave would probably be a better experience than Catalina.
What years?
There are other external solutions I didn't mention. Your iMac has a SD card slot that can be used as an external boot drive. I have never done this, as the high speed SD cards are really expensive, but if you have one laying around, give it a try. You would probably see speeds up to 250-300MBps if using the 300MBps SD cards.
OP:
If you don't feel like opening it, just get an external USB3 SSD, and plug that in and set it up to be the new boot drive.
You'll see read speeds in the 420-430MBps range.
Although this is nowhere near as fast as the newest iMacs with built-in SSDs, it will still make it feel "snappier" and much more responsive.
You could buy one that's "ready-to-go", or buy a "bare" 2.5" SSD and an external enclosure like this:
(just snaps together)
I reckon 500gb would be a "good enough" size to keep you going for a while.
You could still use the internal for storing large libraries of movies, music, etc.
You could use CarbonCopyCloner (which is FREE to download and use for 30 days) to "clone over" the internal drive to the external.
If a 500gb SSD is "too small for everything", use CCC's option to clone only "some" items to create a "selective clone". You do this by "un-checking" things that you wish to leave behind.
One advantage of booting from the external is that in the future, when you get a new Mac, it takes 10 seconds to disconnect the SSD from the old one. Then use it for your "migration source" to the new one, and afterwards you can "re-purpose" it for other uses if you wish.
If you don't feel like opening it, just get an external USB3 SSD, and plug that in and set it up to be the new boot drive.
You'll see read speeds in the 420-430MBps range.
Although this is nowhere near as fast as the newest iMacs with built-in SSDs, it will still make it feel "snappier" and much more responsive.
You could buy one that's "ready-to-go", or buy a "bare" 2.5" SSD and an external enclosure like this:
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)
tinyurl.com
I reckon 500gb would be a "good enough" size to keep you going for a while.
You could still use the internal for storing large libraries of movies, music, etc.
You could use CarbonCopyCloner (which is FREE to download and use for 30 days) to "clone over" the internal drive to the external.
If a 500gb SSD is "too small for everything", use CCC's option to clone only "some" items to create a "selective clone". You do this by "un-checking" things that you wish to leave behind.
One advantage of booting from the external is that in the future, when you get a new Mac, it takes 10 seconds to disconnect the SSD from the old one. Then use it for your "migration source" to the new one, and afterwards you can "re-purpose" it for other uses if you wish.
