Someone purchased an iMac for me for work; however, I'm more into speed than space. It comes with a 5400rpm drive (AH!). Can I self-upgrade it to a ssd with these new skinny iMacs? Thanks.
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Latest iMac: Upgrade HDD to SSD by User?
- Thread starter legaleye3000
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Nope, you can't.
It's impossible to open it up. Unless you know how to take apart the screen and put it back in one piece.
I guess yjchua95 worded it one way.
Another way would be:
Yes you can.
But you have to remove the screen and stick it back down again, which whilst not difficult is not supposed to be an end-user upgrade. You can buy kits on ebay and elsewhere that provide the necessary instructions, cutting wheel (to cut through the sticky foam tape holding the screen in place), and replacement foam tape.
Another way would be:
Yes you can.
But you have to remove the screen and stick it back down again, which whilst not difficult is not supposed to be an end-user upgrade. You can buy kits on ebay and elsewhere that provide the necessary instructions, cutting wheel (to cut through the sticky foam tape holding the screen in place), and replacement foam tape.
My local MacMall store repair dept. will do the job for $120. But, like someone said. it does void the Apple warranty.
Gary where's this at? So I pay $120 for the install and I bring me own ssd? If I'm interested, which ssd should I buy?
I may be wrong, but I don't think you can buy PCI SSDs in that format yet. OWC has committed to making them though:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7673/owc-to-bring-aftermarket-sf3700-pcie-ssd-upgrades-to-2013-macs
Technically yes, you can get those PCI blade SSDs. As those SSDs are the same that goes into the 13 inch rMBP and MBA and if you happen to find a used blade on eBay or something, then you can. Probably pricey though!
You still have options even if you can't find an OEM PCI SSD to use. Use an external Thunderbolt SSD (which with a quality enclosure will be quite fast) or replace the internal SATA drive with a SATA SSD. Won't be as fast as a PCI-based SSD but still plenty fast.
I have absolutely no experience with these devices, but you can also buy SATA Blade SSD Modules on eBay.
Apparently, they go into the blade SSD socket and then connect by cable to a 2.5" SSD installed in the HD bay.
I don't know how well it works but it's a really great idea. If the BlackMagic screenshots in the description are for real, it's getting the full PCIe speeds.
You can also find many Mac-compatible blade SSDs on eBay as well.
Apparently, they go into the blade SSD socket and then connect by cable to a 2.5" SSD installed in the HD bay.
I don't know how well it works but it's a really great idea. If the BlackMagic screenshots in the description are for real, it's getting the full PCIe speeds.
You can also find many Mac-compatible blade SSDs on eBay as well.
Cheapest, easiest, fastest way:
Get either a USB3 or thunderbolt 2.5" external enclosure.
Pick up the SSD of your choice.
Put the drive into the enclosure.
Attach the enclose with velcro to the back of the iMac's base, and plug it in.
Initialize the drive with Disk Utility.
Then, either "clone" the contents of the internal to the external, or install a "clean" OS onto it.
Ready to use, without opening the iMac, and will be functionally indistinguishable from an internally-mounted drive, speed-wise.
One additional benefit: easy to un-attach the drive and take it with you, if need be.
Get either a USB3 or thunderbolt 2.5" external enclosure.
Pick up the SSD of your choice.
Put the drive into the enclosure.
Attach the enclose with velcro to the back of the iMac's base, and plug it in.
Initialize the drive with Disk Utility.
Then, either "clone" the contents of the internal to the external, or install a "clean" OS onto it.
Ready to use, without opening the iMac, and will be functionally indistinguishable from an internally-mounted drive, speed-wise.
One additional benefit: easy to un-attach the drive and take it with you, if need be.
This has my vote as the best solution.
I've wanted to do this for a while, but I'm waiting for nice Thunderbolt SSD enclosure to surface and I'm still unsure which size SSD I want to go with it.
All in time, but that will be the "upgrade" I get for my 2013 iMac.
I've wanted to do this for a while, but I'm waiting for nice Thunderbolt SSD enclosure to surface and I'm still unsure which size SSD I want to go with it.
All in time, but that will be the "upgrade" I get for my 2013 iMac.
I'm considering doing this, but will this be noticeably slower than buying and installing a compatible internal one?
It will be noticeably slower in benchmarks.
In actual usage? I highly doubt you'd notice the difference.
This won't work in the 2013 iMacs. They have a PCI blade connector, not a SATA blade connector.
Back when megabytes were king, the standard advice was 'image how much you're ever going to need and then double it'. I would add 150-250GB to whatever your drive is holding now, minimum.
Not necessarily, not if you use a good external adapter. Using a Seagate Thunderbolt adapter, I've tested multiple SSD drives. They consistently perform on Blackmagic benchmark as well externally as they do internally.
Those speeds shown in the BlackMagic screenshots seem quite high for a SATA SSD ... perhaps they are using both SSDs in a RAID-0 which would explain the high speeds. That would be pretty nice however ...
-howard