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New 27-Inch iMac Disassembled, Aftermarket SSD Install Deemed Difficult
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Yesterday, we noted that Apple's new 27" iMac for the first time allows users to configure their machines with a second hard drive, offering a 256 GB solid state drive as an option for the second bay.
Location of second hard drive bay in new 27" iMac
A number of consumers have wondered about the possibility of aftermarket installation of drives into this bay, should they choose to go with the single-drive option at purchase and perhaps add a second drive later as prices drop and/or capacities increase. To answer that question, Other World Computing has opened up one of the new iMacs and unfortunately found that the task would not be a simple one unless the machine originally shipped with dual drives.The report goes on to detail one somewhat inelegant method in which a user of a single-drive iMac could add a second drive, but the solution is certainly not ideal.
Article Link: New 27-Inch iMac Disassembled, Aftermarket SSD Install Deemed Difficult
What about replacing the HD with an SSD? Surely this is much more imporant/possible?
You don't need TWO drives inside this thing. Its a DESKTOP. Guess what else can on your desk? other drives.....
Adrian: thanks for your analysis!
It sounds reasonable! I am tempted buying it with only the SSD. I got tons of external 1 - 1.5 TB external disks. It must be quite easy to install one of them into the iMac afterwards instead...
It sounds reasonable! I am tempted buying it with only the SSD. I got tons of external 1 - 1.5 TB external disks. It must be quite easy to install one of them into the iMac afterwards instead...
So OWC is dead set that the SSD drives that come with the iMac are not great and will degrade so badly that they are not worth buying. Is this true? If so, what are new iMac owners supposed to do:
1 - buy a new iMac without SSD and try to velcro an SSD in there? (or wait for some sort of after market bracket to become available)?
2 - by one with an SSD and then replace it with OWC and sell the iMac drive?
3 - Just replace the HDD with a single SSD?
4 - try to place 2 SSD's in the same bay of the single HDD?
5 - replace the Optical drive with an SSD?
6 - do nothing. Use stock HDD?
1 - buy a new iMac without SSD and try to velcro an SSD in there? (or wait for some sort of after market bracket to become available)?
2 - by one with an SSD and then replace it with OWC and sell the iMac drive?
3 - Just replace the HDD with a single SSD?
4 - try to place 2 SSD's in the same bay of the single HDD?
5 - replace the Optical drive with an SSD?
6 - do nothing. Use stock HDD?
#3 Is the only one that sounds logical to me, and is what I will likely do.
OWC, while they blow smoke like any other company, is right about Apple's SSD and HDD offerings being garbage, by comparison to the rest of the machine.
I don't care if its a 64 gb SSD that goes in there. As long there is enough room for the OS and Apps, there's no limit to the external storage I can have.
Knowing what actually matters is key.
I only need enough space to run OSX and a few other OS's via Boot Camp....Windoze with some games....and maybe in Linux flavor for work. 128gb should be plenty.
I know it's expensive that OWC Extreme RE with RAID0 would be SWEET. Can two SSD's fit in the one HD bay?
I know it's expensive that OWC Extreme RE with RAID0 would be SWEET. Can two SSD's fit in the one HD bay?
I wish, that was it. Then I could simply say "that's fine for you, I don't want to mod my machines, so it doesn't matter" and they'd go away. But no, they still bring out the tired old "for the same specs, a PC is cheaper" or "there's no software", etc. etc. And they have the nerve to call us fanboys.
Mark my words, I will do a video and photo tutorial on the install once the cables and mounting brackets become available.
Unfortunately I've had some serious dental emergencies recently to the tune of $6K out of pocket on top of some other significant planned expenses under the assumption we wouldn't of seen an updated iMac this early. So I had to defer purchasing a new iMac until early January. If there's no tutorial then, I will make one. I've fixed damn near every Mac that's come out since 1998.
Unfortunately I've had some serious dental emergencies recently to the tune of $6K out of pocket on top of some other significant planned expenses under the assumption we wouldn't of seen an updated iMac this early. So I had to defer purchasing a new iMac until early January. If there's no tutorial then, I will make one. I've fixed damn near every Mac that's come out since 1998.
Good grief.... never knew so many people "NEEDED" dual drives with SSD in an iMac. Perhaps at the server level an SSD would be nice, but for an all in one desktop? At the price they're asking? Forget it. Not now anyway.
The post I was quoting, which is along my lines of thinking, refers to buying the SSD only option and then installing a 2 TB HDD. Post 85 refers to the end user installing an SSD.
Without an HDD, Apple would have the option to use that drive bay to accommodate the SSD. If they did that, buying the SSD version and installing an HDD would not be possible.
If the SSD inhabits the same little corner, the HDD install would be as simple as installing the drive and removing the jumper....assuming that Apple also uses the wiring harness designed for both drives. As post 85 refers to two different wiring harnesses, it would not surprise me if they had 3 types.
At the volume that these machines are turned out, each unnecessary bit left out can save millions.
Adrian: thanks for your analysis!
It sounds reasonable! I am tempted buying it with only the SSD. I got tons of external 1 - 1.5 TB external disks. It must be quite easy to install one of them into the iMac afterwards instead...
Fewer Apple parts will be required to add an HD to an SSD-only iMac. However, i would not agree that it will be easier.
1. The HD that is installed will need a SATA cable. Unfortunately, this plugs in on the back of the logicboard. That means quite a serious strip down will be required to get to that connector. (The same strip down that is required to plug in the SATA cable for the retrofit SSD option i detailed in post 85.)
2. Although not essential, the HD that is installed should have the correct temp sensor cable plugged in where the jumper cable is on the SSD-only iMac.
It is a messy situation. However, i think we should all appreciate that the only components that Apple deem user-serviceable are the RAM chips.
A future solution to this would be to have an SSD slot next to the RAM slots.
My apologies.
Your last sentence doesn't hold water though. Surely the money saved in leaving the bits out is lost in having 2 versions of other components manufactured?
So the bracket costs us $150!
If you go to the iMac order page, you will see that getting one with the SSD costs an additional $600. But if you get both drives, it runs you $750. Wow, Apple. You never cease to amaze me. Just when I thought you couldn't gouge us any more, you take it to a new level.
Yeah, I know, there's another drive in there. But I'm disappointed in the fact that its not an easy mod and that apparently, the rumor is that the Apple SSD's suck in performance. Will probably get an iMac anyway since Apple has decided that Mac Pro's can only be purchased by people making a lot of money off their computers.
If you go to the iMac order page, you will see that getting one with the SSD costs an additional $600. But if you get both drives, it runs you $750. Wow, Apple. You never cease to amaze me. Just when I thought you couldn't gouge us any more, you take it to a new level.
Yeah, I know, there's another drive in there. But I'm disappointed in the fact that its not an easy mod and that apparently, the rumor is that the Apple SSD's suck in performance. Will probably get an iMac anyway since Apple has decided that Mac Pro's can only be purchased by people making a lot of money off their computers.
This is the part I found the most interesting from post # 85.
I'd be much more interested in an having an SATA connector for external drives, couldn't you just throw an SSD in a chassis if you needed one?
Ummm ... the "install SSD" guy is the guy who puts the SSD bracket on the SSD drive, plugs the SATA cable into the drive, then plugs the cable into the motherboard and secures the SSD bracket (with SSD inside it) to the chassis.
It's not like the iMac assembly line has a huge fork for "with SSD / without SSD" ... if you don't have an SSD being shipped, they skip that one step in the assembly line (which is likely before the LCD panel is installed, rather than after the rest of the line and they take it all back apart to put the SSD in place, but I may be wrong there).
Ok finally someone on the right track:
As an Apple Service provider and Head Technician in my shop I can tell you that you should not do this because you risk voiding your warranty. But, we can only void the warranty if we see clear instances of the machines integrity violations .
that said
I will tell why you MUST not consider doing it yourself:
1. First and most important, the Power Supply Cable is different, and this is probable one of the hardest cables to get off without the proper Apple-led training for technicians, I did a course and it cost me 2500 USD or you could just pass the tests . but as an experienced technician that has worked over 5K macs, this you want to leave to the best tech in your shop, the one that has the patience and knowledge to get to know a mac first, and later show others how to, because sh--- can go wrong and you have to pay for the parts you screw up and you can eat up a logic board doing this procedure without the proper training and experience but ok, that cable we could sell for 30-60 dollars to customers why not its just a cable with a lot of connectors
2. the hard drive is like 600 bucks if you get it from us, we get it at a little less,
3. Also careful not to forget the temp sensor cable, pressure wall (hd mount for the ssd) and data cable from you apple specialist, 20-30 bucks each (cables) and mount i guess the same...
4. Even after you buy all parts to do the job from us, or do it with us, the parts, specially the ssd will have only 90 days of warranty, compared to 1 year if it comes from apple, and 3 if you get applecare..
now if you want to put a 64GB or 32GB drive in there and save some money and get the same feel then feel free, I would charge you for the cables and mounting and 2 hours of service for this job, and depending on the service provider you choose youre looking at 150-300 dollars cables and labor included, best case scenario your at 300 dollars after all damage is done
now if you had almost 2 grand to spend on an imac 27 then it shouldnt be so hard to get another 600 if is go with 1tb and upgrade when you havethe money, at least you have the option be thankful they left the logic board intact for you to fiddle if you want to, at your own risk
why not go with an optidrive if you need more speed? i wouldn mind using the optical drive externally now a SD at sata speed would be nice! can that be accomplished? I only need 16GB-32GB to run the system and apps...
Hello all,
I sent the following to Mike at XLR8 yesterday..
Mike,
I have had a look over the Service Manual for the new iMac. Retrofitting an SSD....
1. AC/DC/SATA Power Harness (922-9155) needs to be replaced with AC/DC/SATA/SSD Power Harness (922-9531).
Comparing the two harness pictures shows that the power connector for the SSD is simply a flying lead that is daisy-chained from the Hard Drive power connector. The adventurous could easily modify the existing cable
2. SSD Data Cable must be installed (922-9538).
No clear picture of this cable. Plugs into the rear of the logicboard. Standard SATA connector. (The adventurous could route this out of the iMac to an external SATA array)
3. Optical/MXM Pressure Wall (922-9241?) must be replaced with Optical/MXM/SSD Pressure Wall (922-9485?)
The service manual only lists one version of this 'Pressure Wall'. However, the illustration seems to show two different versions (one without the plate that the SSD mounts to).
I am not 100% sure if a different bracket is required for SSD installation. The manual seems to contradict itself. Unsure of the Apple P/N's for this component.
There is also a note that the SSD-only option must have the following installed.
1. HDD Temp Sensor Jumper 922-9628.
This is simply a small jumper that shorts out the temp sensor connector on the logicboard, when an HD is not present, to prevent the fans running at full speed.
It would have been nice if there was a simple slot on the bottom edge of the iMac, behind a removable plate like the RAM slots, that an SSD could be slid into on a simply caddy like the first gen MacBooks.
922-9241 is a screw I dont see the optical wall without the ssd as a different part, in the manual it just shows 2 ways of taking it apart, one with and one without SSD
correct me if I dont see something else...
classic!!!!
love my OS X but its things like this that are making my Apple taste sour
Hi, i did point out that i was unsure of the Apple P/N's. However, item number 3 on post number 144 seems to backup up my point regarding the Pressure Wall.
eSATA
All of this would be basically moot if they would just give us an eSATA port or two. Would that be so hard, Apple?
I have a Mini that I sliced up to make its sata port into and eSATA. It was cool for a while, but the 2.26 GHz C2D is starting to feel a bit old - you know, because it's so old and all.
All of this would be basically moot if they would just give us an eSATA port or two. Would that be so hard, Apple?
I have a Mini that I sliced up to make its sata port into and eSATA. It was cool for a while, but the 2.26 GHz C2D is starting to feel a bit old - you know, because it's so old and all.