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Imac support
Apr 27, 2021 16:46:10   #
Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania
 
I have an iMac with a 2tb fusion drive. I am planning on replacing the 2tb HDD with a 2Tb SSD. But while I’m inside of the iMac, would I benefit by also replacing the Flash SSD card with a 500gb Flash SSD? That SSD is I believe a 120gb SSD. I only have my apps on the HDD and all of my Docs, Photos and etc are on an external HDD.
Hoping to get some advice from someone that has done any of the above. My best friend that knew nearly everything about computers passed away in October 2020, so now I need to find someone that can advise me.

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Apr 28, 2021 12:53:01   #
John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN
 
I would consult Apple for feasibility for your iMac model. Look up all the numbers as Apple will ask for them. If you have an Apple Store nearby, go there first.

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Apr 28, 2021 16:09:19   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Ron 717 wrote:
I have an iMac with a 2tb fusion drive. I am planning on replacing the 2tb HDD with a 2Tb SSD. But while I’m inside of the iMac, would I benefit by also replacing the Flash SSD card with a 500gb Flash SSD? That SSD is I believe a 120gb SSD. I only have my apps on the HDD and all of my Docs, Photos and etc are on an external HDD.
Hoping to get some advice from someone that has done any of the above. My best friend that knew nearly everything about computers passed away in October 2020, so now I need to find someone that can advise me.
I have an iMac with a 2tb fusion drive. I am plann... (show quote)


I assume you are working with a vendor such as OWC or iFixIt to get a kit of case opening tools, new seals, and parts you need to crack open your Mac and perform surgery... Swapping out the hard drive or fusion drive or existing SSD requires cracking open the case very carefully and using a "pizza wheel" or guitar pick-like tool to split the foam tape. Then there are quite a number of tiny, fragile connectors to dislodge (camera, antennae, monitor, etc.). Then you get to disassemble the innards. OWC has step-by-step videos for nearly every iMac model. iFixIt has Dozuki guides for the same disassemblies. I used both when swapping out memory and drive in my Late 2013 21.5" iMac.

Yes, while in there, I would max-out everything. Maximize RAM. Change the HDD for an SSD. The fusion drive, on models that have it, is a virtual drive created from a small SSD and a regular hard disk. So your iMac should have a HDD AND an SSD module. I believe you can replace both, but the folks at OWC can answer with certainty.

During disassembly, be sure you have split all the foam tape, and go very slowly. It is extremely easy to *break* the monitor screen during removal! It is easy to damage the camera at the top of the screen, so work gently around that. The wires to the camera and the screen are not very long, so don't lift off the monitor until you reach in and disconnect them. If you need to remove the power supply, be very careful to watch the video or read the Dozuki guide, because it is quite tricky to get in and out.

It took me about three hours to perform the surgery on my iMac. It was definitely harrowing, but worth it! The machine is like a rocket, compared to performance with just a hard drive.

The one thing you might want to do FIRST is to configure the new SSD before proceeding. My kit came with a housing for my old hard drive. I put the SSD in that, formatted it with Disk Utility as an APFS volume, installed a virgin copy of MacOS, and installed virgin copies of all my software. Then I used Mac Migration Assistant to migrate my user profiles and data (We have five users of one computer, each with a different account).

After all that, I did the installation. That way, the computer booted up normally on the *second* try (I left the screen loose for the first two tries, and was glad I did, because the monitor cable was not secure!). Once you test the machine and know all is well, use the seals from your kit to re-glue the monitor to the base frame of the iMac.

The great folks at Other World Computing can help you with the project. They have helped tens of thousands of us with this. https://eshop.macsales.com

WATCH THE OWC PROCEDURE VIDEO for your model before ordering anything. You'll be glad you did!

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Apr 29, 2021 15:31:10   #
Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania
 
burkphoto wrote:
I assume you are working with a vendor such as OWC or iFixIt to get a kit of case opening tools, new seals, and parts you need to crack open your Mac and perform surgery... Swapping out the hard drive or fusion drive or existing SSD requires cracking open the case very carefully and using a "pizza wheel" or guitar pick-like tool to split the foam tape. Then there are quite a number of tiny, fragile connectors to dislodge (camera, antennae, monitor, etc.). Then you get to disassemble the innards. OWC has step-by-step videos for nearly every iMac model. iFixIt has Dozuki guides for the same disassemblies. I used both when swapping out memory and drive in my Late 2013 21.5" iMac.

Yes, while in there, I would max-out everything. Maximize RAM. Change the HDD for an SSD. The fusion drive, on models that have it, is a virtual drive created from a small SSD and a regular hard disk. So your iMac should have a HDD AND an SSD module. I believe you can replace both, but the folks at OWC can answer with certainty.

During disassembly, be sure you have split all the foam tape, and go very slowly. It is extremely easy to *break* the monitor screen during removal! It is easy to damage the camera at the top of the screen, so work gently around that. The wires to the camera and the screen are not very long, so don't lift off the monitor until you reach in and disconnect them. If you need to remove the power supply, be very careful to watch the video or read the Dozuki guide, because it is quite tricky to get in and out.

It took me about three hours to perform the surgery on my iMac. It was definitely harrowing, but worth it! The machine is like a rocket, compared to performance with just a hard drive.

The one thing you might want to do FIRST is to configure the new SSD before proceeding. My kit came with a housing for my old hard drive. I put the SSD in that, formatted it with Disk Utility as an APFS volume, installed a virgin copy of MacOS, and installed virgin copies of all my software. Then I used Mac Migration Assistant to migrate my user profiles and data (We have five users of one computer, each with a different account).

After all that, I did the installation. That way, the computer booted up normally on the *second* try (I left the screen loose for the first two tries, and was glad I did, because the monitor cable was not secure!). Once you test the machine and know all is well, use the seals from your kit to re-glue the monitor to the base frame of the iMac.

The great folks at Other World Computing can help you with the project. They have helped tens of thousands of us with this. https://eshop.macsales.com

WATCH THE OWC PROCEDURE VIDEO for your model before ordering anything. You'll be glad you did!
I assume you are working with a vendor such as OWC... (show quote)


Thank you for your input, I upgraded my 2012 several years ago to an SSD, it was not a fusion imac. I had no issues with that installation and it made that computer amazingly faster, but my 2019 iMac has a fusion drive. I know I can replace the HDD with a SSD and watching the videos it isn’t that much more to get to the flash SSD blade, I was just wondering if I removed the factory 128gb flash blade and replaced it with OWC’s Aura Pro’s either a 500gb or the 1tb flash card if I would achieve additional speed. I do think I will call OWC and talk to them about this.
I already have 40gb of memory installed. Since I have only Apps installed on it presently and all of my documents, photos, etc are on external drives, I am only using around 340gb of storage on my 2tb HDD.

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Apr 29, 2021 15:32:29   #
Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania
 
John_F wrote:
I would consult Apple for feasibility for your iMac model. Look up all the numbers as Apple will ask for them. If you have an Apple Store nearby, go there first.


Thank you, but I’m pretty sure they would only recommend me sending the computer to them for any upgrades.

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Apr 30, 2021 10:28:41   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Generally speaking, I have to pose the rhetorical question, "Is making any upgrade to my current Intel Mac a worthwhile long-term investment at this point?"

The answer is, it may or may not be, depending upon which Mac I have, and how long I intend to keep it, and whether the upgrade will pay off over that term.

We now have Apple's M1 System on Chip processors in a Mac Mini, MacBook Air, 13" base MacBook Pro, and an all-new 24" iMac. Each is amazing in its own right.

A new wave of MacBook Pros, a larger iMac, a high-end Mac Mini, and a new Mac Pro are undoubtedly in the pipeline. All of them will include more powerful Apple SOCs and other goodies.

I am currently saving for a new machine. Which one it will be is yet to be determined, because I want to see Apple's next wave of SOCs before spending any money.

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May 1, 2021 16:06:38   #
Ron 717 Loc: Pennsylvania
 
burkphoto wrote:
Generally speaking, I have to pose the rhetorical question, "Is making any upgrade to my current Intel Mac a worthwhile long-term investment at this point?"

The answer is, it may or may not be, depending upon which Mac I have, and how long I intend to keep it, and whether the upgrade will pay off over that term.

We now have Apple's M1 System on Chip processors in a Mac Mini, MacBook Air, 13" base MacBook Pro, and an all-new 24" iMac. Each is amazing in its own right.

A new wave of MacBook Pros, a larger iMac, a high-end Mac Mini, and a new Mac Pro are undoubtedly in the pipeline. All of them will include more powerful Apple SOCs and other goodies.

I am currently saving for a new machine. Which one it will be is yet to be determined, because I want to see Apple's next wave of SOCs before spending any money.
Generally speaking, I have to pose the rhetorical ... (show quote)


I contacted OWC and posed my question to them, they told me that the best suggestion would be to open the iMac and remove the HDD completely. Then replace the Nvme Flash card with either a 1tb or 2tb card and clone my apps over to the Flash card after closing up the IMac. This configuration would result in the ultimate speed I’m looking for. This update combined with the 40gb memory should result in the quickness I’m looking for.

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May 1, 2021 17:05:25   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Ron 717 wrote:
I contacted OWC and posed my question to them, they told me that the best suggestion would be to open the iMac and remove the HDD completely. Then replace the Nvme Flash card with either a 1tb or 2tb card and clone my apps over to the Flash card after closing up the IMac. This configuration would result in the ultimate speed I’m looking for. This update combined with the 40gb memory should result in the quickness I’m looking for.


Good to know!

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