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

[MacManiac76]

Not sure who started this "blade" drive nonsense. It is called an M2 drive, many of which are also NVMe drives.

 

[priva28]

I'm not sure but I think that blade refers the the proprietary connector that Apple uses for their "M.2" SSD's

 

[icemantx]

Blade for the system and home folder and sata ssd for additional storage. If you replace just the HDD, you'll have to move home folder to sata, as 128GB won't have enough space.

Is it worth moving everything to the SSD and not using the blade? Reason I ask is my home folder is 1TB in size due to iMovie and Photos libraries. Debating how much to invest in the upgrade. If I get a 2TB SSD plus 2 TB Blade plus the kit to install I will be around $500.

 

[madoleo]

Why not moving iLibraries to external usb drive if it takes so much space.

 

[indranrehan]

Device: 2019 iMac (3.7 i5, 580X, 2tb fusion)
Blade upgrade: 128gb Apple -> 970 Pro 1tb Samsung
HDD upgrade: 2tb SATA HDD -> Micron 5210 8tb enterprise SSD)
Blade Speed test: 3500/s read, 2400/s write (amorphous) 3050 read, 2600 write (Black magic)
SSD speed test: 530 read, 100 write (amorphous) 380 read, 350 write (black magic)
OS: Catalina 15.1
Temperature sensor: none

Issues after fresh OS install: NONE - everything works perfectly

Used one of the short sintech adapters linked in the original post and the ekwb heat sink -- only the top half. I covered the bottom and top of the nvme with thermal pads. Did not use bottom half of heat sink so it would lie perfectly flat.

I actually called an authorized Apple repair shop about doing this with the idea of keeping Apple care, but they said every replacement they did failed in a few months because the installed board did not lie perfectly flat leading to a failed ssd.

Decided they were obviously messing it up so did it myself. Was not hard, but my screen is a hair width misaligned, slightly annoying.

 

[smirk]

Device: 2019 iMac (3.7 i5, 580X, 2tb fusion)
Blade upgrade: 128gb Apple -> 970 Pro 1tb Samsung
HDD upgrade: 2tb SATA HDD -> Micron 8210 8tb enterprise SSD)

Nice job! I'd be interested in hearing how things are going a month or two down the road, if you don't mind.

 

[indranrehan]

Nice job! I'd be interested in hearing how things are going a month or two down the road, if you don't mind.

I'm also interested! I actually did this 11/26 so it's already been a week.

I didn't see the prior reports that the short Sintech was a problem and that the 970 Pro didn't work or I wouldn't have used them, but I've had no issues.

 

[curtis242]

Device: 2019 iMac (3.7 i5, 580X, 2tb fusion)
Blade upgrade: 128gb Apple -> 970 Pro 1tb Samsung
HDD upgrade: 2tb SATA HDD -> Micron 5210 8tb enterprise SSD)
Blade Speed test: 3500/s read, 2400/s write (amorphous) 3050 read, 2600 write (Black magic)
SSD speed test: 530 read, 100 write (amorphous) 380 read, 350 write (black magic)
OS: Catalina 15.1
Temperature sensor: none

Issues after fresh OS install: NONE - everything works perfectly

Used one of the short sintech adapters linked in the original post and the ekwb heat sink -- only the top half. I covered the bottom and top of the nvme with thermal pads. Did not use bottom half of heat sink so it would lie perfectly flat.

I actually called an authorized Apple repair shop about doing this with the idea of keeping Apple care, but they said every replacement they did failed in a few months because the installed board did not lie perfectly flat leading to a failed ssd.

Decided they were obviously messing it up so did it myself. Was not hard, but my screen is a hair width misaligned, slightly annoying.

does upgrading the blade and ssd affect the warranty as i've recently got a 21.5" 2019 iMac and was looking at changing the 1tb fusion drive and upgrading the ram (wasnt going to pay Apples prices) i've tried looking everywhere but cant find if it voids the warranty or not (i'm from the uk).

also could you do a couple of real word speed tests like boot times and app launch times if possible

 

[indranrehan]

does upgrading the blade and ssd affect the warranty as i've recently got a 21.5" 2019 iMac and was looking at changing the 1tb fusion drive and upgrading the ram (wasnt going to pay Apples prices) i've tried looking everywhere but cant find if it voids the warranty or not (i'm from the uk).

also could you do a couple of real word speed tests like boot times and app launch times if possible

Final Cut Pro and Xcode I remember both being slow loaders. On this system they boot in less than half a bounce, which is half a breath short of instant.

System boot is about 25 seconds, which is actually slower than the 18 I had booting off a thunderbolt 3 sabrent nvme, which benchmarked slower.

I'm guessing this is extra negotiation time with the non-standard hardware.

I also couldn't find anything regarding the warranty but my general sense from stories and reading the Apple Care terms is that if an authorized Apple service provider does the upgrade AND the damage doesn't result from the upgrade process or hardware AND you put back the original components when you take it to Apple, then you'd be covered still.

As a practical matter, this means only things like the CPU, video card, screen, logic board are covered and it's pretty rare for those to have covered manufacturers defects in the iMac (macbook is a different story).

In the end it's up to the people you're dealing with at Apple.


Re: loading time you can get a good idea of what it feels like by making a ram disk and loading apps off that.

 

[curtis242]

Final Cut Pro and Xcode I remember both being slow loaders. On this system they boot in less than half a bounce, which is half a breath short of instant.

System boot is about 25 seconds, which is actually slower than the 18 I had booting off a thunderbolt 3 sabrent nvme, which benchmarked slower.

I'm guessing this is extra negotiation time with the non-standard hardware.

I also couldn't find anything regarding the warranty but my general sense from stories and reading the Apple Care terms is that if an authorized Apple service provider does the upgrade AND the damage doesn't result from the upgrade process or hardware AND you put back the original components when you take it to Apple, then you'd be covered still.

As a practical matter, this means only things like the CPU, video card, screen, logic board are covered and it's pretty rare for those to have covered manufacturers defects in the iMac (macbook is a different story).

In the end it's up to the people you're dealing with at Apple.


Re: loading time you can get a good idea of what it feels like by making a ram disk and loading apps off that.

That's brilliant thank you, just out of interest what size iMac are you using and how much ram are you running?

 

[indranrehan]

That's brilliant thank you, just out of interest what size iMac are you using and how much ram are you running?

I have a 27 inch. 40 gb ram. 8 Apple + 32 crucial.

16 gb ram would have been sufficient to max out speed based on my memory usage in the istat menus program.

EDIT: actually that doesn't seem to be true, at 32gb i get some swap file paging. At 40 i get none.

EDIT 2: I just tried out the lower latency Kingston hyper x impact ram and geek bench went up 10%, get a bench equal to the i9 on their chart for single core. Multi core also went up, but the gap is bigger there...

 

[icemantx]

Thoughts on the Intel 2TB 660P NVME for a late 2014 iMac 27”? Currently I have a 3TB Fusion which has the 128gb NVME from Apple combined with a 3TB HDD.

 

[indranrehan]

Thoughts on the Intel 2TB 660P NVME for a late 2014 iMac 27”? Currently I have a 3TB Fusion which has the 128gb NVME from Apple combined with a 3TB HDD.

Make sure it's single sided. If there are chips on both sides like many 2tb, it won't lie flat probably.

 

[icemantx]

Make sure it's single sided. If there are chips on both sides like many 2tb, it won't lie flat probably.

Which brand and model do people seem to have the most success with when replacing the NVME drive?

Thanks!

 

[indranrehan]

Which brand and model do people seem to have the most success with when replacing the NVME drive?

Thanks!

All sorts of reports in this thread of different models people used and claimed success with, including the Intel 660. you can probably get a double sided nvme to work but it will bend if you screw it in because it's too thick, leading to failure in a few months. In general smaller drives are single sided, larger drives (like 2 tb) MAY be double sided. You have to research specific models.

If you just want a make model to use without doing research, Samsung's are all single sided, any size/model.

Just watch out for used 970 EVO PLUS, many of which won't work without a firmware update.

 

[daco77]

hi, I'm thinking upgrade my iMac 2017 with Intel 660P 1TB M.2 SSD + Sintech adapter, but I read after that I can not upgrade EFI of my iMac? that true?

Thanks
sorry for my English

 

[curtis242]

once i've upgraded the blade drive to a Samsung 970 Evo will i be able to use bootcamp?

 

[MBehr2]

Blade +HDD upgrade by MBehr2

Device: Late 2015 - 17.1 - MK472LL/A (4.0 Ghz i7-6700K, blade only 512GB)
Blade upgrade: 512GB blade PCIe SATA -> 1TB WDS100T3X0C-00SJG0 (102000WD) PCIe NVMe (WD BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD) + a heat sink.
HDD upgrade: none -> 1TB WDC WDS100T2B0A-00SM50 (X61190WD)
Speed test: 2723 MB/s read, 2913 MB/s write
Adapter: Sintech ST-NGFF2013
Location: Canada, North America
Temperature sensor: works fine without, thus not required
Issues after fresh OS install: sleep issues, have to disable sleep

So every time there's an Mojave update, I suffer the dreaded sleep issues, until I execute the following, now infamous, terminal commands:

Last login: Tue Dec 10 18:28:01 on console
iMac2015:~ stephen$ sudo pmset -g
Password:
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
Sleep On Power Button 1
autopoweroff 1
standbydelayhigh 86400
autopoweroffdelay 28800
standbydelaylow 86400
standby 1
proximitywake 1
ttyskeepawake 1
hibernatemode 0
powernap 1
gpuswitch 2
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
highstandbythreshold 50
womp 1
displaysleep 10
networkoversleep 0
sleep 1 (sleep prevented by sharingd)
tcpkeepalive 1
halfdim 1
autorestart 0
disksleep 10

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0

iMac2015:~ stephen$ sudo pmset -g
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
Sleep On Power Button 1
autopoweroff 1
standbydelayhigh 86400
autopoweroffdelay 28800
standbydelaylow 86400
standby 1
proximitywake 1
ttyskeepawake 1
hibernatemode 0
powernap 1
gpuswitch 2
hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
highstandbythreshold 50
womp 1
displaysleep 10
networkoversleep 0
sleep 1 (sleep prevented by sharingd)
tcpkeepalive 1
halfdim 1
autorestart 0
disksleep 10

This setting of course prevents the dreaded kernel panic from sleep mode we all hate to see. For me tho, this is not permanent. As I alluded to in several of my earlier posts, I couldn't find any reason why my iMac would have problems, since the bootROM was updated.

And even more curious, is after I issue the pmset hibernate mode commands, and then go into the preferences and restore defaults, my iMac no longer has sleep issues. I can put my iMac to sleep using various methods, without the dreaded kernel panic screen.

I haven't figured out exactly what is causing it to fail initially after every update, but issuing pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0, AND then resetting Energy Saver Power settings seems to always fix it for me.

Curious if anyone else is seeing the same behaviour in the Late 2105 iMac as well - as it truly is a joy having the faster NVMe speed AND no sleep issues.

 

[iqmac]

Folk,

As a sanity check and to confirm my thoughts prior to placing an order, can you confirm that my plans sound reasonable.

I have a late 2013 iMac 27" (i7-4771) with a 3TB Fusion Drive.

I plan on doing a blade and HD upgrade as follows:
- replace the 128GB Apple blade with an Intel 2TB 660P
- Use the Sintech ST-NGFF2013 adapter
- replace the 3TB HD with a Crucial MX500 2TB (the SATA SSD will go into an Adaptadrive 2.5 to 3.5 bracket)
- Restore via a Time Machine backup (my restore is about 1.2TB so will fit on NVME
- I won't set up Fusion, both new drives will be separate
- I am ordering the OWC upgrade kit which comes with the thermal sensor, probably overkill but better safe than having to open the iMac again!

I gleaned the NVME and SATA SSD drives from previous posts from people that had a 14,2 iMac, so feeling somewhat confident these models should work.

Am I missing anything?

Thx...IanQ

 

[ozanyuceol]

Blade upgrade

Device: iMac Late 2015, 5K Retina 27", 17.1 - (3.2 GHz i5-6500, Flash Drive 32GB blade PCIe SATA)
Blade upgrade: 32GB Blade PCIe SATA -> 500GB M.2 NVMe (WD BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD without heat sink)
Speed test: 2733 MB/s read, 2423 MB/s write
Adapter: Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter
Issues after fresh OS install: Sleep issues with adapter, solved with "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0"

I downloaded the OSX Catalina, and could choose the NVME SSD as target device during installation. So I did not need to install the OS via an external memory stick. But during installation, at some point the screen became solid black for roughly 10 minutes. Then I shut it down by holding the power button in order to install it with an external memory stick. However, when I powered it up, the installation continued, and completed properly.

 

[phickers]

I am looking to upgrade my iMac 2017 18,3 27" iMac with an addlink S70 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive in an Exterior enclosure to install Catalina as a second drive.

addlink S70 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive with Read 3500 MB/s/Write 3000 MB/s
addlink's S70 2TB M.2 PCIe SSD is powered by the latest 3D NAND technology and PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe interface, with four lanes used for transmitting and receiving data simultaneously, resulting in compelling performance of up to 3500MB/s read and 3000MB/s write for 2TB capacity. For professional use,...
www.amazon.com
Will this work> I will have to boot by holding the Option key but that is no biggy. Thanks in advance for the help.Will it be fast with a USB3.2 adapter cable/enclosure?


PS looking at this enclosure.

ineo M.2 NVMe (PCIe) SSD USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C Tool-Less Enclosure [C2575 M2 NVMe]
Product Specifications Product name: M.2/NVME to USB 3.1 SSD hard drive enclosure Interface type: M.2/NNVME to USB 3.1 Gen2 Transfer Rate : Up to 10Gbps Case Size: 118*40*8MM Material: Plastic Support SSD Drivers Size: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280mm Color: Grey Features: 1, USB 3.1 Type-C super fast an...
www.amazon.com

 

[50L]

Device: 2017 5K imac (3,8 GHZ I5)
Blade upgrade: standard apple SSD 128GB( only using this one for my lightroom catalogue + 4TB SSD samsung 860 qvo

Read : 480 mb/s write 516mb/s


The drives are now separate. Would I experience speed improvements if I make them a fusion drive?

 

[gpbonneau]

** UPGRADE SUCCESS **

Device: iMac 27" Late 2015 Retina 5K - i7 4GHz - 32GB
2TB Fusion Drive : 2 partitions > Mojave 10.14.6 (1.5TB) + W10 via BootCamp (500GB)
EFI : IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1910301919
Boot ROM : 174.0.0.0.0
SMC : 2.34f2

UPGRADE :

128GB blade Apple -> Sabrent Rocket NVMe 2TB (for Mojave)
Adapter : Sintech NGFF (ST-NGFF2013-C)
Speed test: 3080 MB/s read, 2840 MB/s write
Clone of the Mac OS partition from the Fusion Drive has been made before upgrade to Sabrent blade with NVMe to USB3 adapter (in using CCC).

2TB HD SATA Apple -> 1 TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD SATA (for BootCamp/W10)
Speed test: 520 MB/s read, 480 MB/s write
Temperature sensor: none
Clone of BootCamp partition has been made before upgrade to Samsung SATA SSD with SATA to USB3 adapter (in using Paragon Hard Disk Manager)

iMac restart without any problem after upgrade.
Issues after upgrade : none - "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0" has been done before update.

Parts list :
iFixit Tape for display (kit sold with rolling cutter)
Sabrent Rocket 2Tb SSD NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 with heatsink
Sintech adapter ST-NGFF2013-C
NVMe to USB 3 adapter (to clone)
Samsung 860 EVO 1Tb SSD SATA
3.5” to 2.5” fixing kit (to fix SSD in place of HD)
SATA to USB 3 adapter (to clone)

Carbon Copy Cloner (free 30-Day trial)
Paragon Hard Disk Manager for Mac (free 10-Day trial)

Note :
A little anxious about the disassembly of the screen but with the tool in the iFixit kit everything went well.
The rest of the disassembly is no problem (easier than a MacBook Pro Retina).
First try without gluing the screen, no problem. After several hours with Mojave and W10, glued screen.
Big improvement in SSD performance compared to FusionDrive.

Old Apple blade has been sold and 2TB HD re-used in external enclosure USB3

@dobrink: Thank you very much for this excellent post, without, I would not have done it.

 

[siselqo]

I am looking to upgrade my iMac 2017 18,3 27" iMac with an addlink S70 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive in an Exterior enclosure to install Catalina as a second drive.

addlink S70 2TB SSD NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 Solid State Drive with Read 3500 MB/s/Write 3000 MB/s
addlink's S70 2TB M.2 PCIe SSD is powered by the latest 3D NAND technology and PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe interface, with four lanes used for transmitting and receiving data simultaneously, resulting in compelling performance of up to 3500MB/s read and 3000MB/s write for 2TB capacity. For professional use,...
www.amazon.com
Will this work> I will have to boot by holding the Option key but that is no biggy. Thanks in advance for the help.Will it be fast with a USB3.2 adapter cable/enclosure?


PS looking at this enclosure.

ineo M.2 NVMe (PCIe) SSD USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C Tool-Less Enclosure [C2575 M2 NVMe]
Product Specifications Product name: M.2/NVME to USB 3.1 SSD hard drive enclosure Interface type: M.2/NNVME to USB 3.1 Gen2 Transfer Rate : Up to 10Gbps Case Size: 118*40*8MM Material: Plastic Support SSD Drivers Size: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280mm Color: Grey Features: 1, USB 3.1 Type-C super fast an...
www.amazon.com

I just bought 2019 5K 27" base config week ago. Hesitant to open it until warranty be void (in 12 months) so ì went with Samsung X5. I just ordered it day ago I stumbled upon your post.. and was bit hesitant with my decision to go with X5, as I have not considered thunderbolt 3 enclosures.

Finally stick with X5 despite your suggested solution looks promising. I think it's more savvy solution in matter of $$$ (eur).

Be aware that enclosure you have selected is only 10Gbps so you will not gain maximum possible speed which current M.2 NVME disk supports. Have look for 40Gbps enclosure (thunderbolt 3) to get maximum possible speeds.
I have found this promising: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07K7CBK2M

 

[curtis242]

** UPGRADE SUCCESS **

Device: iMac 27" Late 2015 Retina 5K - i7 4GHz - 32GB
2TB Fusion Drive : 2 partitions > Mojave 10.14.6 (1.5TB) + W10 via BootCamp (500GB)
EFI : IM171.88Z.F000.B00.1910301919
Boot ROM : 174.0.0.0.0
SMC : 2.34f2

UPGRADE :

128GB blade Apple -> Sabrent Rocket NVMe 2TB (for Mojave)
Adapter : Sintech NGFF (ST-NGFF2013-C)
Speed test: 3080 MB/s read, 2840 MB/s write
Clone of the Mac OS partition from the Fusion Drive has been made before upgrade to Sabrent blade with NVMe to USB3 adapter (in using CCC).

2TB HD SATA Apple -> 1 TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD SATA (for BootCamp/W10)
Speed test: 520 MB/s read, 480 MB/s write
Temperature sensor: none
Clone of BootCamp partition has been made before upgrade to Samsung SATA SSD with SATA to USB3 adapter (in using Paragon Hard Disk Manager)

iMac restart without any problem after upgrade.
Issues after upgrade : none - "sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0" has been done before update.

Parts list :
iFixit Tape for display (kit sold with rolling cutter)
Sabrent Rocket 2Tb SSD NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 with heatsink
Sintech adapter ST-NGFF2013-C
NVMe to USB 3 adapter (to clone)
Samsung 860 EVO 1Tb SSD SATA
3.5” to 2.5” fixing kit (to fix SSD in place of HD)
SATA to USB 3 adapter (to clone)

Carbon Copy Cloner (free 30-Day trial)
Paragon Hard Disk Manager for Mac (free 10-Day trial)

Note :
A little anxious about the disassembly of the screen but with the tool in the iFixit kit everything went well.
The rest of the disassembly is no problem (easier than a MacBook Pro Retina).
First try without gluing the screen, no problem. After several hours with Mojave and W10, glued screen.
Big improvement in SSD performance compared to FusionDrive.

Old Apple blade has been sold and 2TB HD re-used in external enclosure USB3

@dobrink: Thank you very much for this excellent post, without, I would not have done it.

View attachment 884905 View attachment 884906
View attachment 884907View attachment 884908

Hi, did you have any problems with bootcamp after the drive upgrades? how much slower would you say boot up was after changing the blade drive with the sabrent nvme?