Late 27" 2015 iMac SSD Replacement. Worth it?

[Robbosan]

Hi All,
I have a late 2015 3.3GHZ with 2TB fusion drive, have 24gb ram installed, it's nearly 5 years old, have had the screen replaced twice by Apple with Apple care for pink edge, second one was in February this year and all is good and it seems like new.
Have been quoted $480aud here to install a 1TBSSD not interested in doing myself, will be a tax deduction. I only have 500gb used now.

Will it make that much of a difference and worth doing to hopefully get another 5 years out of it. I do have a base model 2020 Air that is faster.

 

[EugW]

Hi All,
I have a late 2015 3.3GHZ with 2TB fusion drive, have 24gb ram installed, it's nearly 5 years old, have had the screen replaced twice by Apple with Apple care for pink edge, second one was in February this year and all is good and it seems like new.
Have been quoted $480aud here to install a 1TBSSD not interested in doing myself, will be a tax deduction. I only have 500gb used now.

Will it make that much of a difference and worth doing to hopefully get another 5 years out of it. I do have a base model 2020 Air that is faster.

Why don't you just de-fuse your fusion drive and run your built-in SSD as the boot drive and your 2 TB hard drive as the data drive?

How to Delete or Split Your Mac's Fusion Drive

Fusion drives on a Mac can be deleted, split apart into their individual drive components. Apple doesn't allow Disk Utility to split a Fusion drive.

www.lifewire.com

Your 128 GB SSD is more than enough for the OS and applications. You usually don't need an SSD for data. And even if you wanted a faster data drive, you could simply plug in a USB 3 SSD.

 

[Robbosan]

Why don't you just de-fuse your fusion drive and run your built-in SSD as the boot drive and your 2 TB hard drive as the data drive?

How to Delete or Split Your Mac's Fusion Drive

Fusion drives on a Mac can be deleted, split apart into their individual drive components. Apple doesn't allow Disk Utility to split a Fusion drive.

www.lifewire.com

Your 128 GB SSD is more than enough for the OS and applications. You usually don't need an SSD for data. And even if you wanted a faster data drive, you could simply plug in a USB 3 SSD.

Think i would prefer a pure 1TB SSD if i am going to keep it for next 5 years. Are you saying as i have 128gb SSD now won't make much difference?

 

[EugW]

Think i would prefer a pure 1TB SSD if i am going to keep it for next 5 years. Are you saying as i have 128gb SSD now won't make much difference?

Yes, built-in 1 TB SSD is probably best, but it depends on what you do with it. For a lot of people, getting a 1 TB SSD isn't a huge advantage over having a smallish SSD boot drive with big hard drive. And the advantage is even smaller compared to having a smallish SSD boot drive with 1 TB USB 3 SSD.

1 TB Samsung T5 USB-C / USB 3 SSD would be an option. It's around AUD$225.

 

[glenthompson]

You don't mention what apps you use in your normal workflow. With the larger fusion drives most people will see close to 90% of the speed of a pure SSD due to their working set being less than the 128gb of the SSD in the fusion. The 1tb fusion only has a 32gb SSD and most people easily exceed that. If you add up the size of the applications you normally run and add to it the size of the files you normally use and it's less than 100gb, all your work is currently being run off the SSD. In that case, a pure SSD won't help much.

 

[Robbosan]

You don't mention what apps you use in your normal workflow. With the larger fusion drives most people will see close to 90% of the speed of a pure SSD due to their working set being less than the 128gb of the SSD in the fusion. The 1tb fusion only has a 32gb SSD and most people easily exceed that. If you add up the size of the applications you normally run and add to it the size of the files you normally use and it's less than 100gb, all your work is currently being run off the SSD. In that case, a pure SSD won't help much.

Ok, mainly just normal stuff, pages, email, safari, etc, nothing intensive, have about 130gb photos/videos in iPhotos.
[automerge]1598150272[/automerge]

 

[EugW]

Ok, mainly just normal stuff, pages, email, safari, etc, nothing intensive, have about 130gb photos/videos in iPhotos.

Your needs seem to be relatively light. You are a prime candidate to just use a split drive for free instead of getting a new drive for ~$500. All you need are multiple backup drives for the procedure, and you should have multiple backups anyway, because everyone should of course. What's the other data though? You said 130 GB of Photos, but 500 GB of total usage.

Some would disagree with me on the procedure, but one way to do this would be something like this:

1. Backup your drive, the whole thing, onto an external disk and make sure it's bootable.
2. Backup your whole drive again onto another external disk and make sure it's bootable. Put this aside and don't touch this again.
3. Backup all your important data again somewhere else. Don't touch this again. Maybe even keep it off-site for now. Some might use iCloud.
4. Repartition your Fusion drive so you have two partitions. Move your Photos library and other data to the second partition, leaving your applications folder on the first partition. Make sure all your data is accessible and the apps you need are working correctly with that data. Aim to have your applications partition to be less than about 75 GB in size of actual files.
5. Take your backup drive from #1 above, and erase it. Partition it into two partitions. Copy your main boot disk to partition 1, and your data disk to partition 2. Make sure it's bootable, and all your apps are working properly with your data.
6. Using the Terminal, split your Fusion drive into a separate 128 GB SSD and 2 TB hard drive. This will erase everything on both drives!
7. Boot off your new backup drive with the two partitions.
8. Copy your applications partition to the 128 GB SSD, and copy your data partition to the hard drive.
9. Reboot to the SSD to see if all is intact and working fine.

I can't remember if Disk Utility will allow restores like this now with the primary drive esp. to smaller partitions. Probably not and if not, you can use something like the free version of SuperDuper! to do the drive copies.

All of this might seem rather complicated, but I'm not sure if Migration assistant will work if you're trying to migrate 500 GB of stuff to a 128 GB startup disk with separate data disk. And yes I'm serious about the multiple backups. Half of the work above is just making sure you have adequate backups.

If someone has a simpler way, please share, but I really want to emphasize the need to have multiple backups. Aim to always at least 2 backups, not just for the migration procedure, but at other times too.

 

[glenthompson]

I'll take the dissenting view on splitting the fusion drive in this case. The system will do a better job of keeping what you need most often on the SSD than you can without a lot of work. It's like trying to manage the processor L2 cache yourself. Your photos library won't fit on the SSD by itself but portions of it can which can speed up processing photos over everything being on the slow drive.

 

[EugW]

I'll take the dissenting view on splitting the fusion drive in this case. The system will do a better job of keeping what you need most often on the SSD than you can without a lot of work. It's like trying to manage the processor L2 cache yourself. Your photos library won't fit on the SSD by itself but portions of it can which can speed up processing photos over everything being on the slow drive.

While it’s not a slam dunk, the prevailing view based on real world reports is that splitting the Fusion drive makes for a faster system if managed correctly. It turns out that macOS’s management of Fusion drives just isn’t always as intelligent as it should be. People who have split the drive generally have either said it is marginally faster or else is much faster, but it usually isn’t slower.

The biggest problem with a split drive is the size, since you have to remember to instruct apps not to clutter up the boot SSD with data.

The other issue with Fusion drives is that they increase the chance for data loss. Instead of one point of failure, it’s two. It’s kind of reminiscent of running RAID 0. If one of the two drives gets corrupted then both drives are toast.

 

[Robbosan]

Thanks for the reply’s, that all sounds too complicated for me, think I will just leave it as is it’s not giving me any grief. Everything that I care about is backed up in iCloud and iCloud Drive. Important emails I print and delete not a hoarder.

 

[wardie]

I would have said use an external TB3 drive but I think you only have TB2 right? See this then for fast external SSD ideas.

External SSD for Thunderbolt 2 mac

I have a mac pro late 2013 with 500 GB SSD that only has Thunderbolt 2. I need more fast storage. A 1TB internal SSD is $1,000. I can't find an external 1-2TB SSD Thunderbolt 2 drive. Everything is USB3. My other option is put an SSD into a Thunderbolt 2 enclosure. I can't find an enclosure...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Juicy Box]

What OS are you using?

Will it make that much of a difference and worth doing to hopefully get another 5 years out of it.

I have noticed that many people on the forum are fast to suggest people to get new(er) Macs no matter what the situation is.

I believe that if your current Mac works fine, and does everything you need it to do, getting a small upgrade like an SSD would make much more financial sense than paying 15-20x as much for a new Mac.

Ok, mainly just normal stuff, pages, email, safari, etc, nothing intensive, have about 130gb photos/videos in iPhotos.

I have a Late 2012 iMac with the i7 and 2GB 680MX, and I put a lot heavier load on my iMac than what you do on your newer iMac with video encoding and light gaming.

While I thought I would have replaced my iMac by now, it still feels very fast to me, and I have not needed a replacement.

I think if you are having issues with "normal stuff", I would suspect you are probably using Catalina on your Fusion Drive.

You would see an improvement when going to a SSD, and you have plenty of options, here are a few:


USB Drive, Enclosure, or USB SATA3 Adapter with SATA SSD - This would be the cheapest option, as you can get a 1TB SSD with a USB SATA3 adapter for about $90. An enclosure would only be a little more.

Pros:
- Cheapest option for DIY
- Easy to find adapters and enclosures
- Could be faster than Fusion Drive
- Faster than HDD
- Relatively easy

Cons:
- No USB TRIM support for MacOS
- Not as clean as internal replacement, taking up USB port, wires and enclosure, etc.
- Not as fast as internal blade SSD
- Not as fast as internal HDD replacement with SATA3 SSD
- Still has hot running HDD inside your iMac


TB 1 or 2 Enclosure with SATA3 SSD - More expensive and harder to find new. Your best bet would be trying to find an enclosure and purchase a drive separately.

Pros:
- May require a cheap 3.5" to 2.5" adapter as most TB 1&2 enclosures I have seen are for 3.5" drives
- Could be faster than Fusion Drive
- Faster than HDD
- Almost as fast as replacing internal HDD with a SATA3 SSD
- Relatively easy
- TRIM support

Cons:
- More expensive than USB
- Not as clean as internal replacement, taking up TB2 port, wires and enclosure, etc.
- Not as fast as internal blade SSD
- Still has hot running HDD inside your iMac



TB3 NVME Drive or Enclosure - Probably the most expensive DIY option, but also the fastest and future proofing for when you buy your next Mac.

Pros:
- Fastest option, maybe even faster than internal blade SSD
- Relatively easy
- TRIM support
- Future proofing

Cons:
- Expensive
- Needs Apple's bidirectional adapter, only Apple makes it
- Depending on if enclosure has its own power supply, may require a dock to power it
- Not as clean as internal replacement, taking up TB2 port, wires, adapters, docks and/or enclosure, etc.
- Still has hot running HDD inside your iMac



Replace Internal HDD with SATA SSD - This would be on of the cheapest options with DIY, but more complex. You could then create a Fusion Drive with the existing blade SSD and new SSD, giving your a really fast Fusion Drive, or just keep them separate and use the blade as an additional drive. You need some tools, adapters, and new glue strips if doing it yourself. Most use a 3.5" to 2.5" adapter which can be purchases for less than $10.

Pros:
- Cheapest DIY option, 1TB SATA SSD prices dropping to $80
- Could be faster than Fusion Drive
- Faster than HDD
- Cleanest set up with everything internal
- TRIM support
- Hot internal HDD removed

Cons:
- Not as easy as external
- Requires basic electronics tools if DIY
- Not as fast as internal blade SSD
- Not as fast as external NVMe over TB3
- Could be most expensive option if paying someone to do it



Replace Internal Blade SSD - This could be a little more expensive since the blade SSDs are not as cheap as other options, and more complex if DIY.

Pros:
- Fastest internal option
- Faster than most external options
- Cleanest set up with everything internal
- TRIM support
- Hot internal HDD removed - optional
- Option to also replace HDD with SSD as well

Cons:
- Not as easy as external
- Requires basic electronics tools if DIY
- More complex than just replacing internal HDD with SSD, Logic board needs to be removed
- May not be as fast as external NVMe over TB3
- Could be most expensive option if paying someone to do it


This is not a complete list, and there are other options I haven't listed, such as a NVMe over USB, Striping RAIDs, Fusion Drives made up of internal blade SSD and external SSDs, and all sorts of other things. There are also many combinations of the options above that you can do.

If you decide to do one of the DIY options, there are plenty of how-to guides, forum posts, YouTube videos, etc. to help you. You can always post a question here in the forum if you are confused about something.