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

[Arak]

View attachment 1827179

I am lucky doing it (presently and be supplied by local retailers) in following way to be possible:

Tape's thickness is not specified but checking by touching it is indeed much thicker than classic tape for packaging. Tape is suitable for smooth and rough surfaces. Sticks onto iMac glass and alloy body very good so far (more than 10 days). When applied to iMac the visibility depends on light conditions and angle of view:

This iMac got no further adhesive strips except two presented. I consider it to be permanent solution as long iMac in my possession and use. iMac 14.2. Also it should suffice as long as this iMac gets stationary use as it got it so far.

 

[Eddie_fb]

Hi all,

I recently picked up a late 2015 iMac 27" for the princely sum of £50. It's in pretty good condition although the drive seems to be pretty slow. I've already chucked in another 16gb of RAM, but it's still slow. Running blackmagic shows the speeds to be v.slow, so would like to make it sing.
My preferred route would be to grab a 512gb NVME, the Sintech adapter, and replace the blade SSD on the back of the motherboard. Remove the HDD entirely, and the sata cable, defluff the fans/heatsinks, and use the beautiful screen for many years to come?
I've always been a PC boy, but the wife has a 2023 iMac, and it does seem v. usable, so thought I'd try a cheap starter model?

My questions are as follows;

Will any NVME drive do? Thinking of this Kingston NV3 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Interne SSD 500GB M.2 2280-SNV3S/500G
Is this the correct adapter? - Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card, for Upgrade 2013-2015 Year Macs(Not Fit Early 2013 MacBook Pro)

I presume I then fit the replacement NVME, boot from a USB3 drive, and somehow install Monterey to the NVME?

I understand there may be problems with waking from sleep, but I never use sleep anyway, so shouldn't bother me too much?

Will this be the fastest drive speed available for me? I understand I could fit an SSD in addition to the original blade SSD, but surely that would be slower than the more modern NVME?

Any ideas/tips would be great.

Cheers, Ed.

 

[Eddie_fb]

Looked at the forecast, rain all day.


Decided to spend a morning taking apart my new iMac, installing an SSD and defluffing it.
Followed the comprehensive iFixit guide online, and quite enjoyed taking a nicely built machine apart. Then putting the cleanest Mac in England back together.
Then it wouldn’t turn on.
Take it all apart and check my work.
All back together again. Still nothing.
Start checking PSU with a multimeter. Seems to be supplying 12v to the logic board. But nothing from the status LEDs?
Perhaps it’s a conflict with the ssd/removing the Sata cable?

Put it all back to standard, exactly as it came to me.

Nothing. Sweet FA.
In frustration I put the last few bits back in, and forget to unplug it.
Scare the wife by giving myself a fairly good wallop from the back of the PSU. Definitely supplying power to the logic board.


It’s now 6 o’clock, and I’ve been cocking about with this since 9am. And the sun came out around 4, but I was determined to finish it.


It’s now in the spare room, cos I’m not spending £120 on a second hand logic board. Yet.


FML.

 

[MacNB2]

Looked at the forecast, rain all day.


Decided to spend a morning taking apart my new iMac, installing an SSD and defluffing it.
Followed the comprehensive iFixit guide online, and quite enjoyed taking a nicely built machine apart. Then putting the cleanest Mac in England back together.
Then it wouldn’t turn on.
Take it all apart and check my work.
All back together again. Still nothing.
Start checking PSU with a multimeter. Seems to be supplying 12v to the logic board. But nothing from the status LEDs?
Perhaps it’s a conflict with the ssd/removing the Sata cable?

Put it all back to standard, exactly as it came to me.

Nothing. Sweet FA.
In frustration I put the last few bits back in, and forget to unplug it.
Scare the wife by giving myself a fairly good wallop from the back of the PSU. Definitely supplying power to the logic board.


It’s now 6 o’clock, and I’ve been cocking about with this since 9am. And the sun came out around 4, but I was determined to finish it.


It’s now in the spare room, cos I’m not spending £120 on a second hand logic board. Yet.


FML.

Eddie, so sorry to hear your woes....when it rains it pours
Clearly, something broke during the teardown.

When I did my iMac I had an issue with the PSU board removal.

There are three cables on the PSU :
1. PSU Control cable (the flat ribbon cable on top connecting the PSU to Logic). One would expect this to be easy removal BUT can be easy to damage/partially pull the socket on the PSU board or the Logic board).
2. The thick multi-core DC cable (that is so difficult to remove from the Logic board). Again it's possible to pull one of the cables off the PSU board.
3. The main cable (at the bottom of the PSU). Again it's easy to pull off the pins from the PSU. I did this but was able to solder this back on. Since you seem to have "some" power this seems OK.

Check 1 & 2 above. Specifically, need to check for more than 12V. i.e 5V & 3.3v. Check that the Socket for 2. is sound and socket is soundly attached to the Logic board.

 

[Eddie_fb]

Eddie, so sorry to hear your woes....when it rains it pours
Clearly, something broke during the teardown.

When I did my iMac I had an issue with the PSU board removal.

There are three cables on the PSU :
1. PSU Control cable (the flat ribbon cable on top connecting the PSU to Logic). One would expect this to be easy removal BUT can be easy to damage/partially pull the socket on the PSU board or the Logic board).
2. The thick multi-core DC cable (that is so difficult to remove from the Logic board). Again it's possible to pull one of the cables off the PSU board.
3. The main cable (at the bottom of the PSU). Again it's easy to pull off the pins from the PSU. I did this but was able to solder this back on. Since you seem to have "some" power this seems OK.

Check 1 & 2 above. Specifically, need to check for more than 12V. i.e 5V & 3.3v. Check that the Socket for 2. is sound and socket is soundly attached to the Logic board.

1. Control Cable - no obvious issues. I did remove/replace it several times, but it'd didn't seem overly fragile, or difficult to remove from it's socket?
2. Bit more of a pain to get to , I agree, but definitely clicked happily back into place. As part of testing I hooked up the AC input (tested at 232v) and checked the DC output. Seemed to be 6 pins were ground, and six pins were 12.2v. Didn't see any voltages at 5v and 3.3v? Plugged back into the logic board, and tested the back of the pins from the DC socket. Still getting 12.2v, so the socket must be fine?
3. Seems to be fine, as there is a DC output?

Considering the logic board is receiving power, not sure why I'm not getting at least one of the status LED light up?

 

[PaulD-UK]

@Eddie_fb Quote: "...not sure why I'm not getting at least one of the status LED light up?"

This thread describes exactly the same 'dead iMac, no status lights' symptoms - after a NVMe SSD replacement:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-5k-2015-wont-power-at-all-after-nvme-upgrade.2431007/

So I would suspect that the place to look for the problem is around the NVMe connector?

@MacNB2 Only iMacs 2011 and before had 12v and 5v/3.3v PSU cabling.
2012+ are just 12v, as described.

 

[Eddie_fb]

@Eddie_fb Quote: "...not sure why I'm not getting at least one of the status LED light up?"

This thread describes exactly the same 'dead iMac, no status lights' symptoms - after a NVMe SSD replacement:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-5k-2015-wont-power-at-all-after-nvme-upgrade.2431007/

So I would suspect that the place to look for the problem is around the NVMe connector?

@MacNB2 Only iMacs 2011 and before had 12v and 5v/3.3v PSU cabling.
2012+ are just 12v, as described.

Thanks for that link, hadn't seen that one before?

However, I did go back through it all, and reconnect the original Apple 32gb blade, and the original HDD too, but still nothing.

Definite 12v to the logic board, but no status led's.

If the 7 pin flat cable was damaged would that affect the status LED's?

I did check the NVMe adapter for the possibility to short on the motherboard port, but it seemed to have insulation in the right points, and enough clearance to avoid that?

At no point did I hear any fizz/bang, or smell anything funny. It feels like lack of power, but I've checked it 7 ways from Sunday, and the PSU has an input, and an output, and the logic board is receiving 12v. Is there any online schematics that could allow me to test further?

I'm fearing the worst.

 

[PaulD-UK]

I can only guess...
In the post I linked to, the new SSD adapter was shorting to ground, and that caused the logic board to completely shut down. Remove the new SSD+adapter, and everything works again...

In your situation, it's not the 'new SSD+adapter' that is causing the short, so something else must be 'shorting to ground, causing the logic board to completely shut down.'

Those that have schematics seem to keep them to themselves, unfortunately.

"Scare the wife by giving myself a fairly good wallop from the back of the PSU."

Take care! Follow Apple's instructions for dismantling an iMac.....

 

[Eddie_fb]

Yes, probably a good idea for next time!

Just thinking out loud now, but were there any insulative spacers that I may have missed? I'm wondering if they may have moved, and I didn't notice, and now it's connected to ground? But surely that would have blown a fuse?

I may possibly try taking the logic board and psu out of the case, and connecting them to power so I know the case isn't causing the problem?

 

[genexx]

If i have gotten him right in the Video even if the Power Supply is broken the board should lit first LED when Power Cable is connected so you could start there.

On the Other Hand if something is shorting the MoBo...

Have you posted your iMac Modell Year ?

There is one with just a failed 220uf Tantalum here shows no green Light:

 

[PaulD-UK]

The fuse in a 2012+ iMac is the brown component on the PSU right next to the 'live' (inboard) 3 pin input socket connection - not user replaceable. The logic board has its own 'short' detection.

I don't think any of the logic board mounting pillars could cause a short - they are designed to connect to ground.

You could try leaving the logic board in place and disconnecting all peripheral connections except the two PSU connectors, including the SSD blade if the easier front-facing ones don't improve matters when disconnected.
If any of them are shorted, then that should allow the lowest status LED to light, maybe?

 

[Eddie_fb]

If i have gotten him right in the Video even if the Power Supply is broken the board should lit first LED when Power Cable is connected so you could start there.

On the Other Hand if something is shorting the MoBo...

Have you posted your iMac Modell Year ?

There is one with just a failed 220uf Tantalum here shows no green Light:

Late 2015 iMac 27" Retina 5K - 3.2ghz i5 - 24gb RAM - 1tb Fusion Drive

 

[genexx]

I would just guess you´ll probably need somebody with advanced skills that either find the short if there is or if it is the Reason to change at least 1 of the 2 or 3 Tantalum Capacitors i have seen in Videos to renew if a 2015 iMac does not show any LED.

Well it could also be the internal Fuse, the PSU or else.
But to have no Physical access we can just guess.
Somebody with knowledge can measure it.
It could be something...like...

IMAC A1419-820-3299-A -IMAC NO POWER NO GREEN LIGHT SMC 3.42V​

iMac A1419 27 inch - Dead No Power. How to check iMac Motherboard is working or not , if SMPS faulty​

iMac a1419 no power repair​

 

[OAK77uk]

Device: late 2015 iMac 27"
NVMe upgrade: 32GB Apple > 2TB WD Black SN770 NVMe
NVMe Adapter: Sintech NGFF m.2
SATA upgrade: Retained Apple 1TB HDD (after split fusion)
OS: Monterey 12.7.4
FileSystem: APFS
Benchmark: Write 2756MB/s, Read 2865MB/s
Location: USA
Issues: none

Process was straight forward. Removing the connectors without forcing / breaking anything was the hardest part. Used Lefix foam strips for regluing display.

I spend an extra $10 on a USB to NVMe adapter to install and update the OS on the SSD before installing the card. Fresh installed all apps, restored all user data and files from time machine backup.

No issues with sleep. Machine is super snappy and fast, it's like buying a new computer.

Any further issues? I'm currently using OpenCore Legacy Patcher 2.0.2 latest with Mac OS Sequoia 15.0 both internally on the original 512GB SSD but this is now showing its age on Drive DX with SSD Lifetime Indicator at 89%: I use externally on the USB Bus a Crucial 2TB NVMe Blade as the internal OS etc in an NVMe to USB caddy but would like to install on the Sintech NGFF m.2 adapter which I also use in the external caddy: Grateful for any helpful advice - Michael OAK77uk

 

[Mcfix]

Hi all!
Is there any owner of iMac 27" 2019 that has successfully installed WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB?
Can you confirm that there are no issues?
Thanks!

 

[Terraaustralis]

I have installed a WD Black sn770 and like the WD Black sn850x it is on the list of suitable NVMe on tonymacx86

Choosing a Compatible NVMe SSD for your macOS Boot Drive

Introduction to NVMe Choices If you have any previous hackintosh experience, you'll know that a limited number of hardware components have native support in macOS. You can't buy just any graphics card and expect it to work. Only certain Broadcom models of Wifi/BT cards have native support etc...

www.tonymacx86.com

Search earlier posts on this blog and you will find satisfied users.

 

[MacNB2]

I have installed a WD Black sn770 and like the WD Black sn850x it is on the list of suitable NVMe on tonymacx86

Choosing a Compatible NVMe SSD for your macOS Boot Drive

Introduction to NVMe Choices If you have any previous hackintosh experience, you'll know that a limited number of hardware components have native support in macOS. You can't buy just any graphics card and expect it to work. Only certain Broadcom models of Wifi/BT cards have native support etc...

www.tonymacx86.com

Search earlier posts on this blog and you will find satisfied users.

Endorsement on tonymacx86 has no validity for real Apple Mac's. They are endorsing those NVMe's on HACKINTOSH's and not real Mac's. The key difference is the firmware on Macs' and PCs'.

Bottomline is that just because it works on a hackintosh does not necessarily mean it will work on a Mac

 

[Terraaustralis]

2. Choose a WD Blue or Black NVMe SSD
From the cumulative experience of hundreds of WD NVMe users here at tonymacx86.com over the past two years, we can conclude they are fast and reliable when used as a macOS boot drive. Specific WD models with their proprietary "in-house" controller are designed to be macOS compatible.

Did you read the full tonymacx86 post MacNB2? It discusses what works on Mac.
Bottom line is The WD850x has been used successfully on 2019 imac in this Macrumors forum. If Mcfix and yourself do the research, you will find my statements corroborated.

Cheers.

 

[MacNB2]

2. Choose a WD Blue or Black NVMe SSD
From the cumulative experience of hundreds of WD NVMe users here at tonymacx86.com over the past two years, we can conclude they are fast and reliable when used as a macOS boot drive. Specific WD models with their proprietary "in-house" controller are designed to be macOS compatible.

Did you read the full tonymacx86 post MacNB2? It discusses what works on Mac.
Bottom line is The WD850x has been used successfully on 2019 imac in this Macrumors forum. If Mcfix and yourself do the research, you will find my statements corroborated.

Cheers.

Yes I have read it many times (I'm active member on that site for nearly 15 years). If you read the statement carefully "...we can conclude they are fast and reliable when used as a macOS boot drive." That is, it states "macOS boot drive" and it does NOT state "macOS boot drive on any SPECIFIC real Mac". That's the difference.

It's an anecdotal comment based on "cumulative experience of hundreds of WD NVMe users here at tonymacx86.com" who are primarily hackingtoshers.

The difference between the real Mac and Hackintosh are the EFI firmware...the firmware required to boot an OS. These differ on how they handle NVMe protocol. Modern PC's use UEFI standard and Mac's use "modified" version of the EFI standard.

They say avoid Samsung drives and also quote ACASIS as saying there are issues with 970 EVO and EVO Plus. I have no issues on my cMP5,1 (a real Mac) both as a boot drive as well a data drive.

All I am saying is be careful about leading others to think that what works on Hackintosh will work on real Mac's.

 

[iMac2019]

It's worth noting, however, that WD drives are known for being the disks that work best with Apple hardware.
This thread shows number of successful hw upgrades with.

Of course, we're not immune to controller changes or firmware updates done by the manufacturer over time, even with a tried-and-tested model.

Everyone's feedback is obviously important.

 

[Terraaustralis]

Yes I have read it many times (I'm active member on that site for nearly 15 years). If you read the statement carefully "...we can conclude they are fast and reliable when used as a macOS boot drive." That is, it states "macOS boot drive" and it does NOT state "macOS boot drive on any SPECIFIC real Mac". That's the difference.

It's an anecdotal comment based on "cumulative experience of hundreds of WD NVMe users here at tonymacx86.com" who are primarily hackingtoshers.

The difference between the real Mac and Hackintosh are the EFI firmware...the firmware required to boot an OS. These differ on how they handle NVMe protocol. Modern PC's use UEFI standard and Mac's use "modified" version of the EFI standard.

They say avoid Samsung drives and also quote ACASIS as saying there are issues with 970 EVO and EVO Plus. I have no issues on my cMP5,1 (a real Mac) both as a boot drive as well a data drive.

All I am saying is be careful about leading others to think that what works on Hackintosh will work on real Mac's.

Many Hackintoshers are Mac owners running Windows and Linux. The scope of tonymacosx86 is very wide. I agree, one should never underestimate the risk of tech incompatibility. However, the point is, as I stated, several Mac upgraders have used the sn850 and reported results on this blog and I do not consider I was misleading anyone.

Since no-one has responded to Mcfix since October 3, I offered comment and a link as a starting point. See Below.

Hi all!
Is there any owner of iMac 27" 2019 that has successfully installed WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB?
Can you confirm that there are no issues?
Thanks!

So Mcfix, here is a list of Macrumors members who have posted successful installation of WD Black sn850:

The sn850x is basically an upgraded sn850 with same controller and new memory (BiC5 instead of BiC4), resulting in faster IOPS readings.

A test of the sn850x will confirm compatibility one way or the other. You can fall back onto an sn850 if necessary.

@polleke69, @oKUtItyp, @MBehr2, @genexx @theorist9

Good Luck

 

[Mcfix]

I expressed myself badly, I wanted to know if even after some time there are no problems with the boot times.

 

[Mcfix]

Thanks, I'll update you once the update is complete!

 

[Terraaustralis]

I expressed myself badly, I wanted to know if even after some time there are no problems with the boot times.

Hi Mcfix,
I have seen no complaints about boot times or trim issues with WD Black sn850 or sn850x. Only positive comment.

After 12 months my PCIe 4.0 WD Black sn770 boot drive continues to open and load 400Gb in 17 secs. AJA gives 2874Mb/s read and 3079Mb/s write. You should do better with the sn850x. However, percentage wise, there is not a lot more to expect from a PCIe 3.0 configured motherboard despite your fast NVMe. Look forward to reading your figures.

Cheers.

 

[genexx]

The most SSD´s have no Problems.

There is a problem related to APFS formatted NVME Samsung with the Phison Controller and Trim.
This results in long Boot Times after some Time.

log show --predicate "processID == 0" | grep spaceman

If you use HFS this Problem is not present.

This is true for Mac Hardware and Hackintosh.

In addition many NVME Drives do not work with Apple´s implementation of the Drive´s Power States.
This leads to Heat and High Battery Drain.

The Crucial P5 which runs on Hackintosh has drained constant 9W even in an external Case.
For older Hardware the Crucial P2 was a good Choice and i have upgraded multiple 2014 MacMini or MBP with it.

As of Today i would try to use a WD SN570 because of the Lanes and PCIe Version it makes mostly no sense to use a WD 850 or x or even a WD SN 770 and for older Hardware i would try to find a Crucial P2 or sometimes if possible just use an SSD as the Crucial MX500 which is a Mac Darling and works forever.

The Crucial P3 has proven to be a bad choice for both Hackintosh and Mac.

There are several NVME running "somehow" in older Mac when formatted before but also most are not able to realise Firmware Updates so better do this before upgrading and save the Original.

First success does not implicate work on the long run.

I do not have old Hardware anymore but use WD SN 570 / 770 / 850 in an Hackintosh and 2 WD SN 770 in external enclosures @ my MBA M2.

I have upgradet many Mac´s with NVME and they are mostly running till Today.