I think given how many success stories with the 970 Samsung Evo/Evo Plus (I can't seem to find any Samsung 970 EVO at 2TB, they seem to have been replaced with the plus model), I might go down this route.
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A list of successful iMac 27" (2012-2019) SSD upgrades
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Blade
Device: 2017 Mid iMac 27" Base model with 256GB SSD from Apple - 18.3 - MNE92LL/A (No mechanical HDD)
Blade upgrade: Apple 256 GB -> 2TB Samsung NVMe SSD 970 EVO PRO (latest firmware - 2B2QEXM7)
CPU upgrade: N/A (Couldn't be bothered getting it from aliexpress as the upgrade won't be much of a difference)
Speed test: ~3300 MB/s read, ~3200 MB/s write
OS: Big Sur + Bootcamp Windows 10
Location: Sydney, Australia
Adapter: Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade 2013-2015 Year Macs(Not Fit Early 2013 MacBook Pro) - This is apparently the newer one and comes with black film cover over the socket pins
Issues with sleep: none
Heatsink for nvme SSD: Bought a cheap low rise version off ebay (~$5). size:7x2.2x0.3cm (The slim height makes it compatible). I removed the Samsung 970 evo pro sticker at the top of the SSD before applying.
Adhesive strip
My tip for future upgraders: Why hasn't anyone recommended the adhesive strip to be replaced? After you remove the screen, it won't stick back properly.
Very happy with the upgrade!
Device: 2017 Mid iMac 27" Base model with 256GB SSD from Apple - 18.3 - MNE92LL/A (No mechanical HDD)
Blade upgrade: Apple 256 GB -> 2TB Samsung NVMe SSD 970 EVO PRO (latest firmware - 2B2QEXM7)
CPU upgrade: N/A (Couldn't be bothered getting it from aliexpress as the upgrade won't be much of a difference)
Speed test: ~3300 MB/s read, ~3200 MB/s write
OS: Big Sur + Bootcamp Windows 10
Location: Sydney, Australia
Adapter: Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade 2013-2015 Year Macs(Not Fit Early 2013 MacBook Pro) - This is apparently the newer one and comes with black film cover over the socket pins
Issues with sleep: none
Heatsink for nvme SSD: Bought a cheap low rise version off ebay (~$5). size:7x2.2x0.3cm (The slim height makes it compatible). I removed the Samsung 970 evo pro sticker at the top of the SSD before applying.
Adhesive strip
My tip for future upgraders: Why hasn't anyone recommended the adhesive strip to be replaced? After you remove the screen, it won't stick back properly.
Very happy with the upgrade!
Hi mBosse and everyone who's in team 'Right to Repair' (with Louis Rossmann taking the lead), Questions, if it's alright: for the Late 2015 5K, 27" iMac (3.3Ghz model, 2TB Fusion Drive), the best Sintech adapter is the ST-NGFF2013-C (I plan to only upgrade the Blade to Teamgroup brand 1TB M.2 NVME SSD which has this dimensions: 80(L) x 22(W) x 3.8(H) mm Will this fit on that Sintech adapter?). I won't install any SSD in place of the Fusion's hard drive) and then before transferring things from Time Machine after a Fresh install of Big Sur, I still need to do go to safe mode and type in sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0 and then transfer files from Time Machine? Does the hibernation still persist in Big Sur? Thank you. God bless, Rev. 21:4
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[…]
My tip for future upgraders: Why hasn't anyone recommended the adhesive strip to be replaced? After you remove the screen, it won't stick back properly.
Glad you’re happy, and you should be!
The thing with the adhesive strip is quite common knowledge here (as the thread is mainly about avoiding sleep/hibernation issues which were widespread until Apple updated firmware), and is of course mentioned in all the instructions and videos frequently linked here, such as iFixit.
Magnus
The adapter appears to be the right one, make sure you chose the one with the tape already covering the contacts just as shown in the post above.
I don’t know at all your SSD, but if you update your iMac to the newest macOS before you attempt the upgrade, you should be fine as this will load the newest firmware, and won’t need to tackle hibernation/sleep settings.
Best of luck,
Magnus
Hello Mac friends.
Those who've ordered the Sintech iMac adapters directly from eshop.Sintech.ch, how long did it take to get to your house? Is it as long as AliExpress, which takes 2 months, 6 months even to a year (can anyone recommend a parcel/package forwarder who delivers from China to the US and other countries- maybe that'll be faster but a little more expensive but time is expensive) of extremely long waiting!
Thank you.
God bless, Rev. 21:4
Those who've ordered the Sintech iMac adapters directly from eshop.Sintech.ch, how long did it take to get to your house? Is it as long as AliExpress, which takes 2 months, 6 months even to a year (can anyone recommend a parcel/package forwarder who delivers from China to the US and other countries- maybe that'll be faster but a little more expensive but time is expensive) of extremely long waiting!
Thank you.
God bless, Rev. 21:4
Thanks. If I have the latest MacOS Big Sur update it won't have any problems at all with my Late 2015 iMac (3.3.Ghz, Fusion 2TB, M395 GPU) hibernation and sleep or any problems at all, even if I buy the cheaper ST-NGFF2013 instead of the ST-NGFF2013-C?
By the way, if you (or anyone has ordered directly from eshop.sintech.cn, how many days did it take before it got to your house? Is it very long like Ali Express (which takes 2 months on average, sometimes on year!).
Thanks in advance, again.
I would buy the recommended one, and I did order directly from Sintech, and I recall it took about 2-3 weeks each time (to Austria).
Thanks again so much. That's a relief, even though it's coming from china, it's not 6 months to a year like Ali Express (waiting for an item there and it's 6 months already).
Did it arrive at your doorsteps or you had to get it at your city's post office? I'd love to time it with the parts as close as possible that they get here almost all at the same time (been researching 8 hours a day for 4 days now but this'll all be worth it for sure). And did you have to pay any extra charge to the delivery guy (trying to determine if those that are available locally but more expensive would come out almost the same but then again, these local ones don't look genuine Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C although they're cheaper)?
Difficult question to answer. This summer, Austria changed their customs system in the sense that the 22€ import duty threshold was revoked. I ordered before, hence the adapter just arrived at my doorstep.
Can’t tell how it works now when it goes through normal customs procedure.
Thanks again, that's great.
By the way, is the adapter from Sintech durable or did it needed to be replaced every so often? If it breaks down within a year or two (then needs to be replaced), I guess that's still enough time to use a faster iMac do some work and, earn and save for the more pro Silicon Macs.
If all's well, I think I'll use the 128GB Apple NVME as an Thunderbolt 2 external drive to install games on or maybe put it in a DIY NAS via ethernet along with some hard drives as installation for non-essential apps (like games). Recommendations are welcome.
By the way, is the adapter from Sintech durable or did it needed to be replaced every so often? If it breaks down within a year or two (then needs to be replaced), I guess that's still enough time to use a faster iMac do some work and, earn and save for the more pro Silicon Macs.
If all's well, I think I'll use the 128GB Apple NVME as an Thunderbolt 2 external drive to install games on or maybe put it in a DIY NAS via ethernet along with some hard drives as installation for non-essential apps (like games). Recommendations are welcome.
Thanks, very grateful for the help.
If you have time to experiment, I was thinking this hack might work, so that it's like the old iMac whereby the glass is just magnetized to the bezel, I hope the clamor for "Right to Repair" and it's momentum force Apple to make 100% fully repairable products (like Framework's laptop whereby you can replace every part coz' they're modular) and the clamor to reduce carbon footprint in our throw away instead of repair world:
I asked a parts seller, the 27" 5K display is around 2kg (4 lbs), I was wondering, what if instead of the tape adhesives, we trace the shapes of those tape adhesives onto a magnetic tape that's powerful enough to hold 4lbs. 3M has a magnetic tape that goes for almost the same price (holds 415grams per cm2: https://www.magnosphere.co.uk/self-...-adhesive-1-5mm-x-10mm-x-1m-high-power/a-2309) as a good iMac tape adhesive and some magnetic tapes have magnetic pull of 1600 gauss per cm2 which can hold 4kgs per cm2 like this https://www.magnetshop.com/crafters-choice/adhesive-strip.html#1) and these can be glued with silicon on both the screen's bezel and the the body's bezel with silicon like Selley's Gwikgrip or any silicon that's not for caulking, in the shape of the tape adhesives. The only downside would be the thickness of the magnetic tape overall. My magnetic tape which is weak, it's just for post it notes is 0.31mm, so two is about 0.62mm, still less than a millimeter.
So when say newer hacks come or faster NVMEs come along (hopefully next year it's as fast as a single channel DDR4 at least, at 15000MB/s read) like this hack:
or this:
it's easy to open.
I hope OWC invents again and sells again their strangest upgrades, they had an upgrade years back whereby you solder it to the board and it taps the memory, then you installed the memory outside (it goes out the speaker grills of the iMac circa 2009 or older), I told them to make something like that again but instead it can be soldered to the PCI-E and comes out as an external PCI-E slot (powered externally), so Macs can have the full power of PCI-E GPUs.
God bless, may we keep making these Macs perform better, last longer, especially in this pandemic economy. Later...
If you have time to experiment, I was thinking this hack might work, so that it's like the old iMac whereby the glass is just magnetized to the bezel, I hope the clamor for "Right to Repair" and it's momentum force Apple to make 100% fully repairable products (like Framework's laptop whereby you can replace every part coz' they're modular) and the clamor to reduce carbon footprint in our throw away instead of repair world:
I asked a parts seller, the 27" 5K display is around 2kg (4 lbs), I was wondering, what if instead of the tape adhesives, we trace the shapes of those tape adhesives onto a magnetic tape that's powerful enough to hold 4lbs. 3M has a magnetic tape that goes for almost the same price (holds 415grams per cm2: https://www.magnosphere.co.uk/self-...-adhesive-1-5mm-x-10mm-x-1m-high-power/a-2309) as a good iMac tape adhesive and some magnetic tapes have magnetic pull of 1600 gauss per cm2 which can hold 4kgs per cm2 like this https://www.magnetshop.com/crafters-choice/adhesive-strip.html#1) and these can be glued with silicon on both the screen's bezel and the the body's bezel with silicon like Selley's Gwikgrip or any silicon that's not for caulking, in the shape of the tape adhesives. The only downside would be the thickness of the magnetic tape overall. My magnetic tape which is weak, it's just for post it notes is 0.31mm, so two is about 0.62mm, still less than a millimeter.
So when say newer hacks come or faster NVMEs come along (hopefully next year it's as fast as a single channel DDR4 at least, at 15000MB/s read
) like this hack: I hope OWC invents again and sells again their strangest upgrades, they had an upgrade years back whereby you solder it to the board and it taps the memory, then you installed the memory outside (it goes out the speaker grills of the iMac circa 2009 or older), I told them to make something like that again but instead it can be soldered to the PCI-E and comes out as an external PCI-E slot (powered externally), so Macs can have the full power of PCI-E GPUs.
God bless, may we keep making these Macs perform better, last longer, especially in this pandemic economy. Later...
Blade + HDD upgrade
Device: Retina 5K, Late 2015 - MK482LL/A - iMac17,1 - A1419 - 2834 (i5-6600 w 2TB Fusion)
Blade upgrade: 128GB -> 512GB Samsung 970 Evo
HDD upgrade: 2TB drive -> 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD
CPU upgrade: N/A
Speed test: 2800 MB/s read, 2500 MB/s write
OS: Big Sur 11.5.2
Location: Malaysia, Asia
Adapter: Utake, I also bought FUN (I think they are Sintech clone). Used Utake (works), FUN (for backup, did not try)
Issues after fresh OS install: surprisingly the sleep issue is not present, HDD does not need the thermal sensor.
Device: Retina 5K, Late 2015 - MK482LL/A - iMac17,1 - A1419 - 2834 (i5-6600 w 2TB Fusion)
Blade upgrade: 128GB -> 512GB Samsung 970 Evo
HDD upgrade: 2TB drive -> 1TB Crucial MX500 SSD
CPU upgrade: N/A
Speed test: 2800 MB/s read, 2500 MB/s write
OS: Big Sur 11.5.2
Location: Malaysia, Asia
Adapter: Utake, I also bought FUN (I think they are Sintech clone). Used Utake (works), FUN (for backup, did not try)
Issues after fresh OS install: surprisingly the sleep issue is not present, HDD does not need the thermal sensor.
Thanks Oscar. That's great news, you didn't need to deal with any issue. It's perfect. Are you using the Utake adapter or Fun adapter? Which adapter does not have any issue (perfect in short)? Is Utake also a clone of Sintech (if that's better or FUN is better than Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C, do you think I should cancel my Sintech order or is it because it's Big Sur, not much to do with the adapter)? Also did you need to run the sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0 before you did the upgrade? Thanks for the tips in advance.
hei alvin777, i'm using utake because it's my 1st try and it works (perfectly), and did not bother to dismantle again (lazy! LOL). both utake and fun have the same part no. on their packaging (just an antistatic plastic, attached with a picture), so i'm assuming they are both from the same manufacturer and my suspicious is that, they r sintech clone. both items are from china, just different seller.
You should just cancel the sintech if it's very expensive. in malaysia, there are sellers selling it around 100 MYR, which converts to 23.49 USD (today rates on google), which is quite ridiculous! I bought these 2 item with free shipping from China under 10 MYR (2.35 USD) each.
not sure if it's because it's big sur or not, but i like my system up to date, i did not need to sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25 standby 0 before or after a clean install straight from usb bootable drive.
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Hi Oscar, how's Malaysia? You truly had an extremely great deal there, that's 6x cheaoer (7x w/ shipping), Utake and Fun found a way to make it way cheaper than Sintech the one who invented the adapters but it's sometimes like that. But at least, the forum now has an alternative.
How much was the shipping to Malaysia and how long did it arrive? What online shop did you buy it from, if that's alright to ask? Thanks again, for helping make the Apple DIY upgrade a better place (i guess this part of the 'Right to Repair' movement. Let's hope, fast and pray Apple and sir Tim Cook will make the upgrades and services way cheaper and all parts, all available for repair. We have to stop this throw away culture, reduce pollution and cost for us
(if you took photos of the adapter before you installed it, if you could share here, that'd be very interesting to see, too).
Hi Alvin777,Hi Oscar, how's Malaysia? You truly had an extremely great deal there, that's 6x cheaoer (7x w/ shipping), Utake and Fun found a way to make it way cheaper than Sintech the one who invented the adapters but it's sometimes like that. But at least, the forum now has an alternative.
How much was the shipping to Malaysia and how long did it arrive? What online shop did you buy it from, if that's alright to ask? Thanks again, for helping make the Apple DIY upgrade a better place (i guess this part of the 'Right to Repair' movement. Let's hope, fast and pray Apple and sir Tim Cook will make the upgrades and services way cheaper and all parts, all available for repair. We have to stop this throw away culture, reduce pollution and cost for us
pandemic is getting worse in malaysia, still in movement control order, but slower and gradually opening up for those who had 2 doses of vaccine. hope to get back to normal life soonest... thanks for asking.
btw i bought these 2 adapters from this online shopping platform shopee, and another one is lazada (lazada actually owned by taobao (china)), they are like amazon, but super famous in asia countries.
one good thing about these platforms are, that they can link china sellers with malaysia buyers, shipment is quite cheap (usually less than 10MYR (2.35 USD), and whenever there's offer (which is all year round), they even give free shipping, and courier to your doorstep. the timeframe of shipments usually takes a week only, since they send via airplanes and distance wise is quite near. (attached image of the time taken to arrive and price i paid for)
also attached image of the adapter, i did not take a pic from the one i used. but both basically the same model. and to be honest i feel the look and feel also same as sintech, not too sure sintech is the manufacturer or they just taken this adapter and make it their own brand.
do check below links, those images are quite accurate
utake link here for malaysia market, try to find it in your area
fun link here for malaysia market, try to find it in your area
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Thanks Oscar, you're so blessed, Malaysia's prices for the same product (like these adapters) seem to be more than 100% cheaper (I think coz' Malaysia is landlocked to china, going through Thailans- correct me if I'm wrong), compared to even other asian countries. Just curious, you found a gem in Shopee and Lazada, when you were searching for them, what phrases or word/s did you use (to make my search precise too next time)? Also how long did your research before deciding Fun and Utake where the ones to buy?
By the way where you buy your adhesive (if it's from Shopee or Lazada too, if you could share the link that'd be nice. What phrases or words did yo use to search for the adhesive for the iMac screen. You could experiment with magnetic tape, the one I posted above I might try tracing the adhesive tap to a powerful enough magnetic tape so one can upgrade it, easily, if it works. I think some abroad can look for a parcel forwarder from Malaysia to Europe or the US if that's cheaper. If you could recommend parcel forwarders based in Malaysia, who can delivery from Maylaysia to anywhere in the world/or almost anywhere, who're reliable and cost-effective, it'd be a big help for our iMac 2015 and MacBoook DIY upgrades
.Thank you in advance again. Stay safe.
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lol! if i want to i can drive to china, but gonna take a long long time! through thailand yes.Thanks Oscar, you're so blessed, Malaysia's prices for the same product (like these adapters) seem to be more than 100% cheaper (I think coz' Malaysia is landlocked to china, going through Thailans- correct me if I'm wrong), compared to even other asian countries. Just curious, you found a gem in Shopee and Lazada, when you were searching for them, what phrases or word/s did you use (to make my search precise too next time)? Also how long did your research before deciding Fun and Utake where the ones to buy?
By the way where you buy your adhesive (if it's from Shopee or Lazada too, if you could share the link that'd be nice. What phrases or words did yo use to search for the adhesive for the iMac screen. You could experiment with magnetic tape, the one I posted above I might try tracing the adhesive tap to a powerful enough magnetic tape so one can upgrade it, easily, if it works. I think some abroad can look for a parcel forwarder from Malaysia to Europe or the US if that's cheaper. If you could recommend parcel forwarders based in Malaysia, who can delivery from Maylaysia to anywhere in the world/or almost anywhere, who're reliable and cost-effective, it'd be a big help for our iMac 2015 and MacBoook DIY upgrades
Thank you in advance again. Stay safe.
i looked for "nvme apple adapter" or something similar and look at those pictures which are really close to sintech version, and also description of the product. eg. below
i also chat with the seller to make sure they are compatible with my iMac. it took me just few days to confirm with the purchase.
i went without any adhesive! just went with kapton tape (see attachment), do not want the hassle to cut the adhesive in the future. (dont mind the esthetic of it! lol!). talking about that, it's quite cheap to get from shopee or lazada, some from locals, some from china, some 3rd party, some original, prices are around 30-50 myr (7.08-11.80 usd), and usually with free shipping.
i dont recommend sending parcels from malaysia to other countries, it'll be very expensive, but from china to the world would be much cheaper. i think u guys need to find forwarder to help out, especially those can help with china shipment. that's y i like shopee and lazada, i dont need to hassle with customs, tax, shipping, just buy and wait at home and eventually arrive to my door step.
hope my explanation help u guys or for future reference, i know i got lots of information from here and glad that i read through all information before proceeding with the upgrade due to my hdd failure soon (restarts here and there from time to time), and are confident for the upgrade. tq
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Hi all, I am planning the 2017 iMac 27" base model upgrade. And have a few question, any inputs are welcome.
1. Currently i5, does it really worth the i7-7700k upgrade? or nvme upgrade alone is good enough. 7700k is costly at eBay.
2. Is Gen4 PCle also good for 2017 iMac? better/faster than Gen3?
3. Is heat sink for nvme really needed?
4. Since I am planning a fresh installation of macOS, go with Big Sur or stay with Catalina? I think the performance on Big Sur may be slowed on 2017 iMac i5
5. My current disk setup is 500gb ssd+24gb fusion drive. after replace 24gb oem nvme with 500gb/1tb nvme, i think there is no need to fusion drive anymore, will 500gb ssd work as is without any data loss?
Thanks in advance!
1. Currently i5, does it really worth the i7-7700k upgrade? or nvme upgrade alone is good enough. 7700k is costly at eBay.
2. Is Gen4 PCle also good for 2017 iMac? better/faster than Gen3?
3. Is heat sink for nvme really needed?
4. Since I am planning a fresh installation of macOS, go with Big Sur or stay with Catalina? I think the performance on Big Sur may be slowed on 2017 iMac i5
5. My current disk setup is 500gb ssd+24gb fusion drive. after replace 24gb oem nvme with 500gb/1tb nvme, i think there is no need to fusion drive anymore, will 500gb ssd work as is without any data loss?
Thanks in advance!
@3: depends on you SSD. Samsung’s 970 and probably the 980 get quite hot, so it might be worth it. Others run at lower temperatures. Use a 3mm heat sink!
@4: depends largely if you have BS-incompatible software, if not, go for it! I’d upgrade even before modifying to get all the most recent firmware updates.
@5: if you separate FDs your data gets lost, so backup before (you should do that anyhow regularly!) and restore from there.
Magnus
1. it's worth it if u plan to run it in long run
2. not sure if gen4 nvme will work on your system, so be aware
3. i did use on my 970evo, in the long run i think it's worth it
4. i'm on big sur, i feel it's ok, unless u have specific app that needs older version, go to big sur
5. data will all be lost, do a time machine backup before attempting these procedures, u still can use the 500gb sdd as a separate drive on it's own for storage. i'm using 500gb nvme + 1gb ssd, 2 drives on its own