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

[alloallo]

Hy it seems to be an 32 Bit problem not only by the Samsung SSD. If there is a 32 bit App installed then Montery didn‘t support, only 64bit Applications.The comunicación between EFI, hardware and OSX is corrupted in the beginning of booting the system caused an error by the 32 bit Apps and is hanging the time of booting.
By an clean install thre is now slow booting because no 32 bit app is installed now. And when a Timemachine backup is installed with an old 32bit App u have become a slow booting System.

No. It's a fresh install and I do not have any 32 bit app. Slow boot time cause is very clear when you read the log file : kernel: (apfs) spaceman_scan_free_blocks:3153: disk2 scan took 184.520064 s, trims took 184.160975 s

 

[tk_mac]

Would this be the right adapter for a 2019 iMac 21.5 to use an M.2 drive? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CWWAENG/?tag=mrforums-20
Not sure how to tell if it is needed NGFF2013-C variant versus the other variants.

 

[SaschO]

Yes thats right have the same ordered in China for an 27 iMac early 2019 by Sintech half the Price tooks 2 weeks for delivery.

Best regards
Sascha

 

[Backslashnl1]

Thank you all for this great topic! This inspired me to do the same. I ordered the following hardware upgrades for my late 2015:

CPU: i7 6700K, Memory: 4* 8GB Hynix for a total of 32GB, Sintech adapter, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB + Heatsink.
At first I only wanted to upgrade the CPU, but I thought, when I come so far in the disassembly process, it's a waste not to take this opportunity to upgrade the Blade SSD as well.
I also bought the iOpener toolkit and Adhesive Strips (inc pizza cutter) from iFixit Europe. These tools greatly helped me during the operation.

Device: Late 2015 - 17,1 (3.2Ghz i5-6500, Crucial MX500 1TB Sata SSD upgraded by previous owner, R9 M380 2 GB)
Blade upgrade: none -> 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD
HDD upgrade: 1TB SATA SSD Crucial MX500 -> kept it in place
Speed test: Blade: ca 3000 MB/s read & write
OS: Monterey 12.1
Temperature sensor: none
Location: The Netherlands, Europe
Adapter: Sintech ST-NGFF2013C (long), newest version
SSD Heatsink: Glotrends 2280 (0,12" / 3mm height)
Issues after fresh OS install: none. Read further


I prepared myself well by going through this topic, watched youtube videos of the process and followed the iFixit manual closely.
First boot attempt after all the hardware was replaced.. it took 5 seconds longer than usual before hearing the Chime sound... my heart skipped 2 times during this period... and then it just booted. First attempt, successfully

The only issue I have happened on the very last step during reassembling the display. Removing the protective films from adhesive strips... you have to pull the label and the white protective films should come off. This went wrong on the right side, this one tore off when I pulled it. So the right side is not fully taped. I think I will take my chances. There is no gap visible.

Further everything went smooth! I took my time and was busy the whole day. I also cleaned the inside during the process. It feels quite cool to have upgraded this iMac and enjoy using it for the upcoming years

I read some questions and issues about the Samsung 970 EVO Plus in this topic, let me answer them.

• When installing the SSD make sure to fit it in the adapter firmly, also firmly install the adapter into the motherboard socket. You should not see any pins of the adapter and SSD. I also heard a 'click' noise when I installed the adapter into the motherboard. The supplied screw with the Sintech adapter was useless to me, it was too small. I used a custom screw, originally from a Thinkpad notebook.
• To determine how old it is when you buy it. You can actually just see this on the sticker on the box, this tells you the production date. Mine is from 2021-09-14. It works out of the box. TRIM is enabled by default.
• The last pages of this topic suggest that Samsung 970 EVO plus SSDs have new issues, for example very long boot times. I see people recommending against this SSD. I really don't see any reason not to buy this SSD. I do not have any issues with the Samsung 970 EVO Plus. Cold boot takes 22 seconds after pressing the power button.
• Use the highest possible OS version to avoid issues. Monterey works perfectly with NVME M2 ssd with adapters. If you use a USB boot disk to install your SSD, make sure it is from macOS Monterey or Big Sur.

Useful resources for this upgrade:

• IFixit guide for CPU replacement
• IFixit guide for Blade SSD replacement
• IFixit guide for Adhesive strips application
• Youtube: iMac 5k 27'' Full Upgrade (CPU, NVMe-SSD, SATA-SSD, RAM) Step By Step
• How to create a bootable installer for macOS

And finally some pictures and benchmarks of this SSD:

Overview of the operation

The motherboard with upgraded hardware installed: i7 CPU (top left), 4 memory banks(upper top left) and the SSD with heatsink (top right). I did not have new thermal pads for the GPU memory, so I just kept the white thermal stuff in place. I did replace the thermal paste on the GPU and CPU with Artic Silver 5 which I had laying around.

This is actually faster than my stock iMac 2017 with native Blade SSD:

Thanks again and feel free to ask any questions!

 

[tk_mac]

Use the highest possible OS version to avoid issues. Monterey works perfectly with NVME M2 ssd with adapters. If you use a USB boot disk to install your SSD, make sure it is from macOS Monterey or Big Sur.

Did you already have Monterey on your machine before you replaced the SSD? There have been issues with updating to Monterey from a lower system in Macs with after market SSDs.

 

[Backslashnl1]

Did you already have Monterey on your machine before you replaced the SSD? There have been issues with updating to Monterey from a lower system in Macs with after market SSDs.

Yes, Monterey was already installed on the Sata SSD. Before the hardware upgrade I created an USB bootable installer with Monterey. Ik followed this guide from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

After upgrade I could boot fine with the Monterey installation on the Sata SSD. However, I wanted to run the OS from the M2 SSD, so I installed it fresh with the USB bootdisk. Holding down OPTION button during bootup brings you to the USB installer.

So if you prepare a USB bootdisk with Monterey before upgrade I don't expect any issues. But it wouldn't harm to install Monterey before upgrade as well, but I'm not sure if thats required.

 

[alloallo]

Blade upgrade: none -> 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe SSD

• To determine how old it is when you buy it. You can actually just see this on the sticker on the box, this tells you the production date. Mine is from 2021-09-14. It works out of the box. TRIM is enabled by default.
• The last pages of this topic suggest that Samsung 970 EVO plus SSDs have new issues, for example very long boot times. I see people recommending against this SSD. I really don't see any reason not to buy this SSD. I do not have any issues with the Samsung 970 EVO Plus. Cold boot takes 22 seconds after pressing the power button.

I am impressed by the speed you get.

Blade+HDD upgrade
Device: Mid 2017 - 18.3 - MNEA2LL/A (3.5Ghz i5-7600, Fusion HDD+128GB blade)
Blade upgrade: 128GB Blade -> 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD (2021-10 MZVLB1T0HBLR)
HDD upgrade: 2TB SATA HDD -> 2TB Samsung 870 QEVO SATA SSD
Speed test: 2800 MB/s read, 2500 MB/s write
OS: Monterey 12.1
Adapter: OLVINS M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter Card Upgrade for MacBook Air (2013-2017)
Location: Paris, France
Temperature sensor: none
Issues after fresh OS install: very slow trim at boot with macOS


Maybe we have different SSD, mine is newer with production date 2021-10, Product Number is MZVLB1T0HBLR and firmware version 2B2QEXM7.
What is the product number of your SSD ?
I do not know why trims takes so long at each boot. It is annoying because I use bootcamp and I have to wait more than 3 minutes when booting macOS.
I did a fresh install of Monterey. APFS partition is filled with 470GB of data. I use FileVault, I have a 2TB iCloud account, I have a big Photos.app library (the photolibraryd process always write many GB) and a 100GB Bootcamp NTFS partition with Windows 10.

After entering my password to unlock FileVault, I have to wait more than 3 minutes.

log show --last boot | grep "trims took"

2022-01-18 07:42:06.482058+0100 0x74 Default 0x0 0 0 kernel: (apfs) spaceman_scan_free_blocks:3153: disk2 scan took 191.924452 s, trims took 191.589600 s

It would be interesting to know if the trims duration depends of the 970 EVO Plus version.

 

[VegetarianNachos]

I have a 2019 iMac 27" and am considering swapping out the 32GB flash drive with an Apple OEM flash drive of 256GB or 512GB (from eBay). I can potentially get one that was pulled from a new 2019 iMac. Also considering replacing the 1TB HDD with a Crucial MX500 2TB SATA drive. The small flash drive would be the boot drive with all applications. The large SATA drive would be a data drive to hold all photos, videos, music, etc. Has anyone here done this type of thing? I was hoping to eliminate any future firmware upgrade issues with a non OEM NVMe and eliminate having to use an adapter. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. TIA.

Here is a link to an OEM drive on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/203097873310?hash=item2f49939b9e:g:FbMAAOSwcUJfUn~k

 

[oKUtItyp]

Another successful update - Retina 5K, 27" 2017 (i5-7500, 1TB Fusion Drive)


Device: Retina 5K, 27" 2017
Blade upgrade: 32 GB Apple -> WD_BLACK SN850 500GB
HDD upgrade: 1TB SATA HDD -> Crucial MX500 500GB
Speed test: (See attached)
OS: Big Sur 11.6.1
Temperature sensor: none
Location: CA, USA
Adapter: Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C (long)
SSD Heatsink: GLOTRENDS M.2 Heatsink for 2280 (3mm thick)
Issues after fresh OS install: Fresh Installation, no issue so far

And THANK YOU to everyone contribute to this thread and other thread, it really helps a lot!

EDIT: have a few questions, hope someone can help
1. What's the best way to utilize 500GB NVME+500GB SSD combo? RAID 1 for data protection?
2. Do I need to enable TRIM on both?
3. Any further steps to tweak the macOS?
4. Is there Wifi 6 airport card available? worth the upgrade?
5. does it worth i7-7700k upgrade?

Thanks

 

[SaschO]

RAM + Blade upgrade + HDD out

Device : Early 2019 - iMac 27" - 19,1 - 3,7 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5 A2115 - FD 2TB

Blade upgrade : 128GB Blade --> 2 TB Samsung 970 Plus Phoenix Controller SSD old Ver newest Firmware M.2 NVMe

HDD upgrade : 2TB SATA HDD --> OUT

Memory RAM upgrade : 2 x 4 still in + 2 x 16 GB Timetec Hynix ---> Total 40GB

Blade Speed test Monterey: up to 2879 MB/s read, 2847 MB/s write
Blade Speed test BootCamp: up to3152 MB/s read, 3082 MB/s write

OS: Monterey Version 12.1
Location : Stgt/Germany
Adapter for the blade : Sintech ST-NGFF2013C (the long one) with Kaptontape included

Heatsink for the blade : Testet with Glotrends and without, better without other Heatsink to high maximum seems to be less than 6mm. in time I make my own on a CNC .

Issues after OS install : none, everything works great!!!

Ram total 40GB

Samsung 970 Plus Phönix Controller

Heatsink is not good

Cold Start macOS

Temp Samsung 970Plus idle 35C working 50 - 58C without Heatsink !!!

Cold Start Bootcamp inkl. Password

Performance Test Chrystal and Magican NVMe max 66C see below

 

[FriedChicken2]

I’m about to pick up a 2019 iMac.

I’m considering doing the CPU upgrade to the i9-9900k (Will the i9-9900KF work as well?)

I also want to upgrade the nVME SSD to a 4TB version, but I haven’t seen a report of a successful upgrade to this. Is there any limitations stopping this from happening?

 

[FriedChicken2]

Just picked up a 2019 iMac wit the 3TB Fusion drive. I’m going to upgrade the blade to a 4TB one (if it’s possible). Already ordered hte GloTrends heatsink for m.2 SSDs. The adapter everyone’s using seems OOS everywhere.

 

[VegetarianNachos]

I’m about to pick up a 2019 iMac.

I’m considering doing the CPU upgrade to the i9-9900k (Will the i9-9900KF work as well?)

I also want to upgrade the nVME SSD to a 4TB version, but I haven’t seen a report of a successful upgrade to this. Is there any limitations stopping this from happening?

The i9-9900k is hard to find right now. Best Buy had them a few weeks ago for $439.99 but they sold out. B&H Photo had them a week ago for $459 but they also sold out. Prices on eBay have risen by astronomical proportions. There is a contingent of gamer PC builders who covet that processor, and it makes it harder to score one. I waited too long and am now upset that I didn't buy the one from Best Buy. I believe the i9-9900kf processor lacks the integrated graphics that are used during MacOS booting so that may give you problems.

 

[FriedChicken2]

The i9-9900k is hard to find right now. Best Buy had them a few weeks ago for $439.99 but they sold out. B&H Photo had them a week ago for $459 but they also sold out. Prices on eBay have risen by astronomical proportions. There is a contingent of gamer PC builders who covet that processor, and it makes it harder to score one. I waited too long and am now upset that I didn't buy the one from Best Buy. I believe the i9-9900kf processor lacks the integrated graphics that are used during MacOS booting so that may give you problems.

I'm seeing this here:

iMac 2017 Radeon 580 vs iMac 2019 Radeon 580X

My 2019 with 580x uses KF version. Tried it with K and no go. Works with KF.

forums.macrumors.com

He claims the KF version works and the K version doesn't. Now I'm confused.

 

[Amsterdamned]

Another successful upgrade thanks to this thread.

Device: Late 2013 - 14.2 (3.2Ghz i5-4570), 8GB Ram, 1TB HDD
Blade upgrade: None -> Samsung 970 EVO 250GB
HDD upgrade: 1TB SATA HDD -> 480GB SATA Sandisk Ultra II SSD
OS: Monterey 12.1
Location: SA Australia
Adapter: Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C
Issues after fresh OS install: None

I had both drives lying around and used them and OCLP to breathe new life into an iMac I picked up Saturday.

Although I have new adhesive strips ready to go, I’m using painters tape for now until I’m happy everything is working as it should.

My new daily driver.

Cheers

 

[tk_mac]

Have people been able to update to Monterey 12.2 with a third party SSD installed before the newest Monterey update came out?

 

[oKUtItyp]

Have people been able to update to Monterey 12.2 with a third party SSD installed before the newest Monterey update came out?

I heard some bad story from reddit, that Monterey doesn't works well on old iMac

 

[Amsterdamned]

Have people been able to update to Monterey 12.2 with a third party SSD installed before the newest Monterey update came out?

Just done it on an OCLP-patched iMac Late 2013 27" with non-Apple SSDs.

Had to re-patch with Open Core but no obvious issues.

 

[TwoH]

Have people been able to update to Monterey 12.2 with a third party SSD installed before the newest Monterey update came out?

NVMe/flash?
I've been having issues updating iMacs to Monterey via original Apple flash SSDs...

Had this issue with Big Sur too - where they will only update firmware if installing to a SATA SSD/HDD.

If anyone has a solution, I would be very grateful - this one completely stumps me why it won't update firmware through an original Apple SSD, yet will through a third-party SATA SSD for me.

System preferences > Software Update on these machines seem to be stuck trying to check for updates - yet just constantly searches

 

[Jumme_Cph]

Have people been able to update to Monterey 12.2 with a third party SSD installed before the newest Monterey update came out?

Im on iMac Late 2015 27" + 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus, since 20 months back.

No issues what so ever, currently on Monterey 12.2. All previous upgrades worked like a charm.

 

[tk_mac]

Have people been able to update to Monterey 12.2 with a third party SSD installed before the newest Monterey update came out?

NVMe/flash?
I've been having issues updating iMacs to Monterey via original Apple flash SSDs...

Had this issue with Big Sur too - where they will only update firmware if installing to a SATA SSD/HDD.

If anyone has a solution, I would be very grateful - this one completely stumps me why it won't update firmware through an original Apple SSD, yet will through a third-party SATA SSD for me.

Which iMac do you have? I thought that iMacs have either the connector for the Apple blade drive OR the SATA connector, depending on what type of drive they came with, and do not have both. At least that is what OWC says for the 2019 iMacs.

 

[TwoH]

Which iMac do you have? I thought that iMacs have either the connector for the Apple blade drive OR the SATA connector, depending on what type of drive they came with, and do not have both. At least that is what OWC says for the 2019 iMacs.

You’re thinking of the 21.5” iMacs - they are typically like that. They always come with SATA, but only connector for a blade if originally sold as fusion/flash. I believe that only applies for 2015 and newer models.
27” comes with both connector for Apple blade or SATA, even if not originally sold with (applies to 2012-2019).
I’ve been having this issue in 2015 and 2017 27” currently.

 

[mbosse]

Interesting experiences with updating to Monterey. I have a 'candidate' here, a Late 2015 i7 with original factory 256 GB SSD which is one of those that infamously are stuck with older firmware (mine: 170.0.0.0.0.). I had no issues however to update the machine to macOS 12.2 Monterey (from Catalina).

I plan to replace the SSD with a WD SN 750 - will it fail to properly install Monterey?

Thanks,
Magnus

 

[Corben Dallas]

Blade+HDD upgrade+Memory upgrade



Device: 2019 19.1 27-inch 5k - MRQY2LL/A (3.0Ghz i5-8500)

Blade upgrade: 32GB Blade -> WD BLACK SN750 500GB

HDD upgrade: -> 1TB Fusion -> Crucial MX500 - 2TB SSD

Memory upgrade 8Gb DDR4 -> 72Gb DDR4



Speed test:

OS: Catalina 10.15

Location:FIN

Adapter: Sintech (ST-NGFF2013C)

Temperature sensor: none

Issues after fresh OS install: Crashes in 15min of use. Sleepmode disabled, no difference.



Any idea what went wrong?



Crash Report;



panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff8000f918db): "OSObject::_RESERVEDOSObject10 called."@/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-6153.141.2.2/libkern/c++/OSMetaClass.cpp:1381

Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address

0xffffff8819afba50 : 0xffffff800091868d

0xffffff8819afbaa0 : 0xffffff8000a52ab5

0xffffff8819afbae0 : 0xffffff8000a4463e

0xffffff8819afbb30 : 0xffffff80008bea40

0xffffff8819afbb50 : 0xffffff8000917d57

0xffffff8819afbc50 : 0xffffff8000918147

0xffffff8819afbca0 : 0xffffff80010bf2bc

0xffffff8819afbd10 : 0xffffff8000f918db

0xffffff8819afbd30 : 0xffffff8000f92015

0xffffff8819afbd40 : 0xffffff8000f96911

0xffffff8819afbd70 : 0xffffff8000f966d6

0xffffff8819afbd90 : 0xffffff8000ff588a

0xffffff8819afbdb0 : 0xffffff8000f92ad1

0xffffff8819afbde0 : 0xffffff8000f928a6

0xffffff8819afbe00 : 0xffffff8000fb3bac

0xffffff8819afbe20 : 0xffffff7f8126c599

0xffffff8819afbe40 : 0xffffff8001004779

0xffffff8819afbef0 : 0xffffff8001003c9e

0xffffff8819afbf50 : 0xffffff8001006456

0xffffff8819afbfa0 : 0xffffff80008be13e

Kernel Extensions in backtrace:

com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(2.1)[CB3CB8CA-881A-37F3-A96B-8063CAF0476D]@0xffffff7f81265000->0xffffff7f8128cfff



BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task



Mac OS version:

Not yet set



Kernel version:

Darwin Kernel Version 19.6.0: Thu Oct 29 22:56:45 PDT 2020; root:xnu-6153.141.2.2~1/RELEASE_X86_64

Kernel UUID: 9B5A7191-5B84-3990-8710-D9BD9273A8E5

Kernel slide: 0x0000000000600000

Kernel text base: 0xffffff8000800000

__HIB text base: 0xffffff8000700000

System model name: iMac19,1 (Mac-AA95B1DDAB278B95)

System shutdown begun: NO

Panic diags file unavailable, panic occurred prior to initialization



System uptime in nanoseconds: 897831595

last loaded kext at 894922757: >!AVirtIO 1.0 (addr 0xffffff7f82a2e000, size 163840)

loaded kexts:

>!AVirtIO 1.0

@filesystems.hfs.kext 522.100.5

@!AFSCompression.!AFSCompressionTypeDataless 1.0.0d1

@BootCache 40

@!AFSCompression.!AFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0

>!ASDXC 1.7.7

@filesystems.apfs 1412.141.1

>!AAHCIPort 341.140.1

@private.KextAudit 1.0

>!AACPIButtons 6.1

>!ARTC 2.0

>!ASMBIOS 2.1

>!AACPIEC 6.1

>!AAPIC 1.7

$!AImage4 1

@nke.applicationfirewall 303

$TMSafetyNet 8

@!ASystemPolicy 2.0.0

|EndpointSecurity 1

|IOAudio!F 300.2

@vecLib.kext 1.2.0

|IOSerial!F 11

|IOSurface 269.11

@filesystems.hfs.encodings.kext 1

>!AThunderboltNHI 5.8.6

|IOThunderbolt!F 7.6.1

>!AXsanScheme 3

|IONVMe!F 2.1.0

|IOAHCIBlock!S 316.100.5

|IOAHCI!F 290.0.1

>usb.!UXHCIPCI 1.2

>usb.!UXHCI 1.2

>usb.!UHostPacketFilter 1.0

|IOUSB!F 900.4.2

>!AEFINVRAM 2.1

>!ASMCRTC 1.0

>!AEFIRuntime 2.1

|IOSMBus!F 1.1

|IOHID!F 2.0.0

$quarantine 4

$sandbox 300

@Kext.!AMatch 1.0.0d1

>DiskImages 493.0.0

>!AFDEKeyStore 28.30

>!AEffaceable!S 1.0

>!ASSE 1.0

>!AKeyStore 2

>!UTDM 489.120.1

|IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 422.120.3

>!ACredentialManager 1.0

>KernelRelayHost 1

>!ASEPManager 1.0.1

>IOSlaveProcessor 1

|IOTimeSync!F 840.3

|IONetworking!F 3.4

|IOUSBMass!SDriver 157.140.1

|IOSCSIArchitectureModel!F 422.120.3

|IO!S!F 2.1

|IOUSBHost!F 1.2

>!UHostMergeProperties 1.2

>usb.!UCommon 1.0

>!ABusPower!C 1.0

|CoreAnalytics!F 1

>!AMobileFileIntegrity 1.0.5

@kext.CoreTrust 1

|IOReport!F 47

>!AACPIPlatform 6.1

>!ASMC 3.1.9

>watchdog 1

|IOPCI!F 2.9

|IOACPI!F 1.4

@kec.pthread 1

@kec.Libm 1

@kec.corecrypto 1.0

 

[TwoH]

Interesting experiences with updating to Monterey. I have a 'candidate' here, a Late 2015 i7 with original factory 256 GB SSD which is one of those that infamously are stuck with older firmware (mine: 170.0.0.0.0.). I had no issues however to update the machine to macOS 12.2 Monterey (from Catalina).

I plan to replace the SSD with a WD SN 750 - will it fail to properly install Monterey?

Thanks,
Magnus

Sorry I'm unsure for your question.
I do have a question for your iMac however:
with your older firmware version on Monterey, does the Software updates tab work properly for you? Or does it constantly check for updates?