Upgrade HD or buy new iMac?

[technoholic]

I've got a late 2015 5k iMac and I made the unfortunate mistake of not speccing a big enough drive when I purchased it. I don't have a problem with the spec of the machine although it's probably going to get an upgrade in the next year or so. Would you bite the bullet and upgrade the whole machine now or upgrade the drive instead? Is it actually quite difficult? I have seen the instructions but can't really gauge how difficult it will actually be.

Thoughts?

 

[technoholic]

not legitimately but you can take the screen off and access it that way, it doesn't look like an easy process though

 

[gian8989]

why don't you just connect an external ssd?

 

[technoholic]

why don't you just connect an external ssd?

another thing to have on my already cramped desk. I need to move my one drive sync folder to somewhere bigger so if I do this onto an external SSD, won't that get messed up if the drive is not connected or powered on for some reason? Also can I install apps to external drives?
[doublepost=1510151511][/doublepost]Alternatively can I boot from it and use internal HDD for apps?

 

[redfirebird08]

another thing to have on my already cramped desk. I need to move my one drive sync folder to somewhere bigger so if I do this onto an external SSD, won't that get messed up if the drive is not connected or powered on for some reason? Also can I install apps to external drives?
[doublepost=1510151511][/doublepost]Alternatively can I boot from it and use internal HDD for apps?

Yes, you can install the operating system on external SSD. It’s very easy to change the boot drive in Mac OS System Preferences. Look up Carbon Copy Cloner software.

Samsung T5 external SSD is tiny. Some people even mount them on the back of the iMac, but you can easily put it under the screen on the gray/silver computer stand.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073...rtable+ssd&dpPl=1&dpID=31STqNqxnuL&ref=plSrch

 

[technoholic]

interesting, although id like a bigger hard drive inside, this could be a good option until next year if the rumoured redesign happens as I'd hate to buy a new one now and have missed out on a redesigned machine by less than a year. Ill look in to it, thanks

 

[fathergll]

I feel your pain TS. Not spending the money on the correct drive is the probably the number one thing I see people do(myself included). Luckily we live in an age where you can correct this pretty easily with the tiny external SSDs

 

[technoholic]

yeah I learnt from my mistake when I bought my MBP but should have stumped up that little extra on the iMac. Oh well, looks like SSD might be the way forward until next year then

 

[Fishrrman]

Get something like a Samsung t3 or t5 (biggest capacity you can afford).

Velcro it to the back of the iMac's stand -- it will be out-of-sight and out-of-the-way.

Set it up with the OS and it can be "your external booter".
You didn't tell us what kind of drive is INSIDE the iMac, what is it?

Going the "external boot route" is easier, faster, cheaper than cutting open the iMac.
Do you REALLY want to run the risk of breaking something inside?

 

[technoholic]

Get something like a Samsung t3 or t5 (biggest capacity you can afford).

Velcro it to the back of the iMac's stand -- it will be out-of-sight and out-of-the-way.

Set it up with the OS and it can be "your external booter".
You didn't tell us what kind of drive is INSIDE the iMac, what is it?

Going the "external boot route" is easier, faster, cheaper than cutting open the iMac.
Do you REALLY want to run the risk of breaking something inside?

No I don't really want to do that, I was just exploring the option. It's a 256Gb SSD inside

 

[teohyc]

Just get a large capacity Samsung T5 and tape it to the back of your iMac. You can still reuse the external drive even if you upgrade to another system in the future. So it's worth the price to get the external SSD. And the prices of external SSD does not seem to be dropping. I bought one more than a year ago and it's still selling at the same price today.

 

[enricoclaudio]

I have a T3 and a T5, they are good SSD but not as good or fast as my new Glyph ATOM RAID. The ATOM RAID is the fastest SSD. in the marked right now. If you are looking for speed, I would recommend you to get that ATOM RAID instead of the T5.

 

[redfirebird08]

I have a T3 and a T5, they are good SSD but not as good or fast as my new Glyph ATOM RAID. The ATOM RAID is the fastest SSD. in the marked right now. If you are looking for speed, I would recommend you to get that ATOM RAID instead of the T5.

View attachment 733632

That drive also has more risk of failure due to the RAID configuration. Most people don’t even need that kind of speed. 500 megabytes per second on the T5 is pretty awesome in its own right.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Consider this first.

I have a friend who is a large Apple Reseller in Sydney, Australia. He does not let his technical staff tear down the glued iMacs. After breaking six screens at $500 a pop, he has the iMac bundled up and sent to Apple Sydney HQ for Apple employees to work on. Just not worth the risk to him.

 

[fastlanephil]

iFixit shows the difficulty level of the replacement of the hard drive on a 2015 27” as “Moderate” but there are 34 steps just to swap the drives and then you have to put it back together. Moderate for a skilled Mac repair person maybe. I’ve done some Mac upgrades over the years but I wouldn’t attempt it. OWC stopped offering iMac upgrades after the 2011 model.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+Retina+5K+Display+Hard+Drive+Replacement/30522

 

[DesterWallaboo]

I've changed drives in the new iMacs before... it's not super difficult. You just need to be slow and methodical about your approach. Several videos on YouTube on how to get it done. Definitely worth buying a new HD for a 2015 iMac.

 

[EugW]

Personally I’d just keep the 256 GB internal SSD as the boot drive. Get an external Samsung T5 SSD for extra storage.

 

[siddhartha]

I just did the drive swap on my late 2014 iMac. Honestly, it wasn't that hard if you take your time. The hardest part was separating the screen, but if you take your time, and go over it a few times, it's not bad, and the rest of the process is easy.
Feel free to ask questions-I was intimidated by the instructions, but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"No I don't really want to do that, I was just exploring the option. It's a 256Gb SSD inside"

Just add external USB3 storage and be done with it.
Get an SSD, HDD, whatever size you need, and be happy.

 

[DesterWallaboo]

I love the speed of SSD's.... but they don't give me nearly the storage space I need. So I usually go with a hybrid drive.