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Replacing late 2015 27" iMac flash drive

C

coolerkid

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 26, 2015
288
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I have a late 2015 iMac that came with the PCIe flash drive installed. The drive just failed and Apple wants about $400 to replace it. I want to replace my iMac as soon as Apple releases a new Mac mini or 27" iMac with an M chip (if that ever happens), so I'm am just trying to get whatever life I can out of this one until that day comes and $400 is a bit too much for that purpose. I found plenty of DIY hard drive replacement kits online for iMacs, but most are for replacing models that came with hard drives. There are ones for PCIe flash drives, but I can't find one specifically compatibility with the late 2015 model.

Has anyone done this before? If so, how difficult is it? Does anyone know of a kit, or the right flash drive I need for this and a good instructional video on how to do it?

Thanks
 
ifixit.com and maybe a local computer shop might be a better alternative.
and iMac after 2010 need suction cups and thermal paste galore!

there will be more responses here that will be in-depth
and more get the "news iMacs".
 
It's not too hard, but you'd better have your hands from the right place (not offending)

www.ifixit.com

How to Add An SSD To The 27" iMac (Late 2015)

I was nervous buying the the late 2015 iMac 27" because there was such little information about it. I could only find a few videos specific to the...
www.ifixit.com www.ifixit.com

Did that on another Mac; extended SSD. Be cautious with the screen
 
eshop.macsales.com

OWC Aura Pro X2 480GB SSD Upgrade for iMac models

Get all the tools and installation components you need to upgrade the SSD of your 27-inch or 21.5-inch iMac (Late 2013 - 2019).
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appltech said:
It's not too hard, but you'd better have your hands from the right place (not offending)

www.ifixit.com

How to Add An SSD To The 27" iMac (Late 2015)

I was nervous buying the the late 2015 iMac 27" because there was such little information about it. I could only find a few videos specific to the...
www.ifixit.com www.ifixit.com

Did that on another Mac; extended SSD. Be cautious with the screen
Click to expand...
Thanks, looks like a ton of steps, but doable. Do you know how I'd find the right kind of SSD to get? I read Apple uses a proprietary connector? I looked on eBay but am not sure which are compatible.
 
coolerkid said:
I have a late 2015 iMac that came with the PCIe flash drive installed. The drive just failed and Apple wants about $400 to replace it. I want to replace my iMac as soon as Apple releases a new Mac mini or 27" iMac with an M chip (if that ever happens), so I'm am just trying to get whatever life I can out of this one until that day comes and $400 is a bit too much for that purpose. I found plenty of DIY hard drive replacement kits online for iMacs, but most are for replacing models that came with hard drives. There are ones for PCIe flash drives, but I can't find one specifically compatibility with the late 2015 model.

Has anyone done this before? If so, how difficult is it? Does anyone know of a kit, or the right flash drive I need for this and a good instructional video on how to do it?

Thanks
Click to expand...
SSD Flash storage is on the underside of the logic board, logic board out to replace,
if you don't know what you're doing pay the $400.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+Retina+5K+Display+Blade+SSD+Replacement/30537
YAlDc2SbbjPWyEJS.full.jpegiMac Intel 27" Retina 5K Display Blade SSD Replacement
 
It’s worth the $400, in that if they break something - it’s covered. If you do - it’s not ?
 
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Did this iMac come with just the blade SSD, or is it part of a "fusion drive"?
Having said that, it's probably not worth $400 to have Apple do it.

You might consider buying an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD (such as the Samsung t5), plugging that in, and setting it up to become your new [external] boot SSD.

This is easy to do (even I could do it, and if I can do it, you can).
Then, just leave the [non-functioning] internal blade SSD "dead, but in place".

Could save you time, trouble, and MONEY.

BE AWARE that a new Mini probably won't arrive until towards the end of the year or next year.
BE AWARE that we're not likely to see a "new" 27" iMac for a good while.

My advice would be:
- Get an external SSD for booting (don't spend more than $100 or so)
- Run this way until the Apple Refurbished Store gets some Mac Studios
- Get yourself a "base model" refurbished Mac Studio. Even the base model comes very-well equipped. (or get a 1tb SSD if available)

$400 is too much to put into a 7-year-old iMac at this point.

Finally ... what is it that leads you to believe the internal SSD has failed?
What happens when you try to boot...?
 
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FreakinEurekan said:
It’s worth the $400, in that if they break something - it’s covered. If you do - it’s not ?
Click to expand...
True, but they're selling used iMacs like mine for $500-600, so it's not worth spending $400 to fix. Was thinking of going the DIY route if I could do it for a lot less and then if I break it just sell it for parts or do a trade in. My goal is to buy a new Mac, I just don't like any of the desktop options Apple is currently offering.
 
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Fishrrman said:
Did this iMac come with just the blade SSD, or is it part of a "fusion drive"?
Having said that, it's probably not worth $400 to have Apple do it.

You might consider buying an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD (such as the Samsung t5), plugging that in, and setting it up to become your new [external] boot SSD.

This is easy to do (even I could do it, and if I can do it, you can).
Then, just leave the [non-functioning] internal blade SSD "dead, but in place".

Could save you time, trouble, and MONEY.

BE AWARE that a new Mini probably won't arrive until towards the end of the year or next year.
BE AWARE that we're not likely to see a "new" 27" iMac for a good while.

My advice would be:
- Get an external SSD for booting (don't spend more than $100 or so)
- Run this way until the Apple Refurbished Store gets some Mac Studios
- Get yourself a "base model" refurbished Mac Studio. Even the base model comes very-well equipped. (or get a 1tb SSD if available)

$400 is too much to put into a 7-year-old iMac at this point.

Finally ... what is it that leads you to believe the internal SSD has failed?
What happens when you try to boot...?
Click to expand...

Yes it came with the blade SSD only. I don't think it's worth doing for $400. I'd rather just go the DIY route and risk destroying it if I fail, otherwise I would just do the trade in program and get what I can for it when I get a new Mac. I ran a diagnostics that told me it was the disc, and then they ran a more extensive one at the Apple store and told me the same.

I tried to boot from an external drive and was able to get it to start up. All the programs I tried ran just fine but if I click on anything in System Preferences for instance, it just hangs for like 5 minutes, same for many things in the Finder that made the Finder hang. Also, no external drives will mount at all and I wasn't able to get it to stay as the Startup disk by setting it from the System Preferences, I have to hold down the Option key every time to select the disk. Not sure what else could be the problem.
 
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coolerkid said:
Yes it came with the blade SSD only. I don't think it's worth doing for $400. I'd rather just go the DIY route and risk destroying it if I fail, otherwise I would just do the trade in program and get what I can for it when I get a new Mac. I ran a diagnostics that told me it was the disc, and then they ran a more extensive one at the Apple store and told me the same.

I tried to do the external drive option and was able to get it to boot just fine. All the programs I tried ran just fine but nothing System related worked. If I click on anything in System Preferences for instance, it just hangs, same for many things in the Finder that made the Finder hang. Not sure what could be the problem with that.
Click to expand...

So this mean that you have been running the iMac entirely from the external box which has been installed with Mac OS? Which version of OS? Perhaps the OS is quite nasty about booting drive. (like reading from the EFI partition on the internal disk, but other application is on the external disk)

Being unable to access to System Preference mostly because of user authorization. If your user doesn't have administrator rights, you may not access to the System Preference.

More info can be found on the below thread.
You just can follow Fisherrman advice above and use the external drive.
I would advice you to use one nVMD blade from the link below, with an external box offering swappable option.
So when you decide to move the vNME blade inside your iMac, you don't have to re-install Mac OS and other stuffs.

forums.macrumors.com

A list of successful iMac 27" (2012-2019) SSD upgrades

Here you can find and discuss all the collected knowledge regarding upgrading the HDD, blade SSD and CPU of a 27" iMac 2012-2019, as well as a list of performed upgrades. Here is a list of all 27" iMac models subjected in this thread: Late 2012 - 13.2 - MD095LL/A (2.9Ghz i5-3470S, HDD only /...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
So this mean that you have been running the iMac entirely from the external box which has been installed with Mac OS? Which version of OS? Perhaps the OS is quite nasty about booting drive. (like reading from the EFI partition on the internal disk, but other application is on the external disk)

Being unable to access to System Preference mostly because of user authorization. If your user doesn't have administrator rights, you may not access to the System Preference.

More info can be found on the below thread.
You just can follow Fisherrman advice above and use the external drive.
I would advice you to use one nVMD blade from the link below, with an external box offering swappable option.
So when you decide to move the vNME blade inside your iMac, you don't have to re-install Mac OS and other stuffs.

forums.macrumors.com

A list of successful iMac 27" (2012-2019) SSD upgrades

Here you can find and discuss all the collected knowledge regarding upgrading the HDD, blade SSD and CPU of a 27" iMac 2012-2019, as well as a list of performed upgrades. Here is a list of all 27" iMac models subjected in this thread: Late 2012 - 13.2 - MD095LL/A (2.9Ghz i5-3470S, HDD only /...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
Click to expand...

I tried to run it from an external drive but many things didn't work that I described above. I wonder if it still has to rely on the internal drive for some basic things?
 
IF you can get booted from an external drive
and...
IF (once booted) you can "see" the INTERNAL drive, it mounts on the desktop, you can get files from it, etc.
then
I will guess that the internal drive has not "failed", but perhaps something's gone wrong with the OS installation on it.

What I would suggest you do:
- Get booted from the external drive you have
- Copy whatever you can from the internal drive to somewhere else
- ERASE the ENTIRE internal SSD with disk utility
- Now, run disk utility's "first aid" on the freshly-erased drive
- Do you get "a good report"? If so...
- Try a fresh OS install on it, and if successful, then
- Restore your account, apps, data, etc.
 
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Fishrrman said:
IF you can get booted from an external drive
and...
IF (once booted) you can "see" the INTERNAL drive, it mounts on the desktop, you can get files from it, etc.
then
I will guess that the internal drive has not "failed", but perhaps something's gone wrong with the OS installation on it.

What I would suggest you do:
- Get booted from the external drive you have
- Copy whatever you can from the internal drive to somewhere else
- ERASE the ENTIRE internal SSD with disk utility
- Now, run disk utility's "first aid" on the freshly-erased drive
- Do you get "a good report"? If so...
- Try a fresh OS install on it, and if successful, then
- Restore your account, apps, data, etc.
Click to expand...
When I boot from the external it does not see the internal drive, and it also doesn't let me mount any other external, USB drives. Also various system preferences don't save.
 
"When I boot from the external it does not see the internal drive, and it also doesn't let me mount any other external, USB drives. Also various system preferences don't save."

Have you
- gone to finder preferences
- set options to show hard disks and external disks
????

(something easily forgotten...)
 
Fishrrman said:
"When I boot from the external it does not see the internal drive, and it also doesn't let me mount any other external, USB drives. Also various system preferences don't save."

Have you
- gone to finder preferences
- set options to show hard disks and external disks
????

(something easily forgotten...)
Click to expand...
Yes, that wasn't the problem. They show up under System Report, but don't mount or show up under Disk Utility.
 
"They show up under System Report, but don't mount or show up under Disk Utility."

In disk utility, did you go to the "view" menu and choose "show ALL devices"
???
 
So when you say you have set it up on the external drive you should a complete fresh copy of the OS on your external boot drive and you are set as Admin? If you boot that drive go in to System Preferences, set the USB drive as the startup drive after entering the password to unlock the option. Re-lock then reboot. Every time you boot the machine you should boot off the external USB drive. Furthermore the machine shoul have a fresh install on the USB drive.

What make/size is your external USB? How did you get the bootable copy of the OS on it. What OS are you using?
 
dcmaccam said:
So when you say you have set it up on the external drive you should a complete fresh copy of the OS on your external boot drive and you are set as Admin? If you boot that drive go in to System Preferences, set the USB drive as the startup drive after entering the password to unlock the option. Re-lock then reboot. Every time you boot the machine you should boot off the external USB drive. Furthermore the machine shoul have a fresh install on the USB drive.

What make/size is your external USB? How did you get the bootable copy of the OS on it. What OS are you using?
Click to expand...
I did that, but it appears that if you have a completely dead internal drive it just won't work properly off an external drive. I can get it to boot and it can run some programs, but can't mount any hard drives or use any additional external hardware. Also many system preferences either hang for a while, or won't run at all.
 
That is quite strange. I run my 2019 off of a Thunderbolt connected drive or even a USB3 connected drive. When I boot up my machine I just go in and unmount the internal 1TB drive so that it spins down and basically just switched off.

I thought if your SSD drive wasn’t mounted the machine would not even see it was there.

It could be that it is continually trying to mount the drive and failing to do so,thus causing the strange operation even when booted of a USB drive.
 
dcmaccam said:
That is quite strange. I run my 2019 off of a Thunderbolt connected drive or even a USB3 connected drive. When I boot up my machine I just go in and unmount the internal 1TB drive so that it spins down and basically just switched off.

I thought if your SSD drive wasn’t mounted the machine would not even see it was there.

It could be that it is continually trying to mount the drive and failing to do so,thus causing the strange operation even when booted of a USB drive.
Click to expand...

But did you have a dead drive inside? It's probably something like that where it keeps trying to mount that drive and fails, which is causing all these issues with hanging and other drives not mounting.
 
I ended up replacing the hard drive myself and it was a success. The computer works 100% now! I also went for a larger capacity 512GB drive, so it turned out to be an upgrade too. Cost was under $100 for the SSD, the 3 special screwdrivers you need, and the adhesive strips, vs the $500 Apple wanted to charge. Additionally I was able to clean out a TON of dust that accumulated inside over the years, which likely was affecting the iMac's outflow of air and ability to keep it cool, because I was also having issues with the fan coming on way too frequently before.

For those who want to try this, it's very doable. It's a lot of steps and takes a good amount of time, but if you follow the iFixit guide precisely, which is excellent BTW, and are very careful, anyone with decent repair skills and a careful hand should be able to do it. Though I would only recommend doing it if your Mac has a dead part and isn't worth enough to pay Apple to repair it, and not just to upgrade the RAM or Disk to a larger size, because no matter how careful you are, accidents can happen and when dealing with such delicate parts it would be pretty easy to wreck your Mac. The hardest and most risky part is taking the display off and then putting it back on, mainly because it was new to me. Once you have it off it's just a ton of screws and cables to unhook, nothing too crazy. Having done it once though now, I could breeze through it a second time in a fraction of the time.
 
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