Replacing 2012 iMac with 2022 model

[Hexley]

I'm replacing my 2012 iMac with a 2022 model when I expect the redesigned body will occur.

Would you still bother replacing the dead HDD in the old iMac that used to be part of a Fusion Drive?

I meant to do this in 2017 with a 2TB SSD but never gotten around to using the OWC HDD replacement kit.

Right now I'm just using the 128GB blade SSD and whenever I login I get an error message that the dead HDD didnt work. Pressing Esc makes it disappear. The bad HDD causes boot errors with Catalina which is absent with Mojave.

I'm embarrassed to say this but if I did do the SSD upgrade back in 2017 I'd have maximize the replacement kit and SSD for half a decade.

• Core i7-3770
• 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz memory
• 128GB SSD + 2TB SSD
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2 GB graphics
• 27" 2.5K display

Top of the line in early 2013 when I received it. It can still play 4K HDR video through VLC but cannot do that at the same time as tab bookmark loading.

To be replaced with the base model 2022 iMac 27" or larger display. Hopefully base memory is 16GB or better yet 32GB and storage is 512GB.

 

[mdgm]

If you can live with the error message you could boot off the internal SSD and use a USB3 HDD/SSD for storage.

Thunderbolt is faster but much more expensive.

It’s up to you. If you are opening up the Mac you may wish to put a larger capacity blade drive in as well at the same time.

 

[Hexley]

If you can live with the error message you could boot off the internal SSD and use a USB3 HDD/SSD for storage.

Thunderbolt is faster but much more expensive.

It’s up to you. If you are opening up the Mac you may wish to put a larger capacity blade drive in as well at the same time.

The blade SSD is still on SATA so it will max out at the same ~600MB/s as any 2.5"

What I'm concerned about is taking apart the iMac and not being able to reassemble it again.

 

[Fishrrman]

You could buy a 2.5" SATA SSD, and an 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

Then, use CarbonCopyCloner to clone the contents of the internal 128gb SSD blade to the external drive.
Then, boot and run from the external drive until you get a replacement.
Then, re-purpose the external SSD for other things.

Question:
If you use something like BlackMagic Speed Test, what kind of read speeds are you getting from the 128gb SSD right now...?

 

[Hexley]

You could buy a 2.5" SATA SSD, and an 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

Then, use CarbonCopyCloner to clone the contents of the internal 128gb SSD blade to the external drive.
Then, boot and run from the external drive until you get a replacement.
Then, re-purpose the external SSD for other things.

Question:
If you use something like BlackMagic Speed Test, what kind of read speeds are you getting from the 128gb SSD right now...?

128GB Apple SSD's Disk Speed Test

~240MB/s - Write
~403MB/s - Read

My guess is that the 2TB Crucial MX500 SSD can do ~560MB/s read/writes

 

[Fishrrman]

"My guess is that the 2TB Crucial MX500 SSD can do ~560MB/s read/writes"

It will be "a wash".
A USB3 enclosure with a SATA SSD inside "tops out" at around 430MBps.
But you'll still have "more storage room", and again, when you move to a new iMac, just take the SSD along with you...