It may not be the answer you wanted to hear but it's by far the most sensible. I think what you are proposing on a brand new machine is total madness. Still to each their own.....Thats not the answer i asked for
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SSD Upgrade in iMac 27" 2020 possible?
- Thread starter ich558
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oh come on...its not about doing by myself and i dont even have an 2020 imac. but i upgraded a lot of the 2019 and 2017 imacs with nvme ssds. and in future when the 2020 models are cheep for some people this might be interesting. i am just asking IF its possible- nothing more. And if you dont know an answer you dont have to answer
I personally would not take on this challenge but that doesn't mean it is impossible.
Hasn't anyone mentioned this ifixit report? Seems to me this would answer some if not all of your questions, and give you considerable information to help you decide how to proceed:
www.ifixit.com
Hasn't anyone mentioned this ifixit report? Seems to me this would answer some if not all of your questions, and give you considerable information to help you decide how to proceed:
Apple’s Last Dance With Intel: iMac 27″ 2020 Teardown (With X-rays)
It’s likely the last time we’ll see this familiar iMac build before Apple’s big chip change. Let’s look inside for tech upgrades, repair downgrades, and oddities.
www.ifixit.com
its all about a non used nvme socket where all the soldering points exists. not upgrading the available Apple SSDI personally would not take on this challenge but that doesn't mean it is impossible.
Hasn't anyone mentioned this ifixit report? Seems to me this would answer some if not all of your questions, and give you considerable information to help you decide how to proceed:
Apple’s Last Dance With Intel: iMac 27″ 2020 Teardown (With X-rays)
It’s likely the last time we’ll see this familiar iMac build before Apple’s big chip change. Let’s look inside for tech upgrades, repair downgrades, and oddities.
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Hi,
of course i know the new 2020 27" iMac hast soldered SSDs. 4 and 8 TB version is not soldered but secured with Apple T2
BUT
every model has pins for the old Apple SSD adapter. Seems like you just have to solder on the adapter and use a nvme adapter for upgrading your own SSD just as in the older models.
27-inch iMac teardown shows lack of storage upgrade options | AppleInsider
A teardown of the 2020 27-inch iMac reveals Apple made a few changes to the internals to accommodate its removal of the mechanical hard drive, including the loss of SATA connectors, the SSD being integrated into the logic board, and some small changes to the case.appleinsider.com
What do you think?
Interface is available....
It's possible.
Just open the iMac, install the NVME SSD, reprogram the T2 chip to accept the NVME, and you have extra fast storage with big volume.
The issues are:
1. Are you skilled enough to hack the T2 chip?
2. If yes, what is the purpose?
3. Comparing with other solutions (external storage), does the trade-off worthy for you?
99.9% Mac users will answer NO to the first question. That ends your dream.
Others advised against your initial idea for a good reason: Even if you could do it, the gain from DIYing internal storage upgrade doesn't worth the trouble, labour and risk you gonna face.
1. Not now but maybe in future. Like jailbreaks on iPhones. And the question is if the nvme socket is t2 secured or not. Ob an Mac Pro just the Apple SSD is secured but not the other sockets.
2. should be clear
3. you still didnt get what its all about. Read the last posts
I'm not sure about the value of asking a question if you don't want to take some sound advice. Seems this is a very modern day reaction to commonsense. I will know to ignore any future posts from you.oh come on...its not about doing by myself and i dont even have an 2020 imac. but i upgraded a lot of the 2019 and 2017 imacs with nvme ssds. and in future when the 2020 models are cheep for some people this might be interesting. i am just asking IF its possible- nothing more. And if you dont know an answer you dont have to answer
I cant believe all the negativity to the OP. Apple does it's best to make sure our devices cant be upgraded. MacBooks have become so thin, everything is essentially soldiered and glued on to the mobo. In a few years they expect you to drop this into a landfill and buy another.
The iMac's however really shouldn't require nearly the amount of work however again, the unnecessary soldiering makes this complicated. Planned obsolesce or costly repairs by an authorized apple shop is big business. (apple is far from the only one that does this).
With that in mind. just the idea of researching the possilibty of doing your own repair should be encouraged not critizsed. It's certainly doable but not easy; Ifixit has documented the steps involved. But maybe OP is up for the challenge and it would allow him to put in a much bigger SSD for a fraction of the price.
Lastly I know a few technicians in the Bay Area that are pro's and they'll do this without issue for $100-
$100 repair + 1TB SSD= $200 for a nice upgrade and then 'he didnt buy the wrong computer".
Anyway looking at options to potential fix your gear is a positive in my books
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Yeah but you would miss out on the nano screen and the 10Gbase-T ethernet and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB
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you mean the nano screen that can be easily damaged? Or the 5700 xt that already has a long thread about how it causes graphical glitches?Yeah but you would miss out on the nano screen and the 10Gbase-T ethernet and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB
And I forgot to include the 1080p camera.
I have seen no reports of the nano screen being damaged....easily or otherwise.
Since the system software upgrade to 10.15.7 there are no reports of graphical glitches.
Having had many many Macs since 1987...the maxed out 27" 2020 iMac is the best, IMHO, desktop machine Apple has ever produced and I have ever owned.
If the cost is fixed at 100$, with 100% success ratio, it'll be much easier to consider.
In fact, I would not hesitate to do the upgrade using his service.
To start, I admit, I skimmed this thread. I will read it tomorrow.
Let me tell you about the biggest mistake/regret of my entire life (jk).... my iMac10,1: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020), 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7, 72 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD
I picked this up in October 2020. I needed a new computer ASAP and my intention was to return it to Best Buy within the 90-day time frame. Really, I just figured I could get a better price. I didn't really have time to research the product yet.
I had a serious family emergency (Dad, hospital, etc) and totally missed the return date. Overshot it by two weeks. They didn't take t back.
It was then that I found out about this stupid soldered hard drive. "Motherf-" I screamed.
I'll admit it -- I'm lazy and 500 gb is pretty tight. My plan had been to get a 27" iMac and replace the hard drive with a 2TB SSD.
A year later and...
My drive is starting to get crowded and I'm going to have to organize and stuff and I'm not happy.
So tempted to send it to Northridge Fix. But I won't. But i might! I won't.
Sigh
Let me tell you about the biggest mistake/regret of my entire life (jk).... my iMac10,1: iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020), 3.8 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i7, 72 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD
I picked this up in October 2020. I needed a new computer ASAP and my intention was to return it to Best Buy within the 90-day time frame. Really, I just figured I could get a better price. I didn't really have time to research the product yet.
I had a serious family emergency (Dad, hospital, etc) and totally missed the return date. Overshot it by two weeks. They didn't take t back.
It was then that I found out about this stupid soldered hard drive. "Motherf-" I screamed.
I'll admit it -- I'm lazy and 500 gb is pretty tight. My plan had been to get a 27" iMac and replace the hard drive with a 2TB SSD.
A year later and...
My drive is starting to get crowded and I'm going to have to organize and stuff and I'm not happy.
So tempted to send it to Northridge Fix. But I won't. But i might! I won't.
Sigh
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500GB is plenty for OS and apps. Other people have been making through with 256GB model already.
Just hook an external enclosure (USB 3.0 for budget, or TB3 for crazy speed) with a 2TB SSD (SATA or nVME of your choice), then move all your personal data to it.
Or you just can sell the existing iMac to buy another CTO iMac Pro with 8TB SSD, if money doesn't matter.
This thread is about changing the internal SSD on a 2020 27" iMac, is that correct?
BUT... the 2020 27" iMac has a t2 chip and a soldered-in SSD, is that also correct?
If so, well... it can't be done.
At least... not in any practical way, short of changing out the motherboard, I reckon.
And... with the coming of the m-series chip and integrated CPU/RAM/SSD -- the days of "upgrading the SSD" are over and done. Same for RAM...
BUT... the 2020 27" iMac has a t2 chip and a soldered-in SSD, is that also correct?
If so, well... it can't be done.
At least... not in any practical way, short of changing out the motherboard, I reckon.
And... with the coming of the m-series chip and integrated CPU/RAM/SSD -- the days of "upgrading the SSD" are over and done. Same for RAM...
It can be done,... sort of.
Back up your data.
Sell yours.
Buy another with bigger storage.
Piece of cake.
I found such a video on youtubeI understand that it is for iMac 2019, but still
What's new and interesting to me IS that there is a hidden m.2 NVMe connector on 2019 iMac's Logic Board !
Why on earth Apple engineers decided to include a m.2 NVMe connector (though not populated in production iMac's) on the Logic Board? Does anyone have some theories/conspiracies/imaginations about the purpose of this m.2 NVMe connector?
Back to OP's question, I would imagine the Fusion socket in 2020 iMac can be populated just like 2019 iMac without Fusion drives. Getting a compatible SSD is a bit challenging. Original Apple SSDs from second hand markets should just work but availability will be scarce. Too bad replacement Fusion SSDs are low volume items. Otherwise, sellers would have been working hard on it.
Btw, I couldn't think of any possible explanation ppl in the video could figure out there is a hidden m.2 NVMe connector inside 2019 iMac. The bare notion of looking for one is bizarre to begin with. The only plausible explanation is they have contacts inside Apple's supply chains and received tips and PCB schematics. Lucky that they aren't virally well known yet..
Peace
My imagination:
There is only one PCB design for iMac 2019 at first.
During production, they just changed the program of the component placer to place several sets of components depending on the model.
It could have been more simple to produce only one type of logic board for all models, but that would create the chances for DIY/3rd party upgrading and Apple would lose profit on luxury models.
Hi,
I have been thinking doing the same for a while.
My thoughts of approaching this:
- Buy a used 2020 5K Imac on Ebay which has Applecare+
- Have the receptacle and standoff installed as described in the video of the 2019 4K Imac
- Just test if the machine recognises the extra storage
- If yes, great
If not
- remove the modification, have it cleaned, make sure the LB is dead(not recognised by Apple technicians)
- Reinstall cleanly with the appropriate tape(not the cheap chinese, Apple technicians will recognise them)
- Bring to Apple for repair
- Apple will install a new LB
Done.
So I am going to do the above and will report here.
I don't get the point of replacing a new LB that has exactly same specs (i.e. same storage). If it doesn't work, what's the motivation of not just desolder everything and use as normal?
Here is the information for your connector!as I said, you also need a circuit for desoldering additional elements, so this can be done, but one connector is not enough!
The guy tells how he added the connector to imac 21.5 2014 base model
pikabu.ru
The guy tells how he added the connector to imac 21.5 2014 base model
Установка родного SSD в iMac 21,5 2014 года или как Apple экономит 2 копейки на деталях
Автор: hroniks
I mean, if you can do this:
9to5mac.com
I don’t think the OP’s question is unreasonable. The question, I would think, is if the NVME traces run through the T2 chip. If so, it’s probably hopeless. If, on the other hand, it runs directly to a PCI bus to the CPU, it might be possible. I do question why it wasn’t populated to begin with, did they just cut the traces and solder in the SSD out of laziness? I can’t imagine why.
EDIT: Hold up a second, where are folks seeing the additional solder points for an NVME? The teardowns I saw looked like those solder points are populated in the higher-capacity machines, so it’s not just some legacy connector, it’s used for the 4tb and 8tb machines. If this is the case, I don’t see any way it could be repurposed on lower end machines.
M1 Mac RAM and storage can be upgraded after purchase, but it’s not easy - 9to5Mac
While the three M1 Macs released in late 2020 have been widely praised for a host of advancements, one criticism...
9to5mac.com
I don’t think the OP’s question is unreasonable. The question, I would think, is if the NVME traces run through the T2 chip. If so, it’s probably hopeless. If, on the other hand, it runs directly to a PCI bus to the CPU, it might be possible. I do question why it wasn’t populated to begin with, did they just cut the traces and solder in the SSD out of laziness? I can’t imagine why.
EDIT: Hold up a second, where are folks seeing the additional solder points for an NVME? The teardowns I saw looked like those solder points are populated in the higher-capacity machines, so it’s not just some legacy connector, it’s used for the 4tb and 8tb machines. If this is the case, I don’t see any way it could be repurposed on lower end machines.
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